George Duroy interview, Colt Studio in bankruptcy
By Aaron LawrenceThursday July 8, 2010 at 6:32 pm PDT
A bit of interesting news for y'all this week.
First, Towelroad has a fascinating interview with George Duroy from Bel Ami. He's the power behind the company and gives a rare glimpse into how one of the world's famous porn companies operates.
Second, gay.porn.truth blog is reporting that Colt Studios has filed for bankruptcy. Colt Studio was once famous for hypermasculine men like Steve Kelso. The company is currently in chapter 11 bankruptcy (restructuring) while owners John Rutherford (formerly Falcon's top director) and Tom Settle attempt to elevate the bankruptcy to chapter 7 (liquidation of the company).
Steve Kelso
According to gay.porn.truth, Colt is currently over $2 million in debt. That figure includes $1.45 million owed to the former company owner Jim French, $700,000 in unpaid taxes, $130,000 for an old personal loan made to the business, and $600,000 in various debts to companies ranging from Paladin to Fedex.
In case you are wondering how much a major porn company can generate, Colt Studios brought in $2.2 million in sales in 2008. That is the amount that the current owners bought the company from prior owner Jim French, of which the majority remains yet unpaid.
What went wrong? The DVD market in stores has been plummeting for years. Condom-only studios are being smacked around by companies promoting bareback films. And mainstream companies from the 80's and 90's are struggling to catch up with many companies that initially focused on a single website. Sure enough, Colt's 2009 sales were down 28%, and 2010 sales are estimated to be down another 36%.
Gay.porn.truth also points to another cause -- Colt is based on a 70's and 80's style of model with a library of content based primarily on photography and softcore content rather than hardcore sex. The old content they could re-release on a website was more limiting than it first appeared in an age when demand for pornographic video on the Internet has eclipsed photography.
Gay.porn.truth also points out that Rutherford and Steele attempted to turn Colt into a Falcon-esque company, which went over about as well with long-time Colt fans as, say, a Bel Ami video of professional bodybuilders. A company certainly can rewrite their image, but only if they have time, and in the face of plummeting revenue time is the one thing Colt did not have.
I can add bit to the story beyond what gay.porn.truth reported as well. Here at GayGeek we have been following Colt's websites for years. They originally ran their website Colt Studio on their own, with additional websites named after exclusive models including Adam Champ, Carlo Masi, Darin Hawk, Dean Phoenix, Gage Weston, Luke Garrett, Mitch Branson, and Skye Woods. Unfortunately for Colt, star-centered websites don't do very well unless the owner is continually doing content specifically made for the website (such as Jeremy Roddick or Mason Wyler).
Dean Phoenix
Less than a year ago, Colt Studios gave up running their own website and commissioned with Buddy Profits to run their website for them. Buddy Profits runs many successful websites, including the Next Door line of websites. Unfortunately I can't imagine that proceeds from their websites will remotely be enough to save Colt from bankruptcy.
Fortunately for Colt fans, their previous content is too valuable to just vanish into the ether during liquidation. Someone will buy the rights to them and will build a website somewhere. They may or may not buy the rights to the Colt name so they can produce new "Colt" content. There may a period of legal limbo though for the content during which the videos are unavailable, so Colt fans may find this a good time to buy a membership and download their favorite videos.
First, Towelroad has a fascinating interview with George Duroy from Bel Ami. He's the power behind the company and gives a rare glimpse into how one of the world's famous porn companies operates.
Second, gay.porn.truth blog is reporting that Colt Studios has filed for bankruptcy. Colt Studio was once famous for hypermasculine men like Steve Kelso. The company is currently in chapter 11 bankruptcy (restructuring) while owners John Rutherford (formerly Falcon's top director) and Tom Settle attempt to elevate the bankruptcy to chapter 7 (liquidation of the company).
According to gay.porn.truth, Colt is currently over $2 million in debt. That figure includes $1.45 million owed to the former company owner Jim French, $700,000 in unpaid taxes, $130,000 for an old personal loan made to the business, and $600,000 in various debts to companies ranging from Paladin to Fedex.
In case you are wondering how much a major porn company can generate, Colt Studios brought in $2.2 million in sales in 2008. That is the amount that the current owners bought the company from prior owner Jim French, of which the majority remains yet unpaid.
What went wrong? The DVD market in stores has been plummeting for years. Condom-only studios are being smacked around by companies promoting bareback films. And mainstream companies from the 80's and 90's are struggling to catch up with many companies that initially focused on a single website. Sure enough, Colt's 2009 sales were down 28%, and 2010 sales are estimated to be down another 36%.
Gay.porn.truth also points to another cause -- Colt is based on a 70's and 80's style of model with a library of content based primarily on photography and softcore content rather than hardcore sex. The old content they could re-release on a website was more limiting than it first appeared in an age when demand for pornographic video on the Internet has eclipsed photography.
Gay.porn.truth also points out that Rutherford and Steele attempted to turn Colt into a Falcon-esque company, which went over about as well with long-time Colt fans as, say, a Bel Ami video of professional bodybuilders. A company certainly can rewrite their image, but only if they have time, and in the face of plummeting revenue time is the one thing Colt did not have.
I can add bit to the story beyond what gay.porn.truth reported as well. Here at GayGeek we have been following Colt's websites for years. They originally ran their website Colt Studio on their own, with additional websites named after exclusive models including Adam Champ, Carlo Masi, Darin Hawk, Dean Phoenix, Gage Weston, Luke Garrett, Mitch Branson, and Skye Woods. Unfortunately for Colt, star-centered websites don't do very well unless the owner is continually doing content specifically made for the website (such as Jeremy Roddick or Mason Wyler).
Less than a year ago, Colt Studios gave up running their own website and commissioned with Buddy Profits to run their website for them. Buddy Profits runs many successful websites, including the Next Door line of websites. Unfortunately I can't imagine that proceeds from their websites will remotely be enough to save Colt from bankruptcy.
Fortunately for Colt fans, their previous content is too valuable to just vanish into the ether during liquidation. Someone will buy the rights to them and will build a website somewhere. They may or may not buy the rights to the Colt name so they can produce new "Colt" content. There may a period of legal limbo though for the content during which the videos are unavailable, so Colt fans may find this a good time to buy a membership and download their favorite videos.
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