Escorts vs Porn Actors

[Becket]

A friend who has worked in both arenas tells me that-generally speaking- many who are fine with him working in adult movies do not approve of him being an escort. That is to say, a porn actor is of higher social "status" than an escort. Of course the whole social status scenario is a bit ridiculous. Who really cares? But I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on this topic. I wonder why the one profession would be more highly considered than the other? Or is this just not so?

[maninsoma]

I agree -- who really cares?

 

But if I were to speculate, I'd say that at least the more successful porn "stars" are generally just having sex with other similar looking guys on film. They can therefore be viewed as slutty exhibitionists.

 

Most escorts, however, have sex with men who wouldn't be cast in a porn film unless they owned the studio (Jake Cruise, for example), so I suppose some people might look down on them because they're willing to do that.

[good ol boy]

Elevate you to a status that might prevent you from pursuing another career later in life, possibly... But if that does not matter to you that sure stick with porn. The real money is in escorting. Escorting is more discrete and requires one to interact with people on a social level. Let's face it, the ones who are successful, are not just another pretty face. They are polite, conversant and can deliver in the bedroom. Let the nay sayers have their moment to speak. But, when they go home, they too are logging onto Rentboy and surfing, picking and hiring LOL

[+ poolboy48220]

There was a very heated discussion years and years ago about this on the ATKOL forums, involving Zak Spears. He was very comfortable with his porn but said he's never escort, and was called out on it by many participants who thought it was the same thing. Zak didn't. A lot of it came down to the fact that, in a nutshell, most escort clients don't look like porn stars.

[Decatur Guy]

That pretty well nails it -- porn stars have sex with people I'd hire; escorts have sex with people like me!

 

(But when the escort leaves the business, he does not leave a video trail either).

[Epigonos]

A number of years ago Matthew Rush was interviewed and when asked if he escorted feigned horror. He claimed he had NEVER escorted and NEVER would, after all he was an actor not a wh-re. Interestingly porn actors (“stars”) are a dime a dozen and, all but a limited few have an extremely short shelf life. It would be fascinating to know how much Rush was earning in porn ten years ago as compared to what he is currently earning. Another “charming” aspect of the porn world is what it appears to do to the life expectancy of its actors and “stars”. Just consider the number of porn actors (“stars”) who have died prematurely during the last year.

 

As good-ol-boy stated the real money is in escorting NOT porn. Escorts, IF THEY ARE GOOD, can have a long shelf life. I have personally found that the longer a good escorts practices his profession the better he frequently becomes. Some of these guys are able to earn six figure yearly incomes for two or even three decades.

 

There certainly are exceptions. Josh Weston was an extremely successful porn “star” and also an excellent escort. You can take my word on the latter. Yet even being both he died, very young, in his late thirties. Eric Rhodes is another excellent example. Porn certainly appears to do far more harm to its participants than does escorting.

[SteveEscort]

Porn stars work when the work is there, which isn't too often these days

 

Escorts work everyday if they're popular and know their market

 

Enough said

[BallerBoy]

Here's a better question:

 

What's the income ratio between Porn Actors and decent professional Escorts? Who has the better lifestyle?

 

I'm sure there is no REAL data to support an honest answer, but I'd be curious to know

[devonhunter]

I've done both. I only did the videos, so that people could see me before hiring me. I regarded the video work as a form of advertising I was getting paid to do. The money in video work is not good/consistent. I may still do some scenes here and there while I'm still able, but really don't care if I ever do it again or not; however, I plan to escort for years to come. Sean Cody tried to prevent me from dancing in clubs and seeing clients, because they didn't want "to be associated with that" (that = stripping/escorting = "lesser" modalities of adult entertainment). I called them out on that shit real fast. (But I called them out on lots of other shit too. LOL) The houses like to think they have some kind of power over the models. But SC shouldn't have recruited a 30-something with a PhD, if they were expecting him to act like a 20-year-old who never had a dick in his mouth before. LOL I'd been having gay sex longer than most of their models had been alive when I did my first scenes for them. But anyway, escorting is more fun, more reliable, better paid, more flexible, and far more challenging/rewarding than any of the scenes I ever did. I have repeatedly said in many interviews that I never considered myself a porn model who escorted - I am an escort who has done some scenes.

[Epigonos]

Devon, congratulations on an outstanding post. It was a pleasure reading an opinion by someone who is obviously educated, articulated and has performed in both arenas. To be honest; it also doesn’t hurt that I agree with everything you wrote. So now when do you plan to visit Southern California?

