Ok, thank you for taking the time to chat with me. The first thing I would love to know is your “origin story”. How, why and when did you get into the adult business?
My first entry into adult content was waaaaay back in 2003. A small local dvd producer was looking for models – he loved big tits – and he contacted my wife to do a shoot. We talked it over and she accepted, and then he asked her if she knew a guy she would be comfortable shooting with. I’ve always been a bit of an exhibitionist and loved performing as a theater lover, so I happily volunteered. He christened me as Big Dick Johnson because he thought it was a great name nobody had ever used before, plus at 6’7” and 280# the name was pretty accurate!
I had always been fascinated with porn since I first discovered it as a teenager, and it had always been a fantasy. I was lucky enough to have married an adventurous woman who shared my love of trying new things, so it was a natural transition for us to jump in with both feet. It didn’t hurt that at the time finances were running low and the quick cash for something we wanted to do anyway was very appealing, especially since he was catering to a small, niche audience. We figured if we only did it once, it was unlikely to be discovered by anyone.
A lot of men fantasize about being in your shoes. As a seasoned performer, producer & director… what would be some advice you’d give to men looking to get into the business. What are some of the do’s & don’ts?
The biggest key to what I would call my success is having respect for my costars and understanding that consent is the big key to having a good working relationship. I’ve worked really hard at building a reputation of being good to the people I’m fortunate enough to work with.
It’s not necessarily about having the best body, the biggest dick, or the biggest social media presence, there’s a lot of intangible factors that makes a guy desirable to work with. I’ve had a lot of success in working with female talent I had no clue I could ever have the opportunity just by being respectful to the people around me.
As for as a do and don’t list…..
Do – ask each performer you work with what is on their list of activities that they like and don’t like, and respect that list. Be specific and open in communications. Be on time to shoots and projects. Pay close attention to hygiene – wash your butthole and if you have to pee, wash up diligently before it goes in a performer’s mouth!!! Get tested frequently and pay attention to industry standards. Be patient – female performers have a huge backlog of messages, and not responding might just be out of sheer numbers. Build an online pretense with verified accounts on different platforms. Show other performers that you’re a serious content creator and not just “a guy with a camera”.
Don’t – haggle on rates. When a performer gives you their rates, say yes or no, don’t try to get a bargain. All that does is give them no incentive to perform at their best. If you feel it’s too expensive, move on and find someone else who fits your budget. Don’t be disrespectful – the bare minimum you can give someone is your respectful attention. Don’t try to be someone you’re not – this is all a performance, but be genuine in what you do. Don’t try too hard – let the business come to you. Don’t be too hard on yourself – we all have bad days and performances we aren’t proud of. You have to be able to move on and put those behind you.
Above everything else – “No” is a complete sentence, even if it’s right in the middle of a scene. Having consent once doesn’t mean it’s consent forever.
On the producer/director side, be very deliberate in choosing camera angles. Ask your performers how they like to be captured, they tend to know how they look their best, and the more comfortable a performer is, the better performance they give. All the same things above apply as well, just add in learning camera angles and lighting techniques. Never stop learning how to Mae your product better on the technical side.
What are some of the biggest changes you’ve noticed from the time you started in the adult business / industry to now?
Since starting 23 years ago, I also had a long break from 2009 until just a year or so ago, so the changes appeared more drastic than as the gradually happened. The biggest one is that while there are still the big companies that are putting out tons of quality content, the rise of the content creator has really come into focus.
Back when I retired there were a number of people with individual sites, myself included, but it required lots of overhead and knowledge, from building a site through html, running affiliate programs, having individual servers to contain all the data, and maintaining different quality of videos since many of the consumers were still on dialup internet of all things! Today with the proliferation of fan sites and tube sites, it’s certainly easier to put content out, but it does mean there’s a much larger base of people out there trying to make it in the industry in some small way.
I love that women in the industry have been able to take control of their own images and content to have a long term plan for their future and content.it takes patience and time and effort, but rather than executives and studios making millions off of scenes that women get paid for once, the performers themselves have more opportunities to monetize their own work for years. The big studios still have a great place in the industry for the people who don’t want the headaches of running their own content, and for giving a large, established platform for the performers that still like having more of the “porn star” persona than being a content creator.
