Everything you are reading here should be considered a rumor – as in an unproven fact. These rumors may or may not be true, in part or in whole. You should never consider a rumor as a fact. What you read here may be in part true, or in whole completely false. That’s the thing about rumors, you never really know. I am only sharing with you water cooler stories I have been hearing. They may or may not be true. THEY ARE RUMORS.
Last June we reported that Manwin was in talks to buy Digital Playground. Truth be told, by the time we had posted that story they had been in talks for awhile and had already started to take over the day to day operations of the DP family of websites.
It would take another two months however before the buyout would take place. It took so long because according to rumors DP was over valuing their catalog. Well, at least in the eyes of the buyers.
It was during this time Jesse Jane had decided not to renew her contract with Digital Playground and made a very public to do about it. Jesse Jane’s people went into talks with several other companies including taking a meeting with Brazzers. Just days later she announced she had resigned with Digital Playground. Insiders are now saying it was actually a deal with Manwin that Jesse Jane did her new deal with because at that time they had already secretly bought out the company. So the insinuation that the contract girls would be cast aside after AEE in Vegas, is ridiculous.
Mike South and Adult FYI are reporting buyout sum was $50 million but I have a source that says that number is very wrong. It includes a large up front cash payment that is nearly double that and over the next five years additional payments will be made. He doesn’t know an exact amount but estimates it to be around $150 million over a period of 5 years.
The rumor is now that Manwin is in talks with Vivid. My sources are saying these talks have been going on for a few months now and are all but a done deal. One Vivid insider says that Hirsch made his money off of some big Playboy deal a few years ago and since then he just doesn’t give a fuck. He’s been looking for an excuse to leave porn since then anyway.
Another insider is saying that the Vivid deal will not include a continuation of the Axel Braun contract. According to a few different people he is to hard to work with. “Not worth the bullshit that comes with working with him”. “His ego an antics make him to much of a liability“.
So who does that leave us with? If Manwin buys Vivid that means they control all the major studios except Bluebird Films. Think about it …… there is Wicked Pictures, Vivid Entertainment, Digital Playground and Bluebird Films. They are the big 4 in the jizz biz, making the big budget features.
Will Bluebird Films cave and join the other major studios? My sources say “not in a million fucking years”. Owner Paul Chaplin was once quoted as saying he was never in the porn business to make money, he makes the movies he wants to watch. Perhaps that will be the one thing that keeps Manwin at bay. We shall see.
In the mean time we have a few other Manwin rumors to address. Not to long ago there were reports that Zero Tolerance were in “financial dire straights” that the only thing making them any sort of money was their toy line but with their venture with the now bankrupt Store Program ended, things took a turn for the worse, even in that division of the company. This made them prime for takeover by Manwin. While to date Manwin hasn’t really made any move on the lower tier “gonzo type studios” like Zero Tolerance, Red Light District, Elegant Angel, etc. because Zero Tolerance is considered to be the best in that category there was always the chance that Manwin would consider it but my sources are saying to date that is not the case. They would rather just freeze out the smaller guys and let them go out of business than waste their money and resources on trying to acquire them.
One Brazzers insider said that Manwin might have considered Zero Tolerance a little more seriously if their collection of websites weren’t run so piss poorly. I don’t know how much if any of that is true, but that is what I am hearing.
Next I heard a rumor about Manwin in talks to buy out a network company like Webquest. I talked to my source who said “Webquest? LOL Why would Manwin buy them? They have no real value. They are only worth the value of their biggest contract which they could lose at any time. Then what would they be worth?”
So if they aren’t going to go after traffic networks, I wonder what they will focus on buying next? AVN? Maybe XBIZ?
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I wonder how long Bluebird will hold out?
1) If anyone was dumb enough to buy DP for $50 million, they deserve what they get in return. Contrary to the press releases, even their movies are not selling well enough to justify that much and back catalog titles (with rare exception) are hardly moving. If they wanted DP that bad, they could hire Robbie D., Nick P., and a few of the contract performers to have all the truly valuable assets (and they could do it for a small fraction of the price). They could then wait out the ensuing collapse to pick up the catalog titles for an endless series of compilations to recover their investment. Perhaps the rumor mill is full of wishful thinkers at DP or those who thought Hillary Scott was ever going to make that advertised $1 million at Sex Z Pictures.
2) I like Bluebird pictures as much as anyone not working for them but never have I heard it mentioned in the same league as the other three companies listed as “the big four”, nor is it referred to as a major company by any credible source. Those gonzo companies you dismiss so easily should also include one of the truly huge companies, Evil Angel, and the feature companies should include Adam & Eve & HUstler, as well as a few others. Still, if anyone wanted to buy out ZT/3rd Degree/sister companies, they could simply hire Mike Quasar, Miles Long, Nate, and a few others for far less and obtain the back catalog for pennies on the dollar in the near future.
