Van Nuys- For an admittedly small porn company, Rockman Entertainment, www.rockmanentertainment.com,has some big projects in mind. Brett Rockman’s talking about doing a possible Monday night Porn Star Karaoke. A bar in the neighborhood has approached him about this possibility. So the interest is there. Whether or not this will happen is another thing.
The “neighborhood” is where Jim South’s old World Modeling resides. And Rockman, along with a couple of other companies, have taken over the building and added new touches. Rockman himself moved in last December.
Porn Star Karaokes aside, Rockman’s plan for now is to cast girls for an upcoming production called “Rock Tour” which will be shot on the road in July. And then there’s talk about doing a media blitz of radio stations and store signings to promote it.
To accomplish part of this objective, Rockman had scheduled a casting call Monday afternoon but thinks he’ll have to carry it out to at least Wednesday to get the kind of girls he’s looking for. Rockman’s looking for fresh new faces. Which is nothing new. Anyone going to a bar trying to get laid is doing the same thing.
For his shoot, Rockman needs between four and six “high quality” girls to take a trip as far as Texas but doesn’t want to make this longer than a five or six day excursion. Which is why he says it’s imperative they be personality-compatible as well. So this isn’t just a talent call. It’s a Rorschach test.
“This is going to be a big opportunity for girls to get their names out there,” Rockman predicts. “Trust me on this. When it’s all over, fans will remember the “Rock Tour.”
Saying he never wanted his company to be an ordinary one, Rockman’s taken the Shane’s World approach by being different. Subsequently, he thinks he might be the biggest small company out there and takes credit for the idea of introducing porn to the concept of barnstorming. And there’s plans in the works to take said barnstorming to Vegas in August for another promotion.
“We’re sponsoring Store Erotica,” he says quietly. It’s a new show being put on by Adult Store Buyer Magazine and Rockman suspects that if all the details can be worked out, the stop after that will be Burning Man.
“We’re hanging in there trying to do special things,” he says.
Ready to tackle anything new and unusual, Rockman also sticks by the tried and true principles to bring out the fans. For that reason, Erotica LA, is one of those special times of the year for him. The show starts next week and Rockman Entertainment will use it to introduce its latest title, Teen Cum Targets #2 as well as the fact that Rocckman Entertainment has begun to distribute T Reel’s movies.
Last year, after receiving letters from overseas, Rockman used Erotica LA to launch a porn-for-troops program. And this year, anyone presenting a military I.D. gets a free movie.
“It’s our way of taking care of the soldiers even though I’m against the war,” says Rockman.
Like T. Reel, Rockman also hopes to add other high quality shooters to the company roster. He calls it “The Rockman Nation,” noting how he took the idea from different sports promotions.
“Maybe by January we’ll have a family with three or four more trustworthy small companies,” he hopes.
We chat about some of the articles written in recent weeks acknowledging porn’s shrinking DVD market. Rockman says it’s no different with him and attributes the decline, in general, to several reasons.
“The Internet has gotten bigger,” he states. “And every year there’s new 18 year olds coming into the market. And they’ve been watching porn on the Internet since they were 13 and 14.”
According to Rockman, the bigger porn companies can also take credit for diluting the product.
“They’ve chopped up their movies every which way saying, okay, we’ll give you five hour movies with 20 girls and 25 scenes. And we’ll sell it to you for a buck.” Then, says Rockman, it doesn’t help matters when the bigger companies create three or four new faces. But still the same company.
“Then they’ll come to the smaller guy and tell him we’ll distribute for you, but we want 50%. It’s called swallowing you up.” To that extent, Rockman says he’s always resisted the urge against selling out.
“I’m still alive- I own everything- I control the front door.” Still, Rockman agrees that studio survival hinges on the Internet and having a presence.
“And that’s part of the problem,” he says. “You’ve got to find a good webmaster, and not someone who’s not ripping you off and taking your money. Good web guys are few and far between and often times you’re lucky if they’ll return your phone call.”
To illustrate part of what he’s just been saying, Rockman shows me a contract he was offered which he terms “insulting.”
“It’s a licensing agreement,” he explains. “I license my titles, I get some cash flow but in the long term I’m selling myself out. And do you think I’m going to get an honest report on sales?” Rockman believes it’s suicide for small companies to enter in such bargains.
On this whole big company issue, I ask Rockman if he’s noticed how at trade shows, the big booths are constructed in ways to intimidate the fans and place a psychological barrier between them and the stars. Stopping short of calling it psychological warfare, Rockman says this is no exaggeration.
“When a fan comes to my booth, though, they’ll have the scent of a woman on their shirt,” he laughs. And for that reason he feels that Erotica LA has been very successful for him.