from www.examiner.com – The largest adult event in America, this year’s East Coast edition of Exxxotica Expo in New Jersey was the biggest yet, shattering attendance records over the weekend. In this exclusive interview, a handful of the hottest stars in the industry shared their thoughts on what drives them, their popularity overseas amid shifting morals, and the nature of reality TV when applied to their ever-changing business. This edition features Melina Mason, Charmane Star and Seymour Butts.

Melina Mason [pictured]

Q: You’re new to the business. Tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved.

I’m fairly new. I started off as a nude model, and then I started webcamming. I met a girl who does porn and I was like, “Oh, I want to do porn,” and then she introduced me to her agent, and he was interested in me. I’ve been doing porn for seven months now.
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Q: What are your impressions of it so far? What things are different or exactly like you were hoping for or expecting when you started?

It’s pretty much everything I wanted it to be. I’m not naïve; I don’t think everyone’s looking out for me, you know? I’m looking out for myself, making sure everyone I’m working with is clean, and it’s really just about the experience, you know? Meeting new people and [expletive] new people, traveling and making money and [expletive]. There’s not one thing that I don’t like about the industry. I’m in love with it.

Q: Who would you like to work with, talking about production companies?

Oh my God, I have a massive wish list. Top of my list is Digital Playground. Vivid, Girlfriends Films, Sweetheart Video, Pink Visual, Brazzers of course, Wicked, Elegant Angel, Evil Angel, Belladonna, Jennaration X Studios—I literally have a list that I put on my computer background, and I read it every day. I send out those vibes, like, “Book me, book me.”

Q: You must know all 20,000 companies.

(Laughs) I study, though. I study porn; it’s like a job.

Q: The pornologist.

I’m a pornologist! Also a porn fan, too.

Q: As a performer, what really turns you on? What do you like to do?

I would say what turns me on the most is someone who really wants to be there. There’s girls who are gay for pay, and then I’m like, “[expletive], now I’ve really gotta work.” It doesn’t turn me on when someone doesn’t want to [expletive] me. But the best thing is working with people who are fun, who are sober, who are not infested with STDs and are [expletive] sexy. I wanna [expletive] sexy women for the rest of my life, and porn has helped me to do that.

Q: You live around here. Where do you usually shoot?

I just made a trip out to Miami; I stayed there for a couple of days and shot eight scenes in five days. Then I came home to New York, I shot a little bit in New York and New Jersey, and then I’m going out to L.A. next week for a week, so hopefully it will work out with some companies out there. I get around.

Q: Is this your first convention?

No, when I was a Suicide Girl I used to go to the tattoo conventions and comic book conventions and I used to sell my own merchandise there, too. But this is the first time I’m representing myself as a performer rather than representing another company. So it’s cool; I like it. I like the attention (laughs).

Q: Why did you choose this as a calling in life?

I’ve always felt like a sexual person; I’ve been having sex since I was six. I’ve just always known how to [expletive], I’ve always wanted to [expletive], and I can’t get sex out of my head. So I feel like the most productive way to be a sex addict is to just turn it into a job. And plus, cameras turn me on, so just adding the extra element of cameras is just like, “Oh, [expletive], I’m going to [achieve satisfaction] even harder now.”

Q: As far as your personal life, what kind of things do you want out of a guy?

I’m really into Spanish guys; love me a Latino. Tattoos are cool. I like dark skin, dark hair, big [expletive]. And no lie, I believe in courtship, and a gentleman will always be at the top of my list, unlike some guy who thinks he’s going to get a [particular sex act] in an alley. Like, take me out to dinner, and if you’re gonna [expletive] me, take me to a nice-ass hotel, because that’s what happens. You will [expletive] me, but only if we’re at the Ritz-Carlton (laughs).

Q: What are your thoughts about possibly dating a guy in the industry as you continue to grow as a performer?

I don’t think I’ll ever date male talent; I’m not interested in that. I actually find the easiest balance is to date people who are completely unknown to the industry, people with their own lives. It keeps me really in touch with reality. I don’t ever want to be consumed entirely with the world of porn, you know? I want to have that guy who does his nine to five, comes home, ask him how his day was, fill out those TPS reports, and then I want to cook dinner for him. I want a real life and a porn life, and I like to keep those things separate.

Q: Finally, describe the ultimate porn film for you, one that you would make.

Okay, I want [female ejaculators], I want authority figures, I want teachers and students, I want cops, I want bondage, I want a real plot, I want real actors, I want a big budget, I want CGI special effects. I want to do the biggest thing that’s ever—I want to top Pirates [released in 2005 as the most expensive adult film made to date].

Q: Melina Mason wants to top Pirates. You heard it here first.

(Laughs) I don’t know if I’ll ever do it, but it’s a dream, and so far every single dream I’ve had in this industry has come true in such a short amount of time. I don’t think anything’s off limits to me.

Charmane Star

Q: Pleasure to see you, Charmane, you’re looking as great as ever.

Oh, thank you, Justin.

Q: What year did you start in the business?

I started in 2000. I did my first layout for Hustler and for Club magazine. I started shooting magazines for the first six months, and then worked with girls for the first time, and then I started doing movies, doing boy/girl, and I’ve been doing it for almost 10 years now.

