Joe Brandi has just been named Head of Internet Marketing for Billionaire Mafia, www.BillionaireMafia.com

www.adultfyi.com/read.php?ID=28037

So the first question on our mind is what’s happening to Brandi’s idea of TANC-TV. Okay, the next question.

Back in January, when KSEX was going down for the third time, Brandi the former VP, was going to lead all the survivors and followers of KSEX out of the choppy waters on to the dry dock of TANC-TV. But it looks like that ain’t going to happen.

That’s because, before Brandi knew it, he was dealing with family health issues. His mother-in-law came down with cancer. And then his father, two days later.

“We’re like what the fuck,” says Brandi. “It was torture.” Complicated operations were followed by full recoveries, according to Brandi.

After the dust settled at home, Brandi then flew to Vegas to meet with Lana Fuchs the force behind BillionaireMafia.

“Lana is one of the wealthiest most influential people in the world,” explains Brandi. “She’s been in the fashion industry and part of the richest of the rich. She’s Russian, born in Brooklyn, originally. She has this fashion company and all different types of clothing lines. One of them is called BillionaireMafia.

“With that she’s planning a TV show and movie,” Brandi continues. “And they’re starting this website. She’s putting a ton of money into it and the marketing budget I have is insane.”

Brandi explains that Fuchs throws $750,000 parties and has connections with Showtime and Lifetime to take this BillionaireMafia concept to TV.

“The website will be for fans,” says Brandi. “We’re putting this whole thing together with webisodes to keep the fans entertained until it becomes a weekly TV show or a movie.”

Brandi also plans on bringing in two people from the adult industry, but won’t say who they are right now. Let’s just say it’s a male performer and a female performer. And they’ve met with Fuchs.

“And I’m bringing in mainstream people, too,” says Brandi. “The plot is two mob families. A Russian mob and an Italian mob. And they’re both fighting over who’s going to run Vegas. The Russian mob is owned by Lana Fuchs. The Italian mob is run by the Costellos. It’s a funny Sopranos.”

I mention to Brandi that Costello is an Irish name. A minor technicality.

On the TANC-TV front, Brandi’s thinking about how he might implement it with BillionaireMafia, but that would be a hearty stretch.

“Or I might put it on hold and bring someone in to run it,” Brandi thinks.

Brandi mentions that when KSEX went down after the Porno Dan debacle, he heard from Shandi at Rude.com. Rude had been in the middle of doing some major deal with KSEX until Dan elected to go on air and talk about how Rude had been filching content. [That has since been cleared up with new ownership.]

“She goes we have to talk,” says Brandi. “She calls me late at night and says we want to do something with you.”

Brandi elected not to, for reasons he doesn’t want to elaborate on. And he told Shandi there was no way he could work around it.

“That was the last time I heard from her.”

“And I don’t know if the TANC-thing is going to work,” adds Brandi. “Look at KSEX. Look at Rude. People don’t really want to watch, that and the adult industry is not the way it was five years ago. Who wants to watch people sitting around and talking about bullshit? That’s really what it comes down to.”

Apart from certain nights on KSEX when drama would reach an amusing and tense pitch, Brandi says he started losing interest with the goings on.

“The adult industry is the mud fights, not happy town,” I agree with Brandi.

To that extent, Brandi thought the old KSEX was more entertaining in those respects.

“There were some good names on there, and it just switched in a blink of an eye. That time cannot be replicated again. You can’t bring that back.”

“KSEX can not be matched,” says Brandi.

“That time. That era and those people. It was fun and I wasnt even a part of it. Look at who was there and the names. Now you have the same people in their 40’s trying to rewrite history. No one wants to watch a 40 year old balding male talk to a 20 something young pornstar about their week.

“It’s like watching a lifetime .300 hitter at the end of his career trying to hit a 90 mph fastball and he’s missing it by a mile. Internet TV if done the right way can work…with the right people. If done the wrong way …well you have what’s out there now.

“It’s a bunch of semi-talented people trying to make something out of nothing and fooling no one but the people paying the bills.”

At this stage of the game, Brandi wonders aloud why he would now get involved with TANC.

“I’m kind of happy I’m out of the adult industry,” Brandi says. “There’s a lot of shit to deal with and a lot of drama.”

“No one’s going to spend a lot of money and why would I break my ass trying to get money for TANC and have to deal with that bullshit again?”

Brandi, to his credit, did turn the corner with KSEX and had them at the break even point.

“They were losing $15,000 a month for a long time,” he says. “When I got in there I changed things around a little bit. In November I think I had them at break even. But in December I saw the writing on the wall and knew that company was done. Even getting that company to that point was extremely hard. I didn’t have an advertising budget.

“There was no money that was being spent on advertising and building up membership was nearly impossible. I was doing it, but it wasn’t going anywhere. What was the point? People don’t want to sit- in my opinion- and hear porn people talk about their day. It’s the same 20 or 50 people listening in.

“People want to watch people fuck. They don’t want to watch a host put his finger in somebody’s ass. I think so, anyway.”