[TruHart1]

I've done both. I only did the videos, so that people could see me before hiring me. I regarded the video work as a form of advertising I was getting paid to do. The money in video work is not good/consistent. I may still do some scenes here and there while I'm still able, but really don't care if I ever do it again or not; however, I plan to escort for years to come. Sean Cody tried to prevent me from dancing in clubs and seeing clients, because they didn't want "to be associated with that" (that = stripping/escorting = "lesser" modalities of adult entertainment). I called them out on that shit real fast. (But I called them out on lots of other shit too. LOL) The houses like to think they have some kind of power over the models. But SC shouldn't have recruited a 30-something with a PhD, if they were expecting him to act like a 20-year-old who never had a dick in his mouth before. LOL I'd been having gay sex longer than most of their models had been alive when I did my first scenes for them. But anyway, escorting is more fun, more reliable, better paid, more flexible, and far more challenging/rewarding than any of the scenes I ever did. I have repeatedly said in many interviews that I never considered myself a porn model who escorted - I am an escort who has done some scenes.

 

Wonderful post Devon. It is great to read the opinion of a truly professional and well-spoken man! Since so many who read and post on this forum are clients of escorts but not always clients of escorts who are porn actors, I think it is wonderful to have the thoughts of a man who has experience in both arenas!

 

TruHart1:cool:

[tom1980]

Reading this thread makes me want to hire Devon . . . too bad I never have reason to travel to NC, and I haven't seen him in Dallas.

[Irtwo]

Interesting to hear that stripping was considered lower rung by those in porn (at least by Sean Cody). I think most civilians would look at stripping as something much mote "innocent" and more socially acceptable than porn.

[elliotpierce]

That pretty well nails it -- porn stars have sex with people I'd hire; escorts have sex with people like me!

 

(But when the escort leaves the business, he does not leave a video trail either).

 

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[elliotpierce]

I've done both. I only did the videos, so that people could see me before hiring me. I regarded the video work as a form of advertising I was getting paid to do. The money in video work is not good/consistent. I may still do some scenes here and there while I'm still able, but really don't care if I ever do it again or not; however, I plan to escort for years to come. Sean Cody tried to prevent me from dancing in clubs and seeing clients, because they didn't want "to be associated with that" (that = stripping/escorting = "lesser" modalities of adult entertainment). I called them out on that shit real fast. (But I called them out on lots of other shit too. LOL) The houses like to think they have some kind of power over the models. But SC shouldn't have recruited a 30-something with a PhD, if they were expecting him to act like a 20-year-old who never had a dick in his mouth before. LOL I'd been having gay sex longer than most of their models had been alive when I did my first scenes for them. But anyway, escorting is more fun, more reliable, better paid, more flexible, and far more challenging/rewarding than any of the scenes I ever did. I have repeatedly said in many interviews that I never considered myself a porn model who escorted - I am an escort who has done some scenes.

 

This post DEFINITELY opened my eyes to many things.

First of all, that was incredibly well-written. My commends. Honestly, I had no idea porn actors weren't paid very well. Most of my background comes from fraternization with female escorts, some of which have acted as well as escorting and I've heard many mixed reviews. Many have said they did GREAT financially in porn as opposed to escorting, while others have deemed escorting as their most successful prodigy between the two. I have actually seen some of your work and read some of your reviews and from what I can see, you're a pretty well-respected man, and definite props to obtaining a PhD. I can't count the amount of times someone has tried to get over on me just because they think I'm young and naive; that is until I bring out my inner physics major and/or street smarts. Anyhow, thanks for shedding light on the subject! I definitely enjoyed reading.

[+ ArVaGuy]

Excellent post Devon. I well remember when you "called out" Sean Cody on their practices.

 

One more aspect to consider in this porn vs escort is income. An escort is going to make much more money for himself than any exclusive porn actor. We all know porn does not pay as well as people imagine. A porn actor is paid by the scene and its the studio that makes the money for years to come.

[adriano46]

I will add my 2 cents to all the praise for Devon, which is well-deserved as one who (for me) sets the bar high for escorts and Elliot Pierce who has appeared recently in ads comes across as someone very interesting and worth watching (and catching up to in hus travels up and down the Middle-Southeast coast).

 

Recently spent better part of an afternoon with an old friend who did both porn and escorting and now works in massage. He admitted the porn work is not reliable nor does it pay well (hell a studio is producing a dildo of his enormous dick and he gets only 2%!!!). While he does have a porn and print "trail" - as he moves towards returning to school and the work world, the porn/escort side fades.

 

I still find seasoned over-30 escorts the real treasures to hire and savor.

[Steven_Draker]

It would be interesting to hear the motivations of a full time mainstream porn star or someone who does porn, but opposed to escorting.