As a side note on the production side, today’s technology also has made the content creator side very helpful. Digital cameras and video options, heck even phones have become so high resolution that the entry point for equipment is much lower than it used to be. Back in the day internal hard drives in cameras were just getting going, so most of our content was still done on tape! That made it much more difficult to share content when that was part of the terms. Today you can get an external hard drive and transfer the data in minutes, so you can make sure you never leave a shoot without getting your content to take with you. That’s a dramatic difference from going to a content event, shooting for a couple days, and then waiting a couple months hoping to get something in the mail. I was at a couple content events where I never got any of the content at all, and one where they sent it out fully edited with their watermarks and music playing in the background, which made it much less desirable to use.
Most women are shown the glitz & glam of being an adult star but there is a dark side. As someone that has worked with many women and has a wife in the business… I’m sure you’ve heard your share of horror stories. What are some of the things females should know before getting into this line of work, and what should they look out for once in?
The obvious and stereotypical answer to the pitfalls is the creepy producer, and that’s the obvious and stereotypical answer for a reason. The number one pitfall for women in the industry is predatory men. Thankfully with women being more in control of their own content and careers, the producer issue seems to be less of a problem than it used to be, but it certainly still exists. My wife was victimized by a producer who wouldn’t pay her until she blew him back in the first go around, and she still hesitates to work for anyone other than herself to this day. It wasn’t violent, but it was still scary and it was absolutely assault. Whenever she talks to a woman new to the industry, those are the first two things she tells them – own your own content, and never be alone with a producer. The really sad part is the rest of that shoot was amazing for her – she really clicked with the male talent and to this day it’s one of her favorite scenes, but it will always be associated with the SA when she thinks about it, and that’s awful for her. Even when I’m shooting female talent, she asks every woman to bring along an escort, and if they don’t have one, she makes sure she’s doing the camera work and making sure they feel safe and comfortable. It’s not that she’s worried about me, but she wants to help them create safe habits if she can.
Predatory behavior isn’t confined to just SA however, it shows up in multiple ways. Some men who “help you start your career” can use that to extract “gratitude content” from woman. Young women new to the industry can form an attachment to these types of men and get taken advantage of for years before realizing it was even happening. Don’t get me wrong, I have close friendships with many of my female costars, but I try to be very respectful of their time and schedules, and shoot with any of them if they want to, but I want to make sure they are getting at least as much out of it as I am. Symbiotic relationships that benefit both parties are wonderful, just watch that it doesn’t slip into something that’s only beneficial to one party.
The third type that’s just as emotionally manipulative is the boyfriend who sees how much money you’re making, and then wants to “manage” your business for you. My wife was warned of this sooooo many times even early on in her career about me until the other ladies realized I was working 2-3 other jobs at the same time and not living off of her income. I love helping further her career, but I’m doing it for her, not for me. We have a wonderful partnership that’s very equally based and mutually beneficial. I certainly wouldn’t have the opportunities within this industry without her, and I give her recognition for that at every opportunity. Other men don’t always feel the same way – they can feel entitled to an awful lot, from lack of bodily autonomy to completely living off of your income – it’s great to have a partner who is supportive, but you shouldn’t be supporting him. I’ve seen too many of these relationships develop into more of a pimping situation than I care to remember.
Outside of that, the other main pitfalls are social and familial ostracism. While sex work has come a long ways in recent years towards being considered as real work, there’s still a long ways to go. You have to strongly consider how your family, friends, and community will react if it’s found out, and how you will handle that. Not everyone gets rich and famous from doing adult work, but once it’s on the internet, it’s there forever. If you think it could cost you everything from a family and community aspect, how would you handle that? Can you be open and honest with your closest people about how you’re making your money when they ask you how your rent gets paid? There are lots of questions to ask yourself, and you should have a plan in place should you ever need it.
