The following interview was conducted with Mark Spiegler on 27 May 2017.
Ethical.porn: What does ethical porn mean to you?
Mark Spiegler: Ethical porn means to me that [producers] respect the talent on the set. It’s really basically how it’s shot, and I think that — not always — but that will often shine through in the final product.
Also, a lot of people know who the more ethical players in the business are and who the less ethical ones are in terms of booking in the girls. From an agent’s perspective, we have to balance it, just like anything else in life, because it’s a business. You have to do business with some of these people. Some of them you may like, some of them you may not like, but for the sake of the girls, we have to do business with them — for the sake of the girls’ livelihoods. And just like any other livelihood, you have to make concessions sometimes. It’s never gonna be strictly the way you want it.
So when you are making concessions, it’s obviously a process where you involve the performers — you throw it all out there, and everyone weighs in?
Here’s the thing… A lot of the time, especially if the girl is new, they don’t really necessarily know what’s coming. Like if we’re gonna have girls work for Kink.com — who are actually pretty ethical, but to someone watching who may know nothing about BDSM… They treat the girls really nice, but before I let anyone work for them I have them watch [their content], you know, to get a sense of what’s coming. Because even though what you see on screen is not how it’s made, you get more of a sense. Some other people will just throw the girls in there, and they don’t care.
It also depends on who they’re working with. Sometimes I will tell [performers] “This person is more picky, don’t take it personally. This one’s easier going…” I want them to go into a shoot with the most possible information.
What happens when, in spite of all the in-advance prep that’s been done, someone gets to a shoot and is like “No, this is not for me”?
Well it depends. Like I said, I try to prepare them first and also as we [continue working together]. I won’t have a girl do something super hardcore in the beginning. You want to get a sense of [performers] and slowly see how they do.
But also, I tell everyone, if there’s a problem just call me. Don’t wait until afterward… And sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes people feel under pressure that, you know — “We’re on camera, we gotta get the product done.” — that they’ll just go through whatever and complain afterwards. But, you know, once they know us and the business, they know to just call us. With us, we’re pretty strict — with the companies but also with the girls. And so, the companies know we are gonna be fair both ways, and we don’t usually have too many problems.
The problems that do arise, where do they generally come from?
Where the problems arise — it’s kind of our business to filter those out. I mean, there are particular people that we won’t book the girls with… Like Max Hardcore — we’d never book girls with him. That’s our job — to try as best we can to filter out the negative stuff for the girls.
What would your response be to someone who felt it wasn’t your job or right to be a filter in that way?
I’d say that I’m the one that’s been here 20-something years, and I know better than probably they do. And for the girls, especially at the beginning, I know better than the girls do. So, it is my job.
If our goal is for a girl to have a long career — you know, nothing is ever gonna be 100% smooth no matter what job it is — we try to anticipate. We try to get to know our girls. We don’t take a lot of girls, so I know each one kinda personally. I know what they’ll do and what they won’t do, what they’re comfortable with and what they’re not comfortable with, so a lot of the times we can filter stuff out. And that, I believe, is our job.
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A San Fernando Valley native, Mark Spiegler began working in the adult industry in the 1980s as a PA, then producer. He founded Spiegler Girls in 2003, which is often regarded as the industry’s top talent agency today. Spiegler was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2012. Contact Mark Spiegler via SpieglerGirls.com.
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