CHATSWORTH, Calif.—For the producers of HBO’s Entourage to lend a little verisimilitude to Sasha Grey’s portrayal of herself on the show, it was only natural that they would eventually enlist other adult talent to appear. (Albeit any concern over accuracy apparently took a swan dive out the window when it came to the pivotal plot point of Sasha’s commanding $200,000 for a gangbang movie.)

In September 12th’s season-closing episode, 2007 AVN Male Performer of the Year Tommy Gunn fills that slot, so to speak … though unlike Sasha, he plays an altogether fictional character. The name of the character—an ex-boyfriend of Sasha’s working with her in the lavishly budgeted gangbang movie—happens, coincidentally enough, to be Vince; that, of course, being the name of the show’s main character, played by Adrian Grenier, with whom Sasha took up in episode five of this season.

“What’s funny was, I got a call from somebody who said, ‘They’re looking for a Tommy Gunn-type porn star,’” Gunn told AVN. “A guy who’s rough around the edges and somebody who can intimidate Vince.”

Marking his first outing on a mainstream production, Gunn compared the operation to those in Porn Valley as being “tremendously organized, and a lot more people. But everybody was tremendously kind, and even expressed, ‘Yo, I’m a fan!’ The experience was great. I just hope it’s the beginning of some other stuff, because I’m just yearning for more of a challenge.”

Gunn was quick to note that in no way does he harbor any intentions of turning his back on the XXX business.

“The adult industry is wonderful, but I just don’t feel like there’s enough things that are challenging,” he explained. “I’ll always come from adult, I’ll always know where I came from. I’m just going to really gear up to try to keep this momentum going and try to get well received in the mainstream. The lines are getting more and more blurred, and we’re seeing it happen. I just hope mainstream does their homework, in the respect that when they do call upon somebody from the adult industry it’s not some guy who just started, or a female for that matter.

“Some of the people in the industry could care less—’Yeah, I’m in porn ’cause I want to be in porn.’ And that’s great, and me too, but for myself, this many years later, I just see it as a natural progression for me to try and move to the next level,” Gunn asserted.

Some might hastily laugh off such ambitions as so much pie-in-the-sky folly, but let’s be perfectly frank here: if The Rock can do it—or Ice Cube, or, well, Sasha Grey—why in the world can’t Tommy Gunn?

“People ain’t even ready for what I’m capable of,” he proclaimed, “in terms of, not even the acting, [but] the physicality of certain things. I want to be an action guy. I want to do the action stuff, the Jason Statham, Crank-style stuff, and I can do that. I’ve been real quiet about a lot of things because of a number of reasons, but I’m hooked up with top Hollywood stunt guys and a Toronto-based guy, the guy who just did Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. These are the relationships that I’m cultivating and they have told me, ‘We see a mainstream appeal to you.’ And the way the times are happening, it’s pop culture for porn stars to be crossing over.”

Again, Gunn stressed that, “I’m trying to be a spokesperson for our industry, not say, ‘Oh, I hate it and want to get out.’ That’s certainly not how I feel. It’s just, from an actor’s or an artist’s point of view, there’s a thing called ‘unfulfilled.’ It’s like, the day I won Male Performer, I was already like, ‘What’s the next thing?’ Everybody else is like, ‘Revel in this, enjoy this moment,’ and I am, and I have, but I just hope that I continually get the opportunity. And as a guy, it’s tough, because we’re always fighting for recognition and some sort of acknowledgement in our industry, ’cause more often than not, we go by the wayside. But I’m still here. I’m still relevant.”

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—When mainstream television embraces the adult world, it’s usually the shapely form of a top female star that gets caught in the clinch. But this weekend one of Porn Valley’s studs will feel the love instead.

On Sunday night at 10:30 p.m., when the season finale of Entourage airs on HBO, Sasha Grey won’t be the only adult star sharing the small screen with series star Adrian Grenier. Cast as Grey’s former fiancé is multiple AVN Award-winning star Tommy Gunn.

“It’s about time that mainstream sees what the other side of the adult world can deliver,” says Marcus London of London Gunn Films. “Tommy is no stranger to performing and is certainly more than ready to take on prime-time television.”

Gunn is one of the few highly recognizable adult male stars to cross over—and as London notes, he’s more than ready, with various dramatic roles under his belt, so to speak. He did a dramatic turn as the title character in Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge, and also had meaty parts in Adam & Eve’s Rawhide 2: Dirty Deeds and The 8th Day.

Gunn and London, his business partner in London Gunn Films, are set to street the first-ever 3D adult film released on Blu-ray: Cummin’ at You 3D. The film nominated for six AVN Awards, will be hitting shelves soon in limited quantities. This sets another milestone for London and Gunn, who brought fans the first interactive 3D adult experience, and they promise more surprises will be coming at us.