I think anyone who can say they spend a mil on a movie is probably considered to hang with the big boyz.
Clive, anyone can claim spending any amount they wish but making the world believe such an amount was spent is another matter entirely. Name five porn movies shot in the last 3 years that cost even close to a million bucks, or three for that matter (and then fell free to show where the money went; some of the advertising claims laughable on their face).
In terms of partitioning off porn companies into “big” or “small” though (be it a “tier” system or whatever), the ones that do not rely solely on movie sales will be the ones staying big, regardless of associated revenue streams. Hustler is an empire unto itself, Adam & Eve is better known for their extensive toys, etc.
Actually Houstondon this is an area you aren’t apparently all that knowledgeable on. BatFXXX, Bonny and Clide are two that come to mind right off the bat.
On Babe Runner the Movie (yet to be released) they spent $625,000 on the sets alone. So really Houstondon I would say don’t talk out of your ass because you really don’t seem to get how much money some studios are spending on production.
I don’t know for sure what DP spent on Pirates but I would venture to say the special effects alone weren’t exactly cheap. I don’t know that they spent the rumored $2 million on the actual movie production itself, but I can see them spending close to a mil on that.
But back to Bluebird Films, I can say first hand and without a doubt they do some very big budget productions. While it is true not all of their movies are that big, they do release 2 to 3 movies a week, every week and a few “mega” budget movies each year as well.
They have two full fledged production studios, one in Las Vegas and one in London. That’s not including their production which goes on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for Bluebird TV, their newly launched Bluebirds Magazine and their handful of contract girls which are second to none which include Gemma Massey, Dylan Ryder, Anna Lovato, Tommie Jo, Lou Lou, Chloe Dee, Natasha Marley, Paige Ashley and the newest and youngest, Tye Thornton. They are some of the hottest girls in the entire industry and yes they shoot in both the UK and the US.
You can take your shit talking all you want about everything else, that you clearly so love to do but you need to step back when it comes to Bluebird Films because I won’t stand by and allow you to talk bad about them like you have so many others before.
You clearly have no clue what the hell you are talking about when it comes to who is hot and who is not in the adult industry right now if you dare to claim Bluebird Films isn’t one of the big 5.
I’m still sick to my stomach over your comments you made to a particular porn star friend of mine. You are a sad little man who clearly had a lot of issues you need to deal with. But that’s another story for another day.
lol someone got told
Kelli, read what I said once more. “Pirates” came out in 2005 and part 2 in 2008 (it currently happens to be 2012). Baberunners has yet to be released, and Bluebird, a company you work for and can’t be objective about, has wonderful potential but has how many “Pirate” level titles out at the moment? Again, in the last 3 years, how many companies have realistically spent $1 million on a single production where you can see it on the screen?
Look, I pushed and promoted BatFXXX all over the place, for free, because I thought it earned the praise. I think their contract lineup is very solid and they have tremendous potential but my comments stand that they are still not thought of in the same vein as the other feature companies that have been established in the USA for years longer. This isn’t an attack or a slight, just a rational observation.
It isn’t about quantity either, it’s about quality so yeah, they have a way to go to catch up to some of the others. If you seriously think that Adam & Eve, Evil Angel, Hustler, and others mentioned are lower tier, by all means come out and say so but while I look forward to the day when Paul Chaplin achieves a higher spot on the porn pantheon, it is not commonly thought of now.
PS: If your friend has such thin skin, it was their problem, not mine.
I don’t have to be objective to know what they spend on movies and what their sales figures are.
What I don’t get is why this company keeps buying everyone out. Wouldn’t it make more sense to use that money to make their own product better and just outdo them and run them out of business?
IT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE IT IS JUST EASIER TO BUY EVERYONE OUT AROUND YOU THAN TO PUT THE EFFORT OF TRYING TO COMPLETE WITH THEM. I MEAN FUCK LOOK HOW MUCH MONEY THEY MADE STEALING EVERYONE’S CONTENT. THAT DEVALUED ALL THE COMPANIES SO NOW THEY CAN JUST USE THAT MONEY TO SWOOP IN AND BUY THE COMPANIES AT A BARGAIN PRICE. SHADY AS FUCK SURE, BUT BRILLIANT ON ANOTHER LEVEL.
Guess today’s announcement solves this debate about DP. Manwin did without a doubt buy Digital Playground.