December 01, 2005 12:33am
Vivid Featured in Forbes Article
Source: Vivid PR
by: Company Press Release
(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- Vivid Entertainment is the subject of a major story in Forbes Magazine on the accelerating growth of the adult industry and what appear to be new efforts by the Federal government to curtail it.
The article appears in the blockbuster 2006 Investment Guide issue of the magazine, which went on sale in late November and remains on newsstands until February 28th.
Headlined "Obscene Profits," the article begins with a full page and a half photo showing Vivid's co-founder/co-chairman Steven Hirsch standing in front of a production set on which Vivid Girl Monique Alexander is performing a sexy scene. The sub-headline on the story reads: "Porn provides windfall profits for Vivid Entertainment and the cable giants that sell its racy fare. Now the government is cracking down for the first time in 20 years." Reporter Seth Lubove begins story with a visit to the production set of the film "Sunny" starring Vivid Girl and former Penthouse Pet of the Year Sunny Leone, which he reports "Will likely produce total retail revenue of $5 million, much of it spread among Vivid's 'white-collar' partners--cable systems owned by Comcast, Time Warner and others, the DirecTV satellite service and hotel networks."
Lubove continues, "'I feel like this company is bubbling to the surface and will explode,' says Steven Hirsch, who co-founded it in 1984 on $20,000, much of it borrowed, and still owns it with two partners. Vivid makes some 60 films a year and releases 30 compilation discs a month. Hirsch now licenses the Vivid name for a vodka line, videogames, a Las Vegas night club, virility-enhancement concoctions, X-rated comic books and even a set of custom car wheels. He flirts with the idea of taking the company public in a few years. 'This is a business, and we treat it like a business,' says Hirsch, 44, whose obsessively neat office sits across the 101 freeway from General Electric's Universal Studios and displays a wall of plasma screens tuned to financial news, sports and dozens of security-camera feeds. His partner, William Asher, who holds diplomas from Dartmouth and the University of Southern California, says Vivid could reap riches on new outlets such as cell phones and iPods. 'Adult is almost too good to be true,' he says."
But, Lubove writes, "The feds are now mounting the biggest attack on porn since the Reagan Administration 20 years ago. Congress is trying to legislate new curbs, while the feds step up enforcement of existing laws, racking up 40 obscenity convictions since 2001. That compares with just four in all eight years of the Clinton Administration."
The article continues, quoting Hirsch, "'these are dangerous, scary times. At the same time, there's been an explosion of technology and delivery platforms, so there's a disconnect with the morality police. Ultimately I believe juries understand people have the right to watch what they want to watch.'"
Lubove concludes his article, "Hirsch vows to continue pushing porn despite the growing crackdown on obscenity. As he sees it, he's only guilty of giving customers what they want. 'These moral crusaders are hiding behind the facade of protecting children, when their real agenda is to get rid of any forms of adult material,' he says."
About Vivid:
The Vivid Entertainment Group is the world's leading adult film company. Founded in 1984, Vivid pioneered the "Vivid Girl" concept, under which top adult film stars are signed to exclusive agreements that are styled on the old Hollywood contract star system. Vivid has always placed heavy emphasis on high quality erotic film entertainment for the couples market. It has created wide brand-name awareness through its films and through a licensing and marketing program that extends to advertising, apparel, book publishing, virility supplements, condoms, snowboards, calendars, comic books and a variety of other products. Most recently, the company licensed an upscale nightclub in the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The company is known for its innovative technological advances such as full function DVDs, a fast growing wireless program that is already active in 20 countries and its popular website Vivid.com. Vivid is a major supplier of content for pay-per-view networks in North America and internationally. The best selling hardcover book How to Have a XXX sex Life: The Ultimate Vivid Guide, was co-authored by the Vivid Girls and published by HarperCollins. For more information contact RM@Vivid.com
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