[elliotpierce]

I will add my 2 cents to all the praise for Devon, which is well-deserved as one who (for me) sets the bar high for escorts and Elliot Pierce who has appeared recently in ads comes across as someone very interesting and worth watching (and catching up to in hus travels up and down the Middle-Southeast coast).

 

Well that is very kind of you! Thanks a lot. :-)

[Phil_musc]

Both professions may involve sex but the skill set to succeed in each is different, as has been mentioned before. As for the "status" of either and any sort of higher vs lower - does anyone really still think like that? It sounds so "Downton Abbey" to me.

[tom1980]

To the extent a status divide exists, I think it's based in large part on the fact that prostitution is illegal in most states and counties in the US. If prostitution was legal, then there would likely be less difference in how escorts and porn actors are viewed. There would be a stratification of escorts based on what licenses they hold, where they work, how they advertise, how much they charge, etc., but that already exists. Just look at the attitude many members of this forum display toward those who advertise on craigslist or backpage as opposed to rentboy, rentmen or men4rentnow.

[good ol boy]

Devon Hunter was just here in Philadelphia ahhhhhhh I should have taken the opportunity to spend some quality time with him. COME BACK SOON DEVON.

[nate_sf]

I’ll add my voice to the chorus of accolades given to Devon for his insight here. He’s nailed it!

 

In my own limited experience in porn, I’d definitely encountered the bias against escorting. The first time it really hit me was when there was a guy in one of the kink videos who was a master with ropes and knots for bondage. He talked about how much he loves and gets off tying guys up, so after the shoot I asked him if he did it professionally. I was thinking about clients I’d seen who wanted to be tied up, and how bringing this guy in could be a real bonus. He looked at me with a mix of dismay and irritation and said, “No way, that would be prostitution.” I was dumbfounded.

 

Observing things a bit more in later shoots, I heard a number of the performers slag escorts. Those who did escort (since I’d seen their ads) kept it to themselves. When they did discuss it, they talked in code, even to each other. Once I gave a big-name guy a ride home after the shoot, and in making small talk about what we were up to that weekend he touched on the subject, but also talked around it… basically describing a number of appointments he had lined up, but in a really indirect and oblique way. He may have even mentioned the money he was making, but it was all very roundabout. I said a few things to let on that I had an appointment or two as well, but it didn’t move the conversation out of that coded mode.

 

Another thing I’ve encountered is that some porn performers are “out” to their families back home. I’d doubt there are many who are, but a couple I talked to (including my bondage-crazed friend) said their mom knew they were doing the videos. I doubt mom and dad had actually seen the videos themselves, but they were aware of them and might have at least seen a cover or promo material. On the other hand, I can’t think of any escorts I know whose parents know they do this work. As tom1980 mentions, probably a big part of this is that escorting is illegal most places, whereas a porn performer can claim that although he is outside the boundaries of conventional society he is not doing anything illegal.

 

So there’s definitely a pecking order, but it’s not related to the money, stability or longevity of the endeavor. It’s inverse to the financial benefits and the longevity of the career. A good escort can go for years and years, if they’ve got the right skills and are good running their business can make a decent living. Porn performers don’t make what they used to, and their shelf-life is limited, and yet they carry the prestige in those circles.

 

And Steve was basically able to say the same thing in three short sentences!

[Guest]

Well, it's certainly the case that porn actors generally get to have sex with guys who are usually far hotter than the average escort's clients. That being said, I've known a number of escorts who are in the business to supplement their income while working up to bigger and better things (such as college students, or artists and so on who are trying to get their break). If I wanted to apply for a number of jobs later, I would rather not have a bunch of porn flicks around which could hamper my career climb. I would guess that an escort career would be easier to leave in the past. Making porn movies is not as much fun as it sounds. I couldn't imagine myself as a college student being directed in a porn flick, but I could imagine myself doing an escort job or two per week. I guess it all depends on how much a person would hate showing a good time to someone to whom he's not physically attracted. There are all parts of our jobs to which we don't look forward. An hour in the sack with someone one doesn't find attractive isn't so awful to some people. I honestly don't see what the big deal is. You're not committing yourself to them, after all.

[Keenan]

A friend who has worked in both arenas tells me that-generally speaking- many who are fine with him working in adult movies do not approve of him being an escort. That is to say, a porn actor is of higher social "status" than an escort. Of course the whole social status scenario is a bit ridiculous. Who really cares? But I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on this topic. I wonder why the one profession would be more highly considered than the other? Or is this just not so?

 

I don't agree that a porn actor would be of a "higher social status" than an escort. In fact I'm talking with a porn company I'll leave anonymous for right now about filming for them and my hope is that by having a few scenes out there it will help with my escorting career.

 

Keenan