For more, read the interview with Tommy Gunn that ran last week on AVN.com.

Tommy Gunn and Marcus London from London Gunn Films. Photo: Allison Duck

The old Field of Dreams quote, “If you build it, he will come” takes on a whole new meaning when applied to the 3D technology seen at the Adult Entertainment Expo and the Consumer Electronics Show, running concurrently in Las Vegas this weekend.

The world of adult entertainment always follows technological advances as it has with the advent of VHS tapes, DVDs and the Internet. With blockbusters like Avatar and new TVs on display at CES increasing the popularity of 3D, this technology for the home is fast approaching, and the world of pornography is right on its heels.

Last October, porn star, director and producer Tommy Gunn introduced the world’s first 3D interactive adult film:Tommy Gunn’s Cummin’ at You, which was nominated for six AVN awards this year. Now the porn pioneer has teamed up with friend and occasional co-star Marcus London to create London Gunn Films, a company targeted at releasing only 3D films.

London said, “We realized that after Avatar and the amount of movies that have come out this past year in 3D, that this is the future.”

Their initial venture into 3D porn was a risky one, though, as the technology is not widespread just yet. There are some 3D compatible TVs on the market today though most of the major manufacturers stated at CES this year that they are estimating a mid-year release of their newest 3D compatible devices. Their appeal should be massive if 3D-film ticket sales are any indication, but it is anyone’s guess if they will become as popular and prevalent as DVD players and Blu-ray players became in the years following their releases.

This was a tester to see how the market and the business would take it and welcome this kind of technology,” London said. “So far, so good. Obviously it’s new technology and people have been scared about how it would work on their TV or how they would play it.”

He added, “There are many TVs out there now that are 3D-ready and they’re not that expensive. The one we brought to AEE to show our film, we just walked into a Best Buy and bought it for $700. And it’s a super thin Samsung flat screen. When you consider that price, that’s fairly cheap for a 42″ TV that can accommodate 3D. We also picked up an Acer, a 3D capable laptop, for only $800.”

The technology does exist and the major companies estimate sales of 3D units in the millions in the coming years. Vizio announced this year at CES that they are going to have a 65″ XVT Pro 3D Full HDTV available in the first half of this year. The 72-inch model with wifi access and 3D capability is estimated to run about $3,500.

Once these products are widely available, the other variable is how quickly customers will make the switch to 3D adult films. London explained, “Seeing is believing. If you haven’t seen it, you’re not sure what it is. It’s a new technology and it’s going to take time for people to open their arms and say ‘I want your 3D.’”

London’s business partner Tommy Gunn noted, “Our films can be viewed in 2D as well, but when the time comes, and it’s very close, we’ll have a 3D library when the 3D content is being sought after because the 3D technology is there. We’ll have it.”

Gunn explained that the creation of a 3D adult film is a lot more complicated than the traditional format. “It is more knowing the science behind it. A typical DP — not the DP we usually speak of in our business, but the director of photography — has to be a stereoscopic director of photography. It’s a different ball game. You can’t just tape two cameras together and make it a 3D,” Gunn said.

London and Gunn got an early start in the 3D porn industry but newcomers are seeking to make their marks as well. Lance B. Johnson, president of BadGirls in 3D, also attended AEE to promote his new website, BadGirlsIn3D.com, which launched over the weekend.

While London and Gunn plan to corner the market on 3D adult films, Johnson’s company is focused on web technology and selling the products to accompany it. Johnson explained, “We’re selling a complete in-home, turnkey package which includes a 60″ 3D compatible Mitsubishi TV, two pairs of active shutter glasses, a micro PC with a stereo player and all the cables you need to plug it in for $3,999. We’re also selling an adult subscription service for our online content.”

Johnson plans to branch out into longer films once the technology is readily available for consumers. “Right now we are just shooting scenes but we are toying with the idea of shooting a 3D horror porn because horror is obviously a very popular subject matter for 3D movies. Perhaps science-fiction porn.”

That is probably music to the ears of some of the sci-fi loving technophiles down the hall at CES.

File photo shows participants wearing special glasses for a 3D TV watch a 3D movie through LG Electronics' 3D TV during the company's 3D television strategy presentation at LG Electronics' R&D centre in Seoul December 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhuanet) — Many TV giants are displaying a new generation of TVs — the 3D TVs, in one of the biggest electronic shows in the world, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, to boost the market, according to news reports on Monday.

Panasonic expects to sell 1 million 3D TVs in 2010, hoping the new technology will satisfy consumers’ latest curiosity.

