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Miami Beach – While Los Angeles is still the mecca for adult films and videos, South Florida has its share of adult video makers and producers of X-rated online content and websites.
Even more than making films here, South Florida is known for the websites that display adult videos, which lately has expanded to smartphones and tablets, industry observors say.
The proof of South Florida’s involvement in the business is the seventh annual Exxxotica convention this weekend in Miami Beach.
“Miami and Southern Florida is budding place,” said J. Handy, director of the Exxxotica show.
“It’s a beautiful area. It looks good on film, and there’s a never-ending supply of young, attractive women.”
Adult video production is estimated at a $5 billion to $6 billion industry in the United States, said Diane Duke, executive director of Free Speech Coalition, a trade group representing the adult video industry.
She didn’t have an estimate for South Florida’s industry, but said the Internet, smart phones and tablets are generally widening distribution.
“Our industry is on the forefront of all this technology,” she said.
Duke said the industry had seen a downturn in revenue in recent years because users download moviesfor free.
In South Florida, Handy said the biggest filmmaker is Bang Bros, which produces a “reality show” video on a bus. Nerd Pass and Reality Kings also are well-known production companies operating in South Florida.
In 2011, Reality Kings made its presence known by filming an adult video titled “Island Adventure” on its boats as they were docked on Memorial Island, an unoccupied island that features a memorial to Henry Flagler, according to a report by the Miami Herald.
In Broward County, some niche businesses have developed.
Dirty Diablos is a 2-year-old Fort Lauderdale company that features tattoed women on its website and in videos. A principal in the company who goes by the name “Visser” said the company is developing content for smart phones and tablets.
“Tablets are exploding right now,” he said.
South Florida’s adult-film industry doesn’t get the same recognition as mainstream filmmakers. When asked about Broward County’s adult film industry, film commissioner Noelle Stevenson [pictured] said she was not aware of any filming “of this nature.”
“We do not endorse nor support that type of filming in Broward,” she said.
In Palm Beach County, the reaction was similar.
“We can’t permit it, we don’t encourage it, and we’re not aware of its existence here,” said Chuck Elderd, film commissioner, Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission. He noted there are county ordinances that would prohibit nudity and sex acts in public.