MONEY SHOT
The money aspect of making home sex movies has a certain appeal for many who enter into that arena. But, there are other reasons an Oklahoma City couple would be interested in having their sex life on display, either for free or a fee.

“If you put a picture of yourself having sex with another person on the Internet, the assumption is other people are going to be watching that and be turned on by it,” Paul said. “That, by extension, has the potential to turn you on because you’re thinking, ‘Somebody desires what I desire,’ and therefore, that makes them even more desirable.”

Paul, who teaches at the same university that is home to the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, said the desirability factor is huge with males consuming and exhibiting porn. Paul called it the “sperm competition theory.”

“The idea is basically guys respond to seeing other males having sex with greater arousal because it’s a competition thing,” he said.

But for one Tulsa woman, it’s all about sex and money.

Going by the name of “Lindsay Hohan,” the recent Broken Arrow High School graduate is doing everything she can to make a name for herself in the world of amateur porn, including a Craigslist ad. The posting describes Hohan as a “20 year old up and cumming pornstar,” who, for a few bucks (well, actually more than a few bucks), would perform for a video project.

“I’m a very sexually oriented person and always have been since I was 14 or 15 years old,” Hohan told Gazette. “Ever since then, I was going to be in the adult industry.”

Now living in Tulsa, Hohan said she had been doing nude modeling when small porn companies around the country saw her pictures on the Internet and began contacting her for video work.

Hohan is into what is known as professional amateur pornography. It involves a very small company, maybe just one person, but with a business model that includes marketing and video production of a higher quality than setting up the camcorder next to the bed. Some businesses may have their own Web site to display their material, or use one of the Internet amateur portals.

“You get your little companies that produce DVDs and they only sell to Kansas or Dallas,” Hohan said. “They’ll have their certain little shops they sell to, but they don’t mass produce. … Everything is done in a rented area or hotel rooms. When you start working with major corporations, everything is done in a studio. That’s what I’m doing now.”

Hohan said she was heading down a more lucrative path, traveling around the country to places like Florida and New Jersey to shoot porn.

“It really varies on what part of the country you’re in,” she said. “If you’re in the Midwest, you get a pretty low rate of pay. If you’re just doing girl-on-girl scenes, you’re going to get paid maybe $150 to $200. But when you go into the boy-girl, scenes are more explicit, you start getting paid around $500 to $600. That’s in the Midwest.

“But in Florida, a boy-girl scene, about three hours, I ended up making around $1,000. That was my cut of it. My agent ended up getting $250.”

Yes, she has an agent.

The Internet world of amateur porn is apparently cutting into the mainstream porn world. According to a 2007 New York Times story, porn video sales and rentals dropped nearly $1 billion between 2005 and 2006. An industry that was once raking in as much as $14 billion a year is starting to see its market share squeezed by the amateurs.

“The barrier to get into the industry is so low: You need a video camera and a couple of people who will have sex,” Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Media Network, told the Times. AVN distributes a porn industry publication.

Indiana University’s Paul said there are three keys to Internet pornography, which he calls the “Triple A engine” : anonymity, affordability and accessibility. Remaining nameless gives people a greater sense of security, while the ease by which to post material makes access no problem. And since the most expensive aspect is the camera itself, there’s not much of a deterrent when an Internet-compatible camera can be purchased at Wal-Mart.

Those are about the only obstacles, since there is no need to worry about finding a market.

“The thing people like about that is it makes them (the couple) seem attainable. It makes them seem realistic that they could actually have sex with a person like that,” Paul said. “It’s easier to put themselves in that role in their mind.”

Although adult videos are being shot in Oklahoma, directors should not expect any Oklahoma Film Commission tax incentives from the state.

“The Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program states what types of films are eligible to receive the credit. Obscene material and child pornography do not qualify for the rebate,” said Leslie Blair, public information officer for the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.