Q: What have been some of your most memorable scenes?

I have a list of guys that I work with, so I don’t really remember the scenes, but I remember working with them. Like Randy Spears, he’s amazing to work with. Sascha, he’s good to work with. So a lot of the times when they book me with them for Adam & Eve or for Penthouse, it’s a pleasure to work with them. We have good chemistry and they’re very professional people. Every time I work with them, I can [achieve satisfaction] whenever I want (laugh), and that’s one of my favorite things about the industry.

Q: Are you still doing boy/girl scenes?

I’m currently not doing boy/girl; it’s been almost five years now. The reason why is because I have a lot of different opportunities right now. I’m working on my site and the live show, and I’m trying to get my website together. Everything’s just kind of changed and the industry’s changed in the last couple of years, so I’m kind of changing as well with it. I’m also working on my new clothing line, just doing stuff other than just shooting. I can shoot, and I am shooting like maybe four times a year. And I shoot one movie, my own movie, once a year, so I have a new movie coming out next year, my “virtual” DVD. It was actually supposed to be due now, but we want to add more elaborate scenes, so it’ll be released next year.

Q: Now that we have Blu-ray as the standard, appearance for the camera is more important than ever. How does that affect you as a performer?

I don’t think it’s affected me ever in the last 10 years. I don’t know; I have pretty good skin. I don’t use too much make-up. If I do, I’ll just wear a bunch of lashes or eye shadow or whatever it is. My hair is fine; I never really have a problem changing my features. I’ve always been the same, very natural. I’m all natural, baby.

Q: I’d love to know the story behind your ink.

My circle on my arm. It’s a circle, but inside the circle, there’s little tiny bull heads that go in a circle, like a little circle of horns, but the ink has spread it. But if you look closely, it’s a circle of horns, and there’s little bull heads that go in a circle, and there’s a little pattern that borders around it to shape a circle. That’s what it is; it’s just like a zodiac symbol, blah, blah, blah.

Q: And you’ve got the one on your finger.

I’ve had this for a while. I had three other old friends from the industry, Gina Ryder and Shay Sweet—I’m going back in the day if you guys know who they are. We all got the same tattoo years ago, and it’s actually the pattern of an Irish wedding band. It’s just a “best friendship” situation, but we’re not friends anymore. It’s okay; people grow up. (With mock anger) Those bitches! I’m just kidding (laughs).

Q: I’m curious about your popularity in the Philippines, because you’re Filipina. Tell us about your popularity overseas in other countries. Have you made any appearances there?

You know what, I haven’t made any type of appearance abroad in Asia or the Philippines yet. I am planning on doing that, but the Philippines is a country where I’ve really got to—for me, I thought if I go there, I’m just a little too much for them, but I think I’ve become a little bit more mainstream to the point where they’re more liberal a little bit of accepting me, so I think I’m okay to do that and make an appearance. I’m very grateful for that. I’m glad that they’re noticing me better and actually giving me positive feedback, because years ago it wasn’t like that. But now after 10 years they’re like, “Okay, she’s cool.” (laughs)

Q: What are you most proud of when you look back on your time in the industry?

I think I appreciate me being professional and punctual, and I work hard. I mean, that’s my favorite thing about me being in this industry; I’ve learned a lot, but the best is the people in it. My friends—even the camera crew, the directors and those people—I love going to set and just seeing them. The scene itself is like half an hour to 45 minutes, but for the rest of the day it’s always nice to spend time with them.

Seymour Butts

Q: Tell us about your book, Rock Her World.

It’s subtitled The Sex Guide for the Modern Man, and that’s what it basically is, a sex guide. Everything a man wants or needs to know about women is in that 300-page book. Trust me, I wrote it, I know.

Q: What does the adult industry mean to you as a performance art?

I’m sure that there is some hardcore performance art that’s done. As a matter of fact, I just heard something about a woman giving birth at a museum that was a performance art piece—at least that’s what she called it; she just did it live right there. But you know, I think that anything that’s extreme and kind of shocking makes for great performance art.

Q: On your TV show Family Business, what did you learn in terms of reality TV and how it impacted your own life?

I learned that TV is an extremely powerful medium. I also learned that my idea of compelling television and the TV show’s producers’ idea of compelling television were probably two completely different things, you know?

Q: If you had had carte blanche on the show, how would you have done things differently?

I would have spent more money on the budget and paid the actors more. That’s what I would have done.

Q: Do you still keep in touch with your assistant on the show? How about your video editor Bishop?

We run into Bishop every now and then; he’s doing his own thing now. And Mari Possa, my assistant, has now become my fiancée and we’ve been actually living together for almost 10 years now.

Q: Congratulations.

Thank you.

Q: What else can we look forward to from you?

Actually, I just announced the beginning of a new book that I’ve started called How to Survive a Reality Show. I wrote it because I want people to really understand what they’re getting involved in. It seems to me like there are still a lot of mistakes being made by people, and I guess the tragedy with the suicide regarding the Beverly Hills housewife’s husband, Russell Armstrong, was really the straw that broke the camel’s back for me in a sense, and was what made me want to unearth the manuscript and get back to work on that.