“It’s a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this,” said Panasonic’s Elsuke Tsuyuzaki.

Many CTOs eye this year as really a breakthrough year for the 3D screen technology, as the latest 3D movie “Avatar” has topped world box office for weeks since its release.

According to statistics from the movie industry, this year around 20 out of 170 movies will be made in 3D, double the number from last year.

TV corporations will not stand aside and see the boom in the 3D movie market, as pointed out by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of Dreamworks Animation, “While 3D has taken many years to penetrate in the movie theatres, I believe 2010 is the year it will begin to enter the living rooms.”

First, let’s start a year ago. Stepping off the plane at Las Vegas Airport you knew it was bad back in 2009 when a line of cabs stood waiting. It was, as we walked the almost empty halls, a sure sign that the consumer electronics industry was in terrible trouble and that bode poorly for the media biz, the ad biz and the economy in general. That was 2009.

So if CES is something of the embodiment of an economic Ground Hog peeking its head out to see if winter is over, then this year’s Punxsutawney Phil did not disappoint.

Stepping off the tarmac and into the almost impossibly long taxi line, you knew that CES was BACK Baby! And three days did not disappoint. There’s more innovation, more new tech, more software, more hardware and more platforms. Its almost as if one business ended and new one began.

While it would be easy — and fun — to provide a laundry list of new innovations that have turned the corner, instead I’m going to tell you my three most significant observations and, I hope, help you catch the fire that I did along with 112,000 other people jammed into the convention center

Let’s start with the one that everyone is writing about and see if we can debunk a few things. Last year, there was a rumble (not quite yet a buzz) about 3D. And I wrote a pretty snarky thing about smell-a-vision and how 3D would never happen. Well, I was wrong. And way wrong, for reasons I didn’t entirely understand.

It’s easy to tie Avatar to the explosion in 3D but that of course isn’t right. LG, Moto, Sharp, Sony and all the other flat screen folks didn’t rush 3D to market after the holiday box office. They’d all bet big a year ago and this was the coming out party. Avatar’s huge success certainly makes it look sensible in hindsight, but the fact is — this IS the next big thing in home entertainment.

Why?

Two reasons that you wouldn’t expect. First gaming. Games are already digital worlds. Shifting a 2D game to a 3D game is easy and will add a huge new immersive experience that will pump up sales of screens (both computer and flatscreen) and increase the sales of the software. So gaming will drive 3D. But the one thing I saw that totally blew my mind was a 3D Menu system by Motorola. It was so cool to see all your shows, music, pictures and such in a ‘cover flow format’ floating in midair. I wanted to reach out and tough the navigation. And that can’t be far behind. Very sci-fi, very cool.

Second, the D-Link Boxee Box. After wading through crowds in the hall, the Boxee preso didn’t disappoint. Once again Boxee was demoed by volunteer fans (though this year with a bit more show biz polish and cool tattoos). Boxee is driving huge anticipation for the device, the first over the top solution for web video to the flat screen that will sell in Best Buy. It also won the annual “Last Gadget Standing” competition at CES. Nice job Team Boxee.

Third. Sony. Yes the screens and 3D was amazing — but that isn’t where I’d point you. For me the big changes were in content gathering at Sony. They, for the first time, announced that they’re going to let Memory Stick slowly fade away and let the SD card standard emerge. This is important as it clears the way for the ‘us and them’ battle over memory in consumer devices to end. About time. Secondly, Sony Consumer showed its first EVER device with an XLR mike connector. May not seem like a big deal to you, but a consumer camera that records to flash memory with XLR connectors is a pro camera by any measure. And at a below 4k price point, this is a major shift for consumer gear to get serious. The last piece at Sony is the Bloggy. Ok bad name, and it replaces the Webby — but here too Sony is stepping up with a $169 camera that will give Flip a run for its money. Cisco may have hoped that Sony was going to cede the sub $200 video camera market, but it appears that’s not going to happen.

Sony is bringing its Pro Video firepower to the folks who are capturing and sharing consumer video content in a big way. And that only means good things for the future of video on the web.

And for bonus points. This is the year of the Reader/iSlate tablet thingy. Amazon didn’t show anything new (or if they did I couldn’t find it) but Apple is just days away from a throw down. Don’t let all other entrants distract you Apple/Amazon is the battle to watch — as they’ve both got the largest collection of content and publisher relationships to bring to their platforms.

Overall, CES 2010 has to be one of the strongest shows I’ve ever seen. There’s a significant shift as businesses that used to be separate: content and technology — find that they are now very much part of a shared ecosystem. Players like Sony, Apple and Amazon may seem as different as companies can be, but in the world going forward they’re going to find themselves more and more alike. That’s the next chapter in the evolution of media — and one worth watching closely.

