ASB Magazine

Does the sucesss of these companies herald a new direction for adult entertainment?

Nectar Entertainment launched in 2003 as a boutique production company intent on creating high concept big budget adult films that would showcase the company’s background in mainstream media, where the principals of what evolved into Nectar were active in creating everything from music videos, to commercials, to live television specials.

Sean Logan, CEO of Nectar, said, “The funny thing was when we launched in June of 2003, I didn’t know a single soul in the (adult) industry. For example, I didn’t even know what AVN was.”

Logan took his mainstream experience and created what he’s confident is a classier adult product than anything else on the market. In fact, Nectar has become one of the leading names in adult films and has received several award nominations and is one of the best sellers in the Adam & Eve catalog.

And in 2005, Nectar created 1st Strike Entertainment – their slutty sister label. “1st Strike is our product for the mainstream porn market, the raincoater crowd, whereas Nectar’s target is sophisticated consumers who want high-end sex-positive product,” Logan said. “ The only similarity between the two lines is that they both provide exactly what those audiences want – quality adult entertainment.”

Nectar’s in-house director, Marty Zion, specializes in a self- created genre, “eroticore”, a fusion of erotic art and hardcore sex that eschews dialogue and takes advantage of the luxurious budgets allotted for his productions. In fact, the eroticore genre has been such a success that Nectar has trademarked it and hopes many stores and vendors create a specific section for it within their respective catalogs and stores.

Atypical of the eroticore genre is Zion ’s critically acclaimed Mystified trilogy had a budget well over $250,000 – and shows it. “We built a lush forest for our set, relying on lights, shades, curtains, and actual trees and grass to create the impression of the enchanted forest that Mystified is set in. We even created a very realistic waterfall and a lagoon that was three-feet deep,” Zion said. “We created something that was very sensual, yet very erotic and primal, blurring the line between fantasy and reality to provide consumers with an erotic fantasy that they’ve never seen before.”

Zion’s longtime assistant Eric Avalon emerged from his mentor’s shadow in 2005, helming a number of movies for Nectar that were shot in Brazil with an all-native cast, including the critically acclaimed Brazilian Island and Exxxtasy Island. It’s no coincidence that Avalon’s work has a similar look and texture to Zion ’s. “Eric is an essential part of my vision. He completes the Marty Zion look in his role as my production supervisor,” Zion said. “And I think his own work speaks for itself – his work captures the exotic sexuality of Brazil in a sensational fashion.”

Although 1st Strike Productions was launched just last April, it has already overtaken the company’s release schedule, accounting for three out of the four movies Nectar releases each month. “While Nectar is high-class, 1st Strike is high-energy,” says Richard De Montfort, 1st Strike’s in-house director. “We identify underserved niches and create movies specifically for that niche. We’re not reinventing the wheel, we’re just putting some nice rims on it.”

The niches De Montfort refers to include the black-on-black movies such as his popular Black and Famous series, the big breast niche with the upcoming release of Titty Titty Bang Bang, and the rare interracial reversal of black women and white men in Black Girl Wanna Cracker. In addition, 1st Strike creates solid movies in the traditional interracial and new faces genres.

The common denominator between Nectar and 1st Strike is quality. “We usually drop at least $80,000 on Nectar projects, and we’ll spend up to $40k on 1st Strike productions. We look at each movie as an investment in our brand,” Logan said. “We put an enormous amount of effort into every aspect of our work, from casting the movies with the hottest girls available to the design of our eye-catching foil boxcovers, because we’re out to conquer the world one porn fan at a time.”