David James - King of Porn
David James is arguably the most culturally influential Welsh person alive. He is co-founder of Vivid Entertainment Group, America's foremost producer of pornography. His company has been in the vanguard of the revolution that has seen porn move away from its semi-criminal past to become the respectable, multi-billion dollar industry that it is today.
Which is all a long way from Blaengarw where James was born and raised. Brought up by his mother (his father having left the family when David was 2), he did what generations of young men had done before him and went down the pit - in this case Ocean Garw Colliery. He was just 15. Seeking a more adventurous life he soon left the mining industry and joined the army where he stayed for 14 years.
After finally quitting the military he ended up in LA, en route for Australia, but found that he liked the place and decided to stay. As an illegal immigrant he earned a crust selling tickets at a blue movie theatre. In 1987, though, he co-founded Vivid with Steve Hirsch using his $27,000 army savings to get the operation up and running.
From videos to DVDs to online content Vivid has gone from strength to strength. By using slick marketing techniques and taking the lead in digital technology the company continues to stay ahead of its competitors. Vivid were the first porn producers to give consumers multiple angles to choose from; and multiple endings. They've even done 3-D porn. However, not every project has been a success. Their cyber sex suit (a wetsuit-like garment fitted with sensors that could stimulate sensitive parts of the body) had to be shelved because it was deemed to be potentially unsafe. Electricity and bodily secretions, apparently, not being a good mix.
I once contacted David in LA asking him if he'd like to do an interview. In the red dragon logo-ed email that I got back from him he declined my invitation saying that he was "too shy". He did, however, tell me that his real christian name was actually Dewi and that he'd changed it to David because Americans kept mispronouncing it.
*In the above photo David is the one with the moustache.
Which is all a long way from Blaengarw where James was born and raised. Brought up by his mother (his father having left the family when David was 2), he did what generations of young men had done before him and went down the pit - in this case Ocean Garw Colliery. He was just 15. Seeking a more adventurous life he soon left the mining industry and joined the army where he stayed for 14 years.
After finally quitting the military he ended up in LA, en route for Australia, but found that he liked the place and decided to stay. As an illegal immigrant he earned a crust selling tickets at a blue movie theatre. In 1987, though, he co-founded Vivid with Steve Hirsch using his $27,000 army savings to get the operation up and running.
From videos to DVDs to online content Vivid has gone from strength to strength. By using slick marketing techniques and taking the lead in digital technology the company continues to stay ahead of its competitors. Vivid were the first porn producers to give consumers multiple angles to choose from; and multiple endings. They've even done 3-D porn. However, not every project has been a success. Their cyber sex suit (a wetsuit-like garment fitted with sensors that could stimulate sensitive parts of the body) had to be shelved because it was deemed to be potentially unsafe. Electricity and bodily secretions, apparently, not being a good mix.
I once contacted David in LA asking him if he'd like to do an interview. In the red dragon logo-ed email that I got back from him he declined my invitation saying that he was "too shy". He did, however, tell me that his real christian name was actually Dewi and that he'd changed it to David because Americans kept mispronouncing it.
*In the above photo David is the one with the moustache.
posted by Anthony Brockway at 9:59 PM
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