The porn industry has seen better days.

DVD sales are down. Internet piracy is up. And there are thousands of online sites where people can watch whatever they want for free — sending the message that porn’s value is zero.

The technology it helped popularize is now costing it millions, so porn companies are on the hunt for the next big thing.

Many people don’t realize that adult entertainment has been responsible for some of the biggest technological shifts in their living rooms over the past 20 years. When Beta and VHS were duking it out for market relevance, the VHS won the battle chiefly because porn companies backed the format, offering low-cost tapes. Similarly, CD-ROMs, DVDs and (arguably) the Internet all grew at faster paces because of the industry’s contributions.

These days, the studios are exploring a variety of burgeoning technologies — each with its pros and cons.

“Moving forward, I think it’s going to be all about IPTV,” says Steven Hirsch, co-founder of Vivid Entertainment. “When your TV and computer become the same thing, I think it’s an absolute game changer.”

IPTV — short for Internet Protocol Television — allows programming to be delivered online, rather than via traditional methods. Most IPTV sites, like YouTube and Hulu.com, have focused on delivering to the PC audience. But new TVs are coming with Internet ports – allowing manufacturers to feature apps such as Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” option or Amazon on Demand.

Hirsch thinks it’s only a matter of time before adult entertainment helps drive demand for those sets.

The problem, though, is that the industry will have to convince manufacturers, such as Sony, Sanyo and Panasonic, to feature their films — which is bound to be an uphill battle. Internet-enabled sets do not offer a typical Web surfing experience.

“There may be (resistance),” Hirsch notes. “Whenever there’s a new technology, there’s resistance when it comes to adult entertainment, but as long as proper age verification is in place, I think it’s just a matter of time.”

The coming flood of 3D TVs is also on porn’s radar. To date, there’s only one 3D porn film on the market – from Pure Play Media. The company is looking to quickly expand its selection, though, saying it plans to shoot a new 3D film every quarter moving forward.

Other adult entertainment companies are taking a more cautious approach to 3D. The coming sets’ dependence on specialized glasses, they say, could be a notable barrier that prevents people from buying one. But once a manufacturer comes out with a good set that doesn’t require glasses, they say, look for an onslaught of 3D porn.

For Immediate Release

Contact: dusty@dustyink.com

Chatsworth, CA. – “Tommy Gunn’s Cummin’ At You” streeted Monday October 19th to record pre-order demand by retailers and has taken critics by storm, garnishing rave reviews from top adult industry critics. The blockbuster film’s distributor, Pure Play Media, along with co-producers Tommy Gunn and Marcus London are thrilled with the outstanding response for their highly anticipated, interactive 3D film, “Tommy Gunn’s Cummin’ At You”. Among the glowing reviews are leading adult news and review sites Xcritic.com, AVN, Rogreviews.com, and Fleshbot.com.

Xctitic’s Don Houston, issues a “Highly Recommended” pick saying, “In short, Tommy Gunn’s Cummin’ At You! Interactive 3D is the best 3D porno I’ve ever seen”.

AVN gives it a Critic’s Choice (4-½ of 5), commenting “Cummin’ at You 3D is in a class by itself”.

Rogreviews.com calls it “easily the best 3D adult experience I have ever seen”.

Gram Ponante of Fleshbot.com says, “Were this movie not 3D, it would still be an excellent interactive couples’ title”.

“Tommy Gunn’s Cummin’ At You” is the first-of its-kind for 3D adult productions and is the most interactive point-of-view (POV) film ever made. The critics took notice of the added interactivity a well as multiple point-of-views offering a very female friendly film. “With 50 percent of the cast being Playgirl-friendly dudes, the interactive elements of “Cummin At You” leave plenty of room to see the guys from the females’ point of view” observed Fleshbot’s Gram Ponante.

Roger Pipes of Rogreview sums up the overall experience perfectly saying, “This is a truly unique porn experience that blends technology, hot sex and an interactive environment with action to please men, women and couples.”

Leading adult distributor, Pure Play Media, officially released “Tommy Gunn’s Cummin’ At You” October 19, 2009 in a 2-disc DVD set offering a 2D interactive version and 3D stereoscopic versions compatible with newly developed high-end 3D home theatre systems, but it will also work with a standard TV, projection, LCD or Plasma screens with the included premium 3D glasses. For sales and distribution contact:sales@pureplaymedia.com.

A look at the innovative 3D adult film can be seen at www.cumminatyou.com, don’t forget your 3D glasses for ultimate viewing!

For press inquiries contact:
Dusty Marie
dusty@dustyink.com