I don’t say any of these things to determine people from joining the adult industry, because I absolutely love it. Making content is a passion for me, and I love the performance aspect as well as the community that surrounds making the content. My best friends have come from within the porn community, and that’s what really keeps us involved. Just be aware of the things I’ve discussed above, and find your people – there are many good resources and people available, you just have to find the ones you trust. Also, don’t kick yourself if you trust someone you find out you wish you hadn’t – it happens to all of us. The entire industry is a labyrinth of different people and personalities, but the prize in the center is worthwhile if you can make it work for you!able
My last thought is many people jump in assuming they will be the next big thing, and be able to quit their jobs and do content full time immediately. That rarely happens – it’s possible, but it’s like getting drafted into the NBA right out of high school. You have to have the exact right blend of physical attributes, the mental capacity to handle adversity, a strong business sense, and an incredible drive to learn and adapt and develop a career path all while spending every waking hour working at your craft and staying relevant to the audience. People are fickle, and what they love one day could disappear the next. I’ve seen way too many people making tens of thousands of dollars a month have that revenue drop dramatically with no plan for that happening. Always be looking forward, and pace yourself!
One thing I want to compliment you on is the production value of your content. Everything I’ve seen is well lit and skillfully blocked. The women look fantastic and the action is high energy.. It is obviously produced by someone that cares about the final product. It’s also not the norm for most producers and content creators these days. What are your thoughts on the majority of today’s content being released and what advice would you give to producers and creators to help them step up their game?
Thank you so much for the compliment! I try so hard to create a quality product, and I am happy that it’s being noticed! I have been very fortunate to have some amazing mentors on the production side from the very beginning. I’ve been able to take little pieces of what I have learned from multiple sources and blend it into what I guess you can call the BDJ method of shooting. Honestly some of the best advice I have ever gotten was early on when I was learning to run the camera, and was just plainly told, “Put into the viewscreen what you would want to be watching i you were the one looking at it” – that’s stuck with me ever since. Along the way I have learned a lot about camera quality, lenses, lighting techniques and shadowing, pacing, and so much more that’s led to putting out content that I am really proud of. As for the women – I must be either very lucky or have a bit of skill on choosing my costars, because they have all been amazing to work with! From the long time veteran performers to the brand new to the industry ladies I have shot with, they have all care about their appearance and performance. I can honestly say in 20+ years of creating content that I can’t think of one that I wouldn’t love to work with again.
As far as today’s content, I am not one to be critical of other people’s visions, as there seems to be a style and audience for just about anything. I’m still relatively new back into the industry, so I sure won’t downplay what anyone else does that’s working for them! That being said, I do value care and detail put into a shoot, so if I am seeing a lot of clutter in the background, or content with people that look like they would rather be anywhere else than in front of the camera, it’s a definite no for me. I really don’t have much time to watch much content these days as most of my spare time is either creating, editing, or organizing our own content, and I am spending all my time being critical of what I am doing so I can improve my own. As far as advice, I’ll say what I notice in my own when I am looking too carefully….. 1. Find the penetration shots, especially the initial penetration – if possible add in some facial expression shots to give the full scope of what’s going on. 2. Lighting, lighting, lighting – this is something I am working hard all the time to figure out. You want to have plenty of light, but not so much it washes out a performer. Be careful of too many shadows in the background as they can be distracting from the action. 3. Try to have costars with good off camera chemistry – bad (or even neutral) vibes off camera can lead to unenthused performances on camera. 4. Take the time to block a scene before getting started – have a plan of attack. Know what actions and positions you want to get in before the cameras roll – it leads to more natural transitions. 5. Watch out for mirrors! I have had a few shoots in recent months where I’ve made my way into the shot as a camera person because I was focused on the action and lost sight of the full body mirror on the opposite wall.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have anything you’d like to add, the floor is yours. Also, please tell us where we can see your content. Drop your links and I’ll make sure they’re all posted.
I appreciate the opportunity to share some thoughts and insights, and I guess I’d just like to say this is a wonderful community when people like you reach out to give smaller creators a platform to be heard. I’m a huge fan of your work as well!
As of right now I’m working on making my content available in more places. The best spots right now are:
BD Johnson Links
