tagged w/ porn 2.0
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Attendance was down at the annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, compared to previous years.
Vanguard talks to some convention insiders about why the adult industry
appears visibly shaken this year.
For more news video by Current TV visit http://current.com/vanguardAttendance was down at the annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, compared to previous... more
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Christof interviews Felix about his job as a videographer for "Ultimate Surrender."
For more news video by Current TV visit http://current.com/vanguardChristof interviews Felix about his job as a videographer for "Ultimate... more
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In this scene from Vanguard's "Porn 2.0," adult film star Jessica Drake reveals how using popular social media tools allows her to connect with fans to stay in business as Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel takes a behind the scenes look at the adult entertainment industry, examining its history and impact on the ever-changing face of new media.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.In this scene from Vanguard's "Porn 2.0," adult film star Jessica Drake... more
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In this scene from Vanguard's "Porn 2.0," Kink.com employees discuss whether their parents accept that they work in the adult film industry, the creativity involved in producing pornography, and how full-time employment with benefits makes their job more secure than other entertainment positions. Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel takes a behind the scenes look at the adult entertainment industry, examining its history and impact on the ever-changing face of new media.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.In this scene from Vanguard's "Porn 2.0," Kink.com employees discuss... more
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From music to movies to newspapers, the media industries are struggling to figure out how to use the Internet without losing their shirts. With some combination of envy and disgust, they've watched from the sidelines as the pornography industry seized every opportunity to get before the wider audience all of them sought. But today, the technology that once pushed the adult industry forward is stripping away its profits.
The 14-billion-dollar-a-year industry is facing its most serious economic slump in decades. Porn producers led the way in technological innovation and media distribution in the '80s and '90s. They were often credited with ensuring the domination of VHS over Betamax in the costly war for control of the format used on home video tapes. They boosted cable subscriptions, popularized the DVD as the successor to tape and leapt onto the Internet as the obvious new vehicle to give people access to porn in the privacy offered by their personal computer screens. Secure online payment systems and streaming video, not to mention nuisances such as spyware and spam, advanced with the increasing popularity of porn and the public's apparently insatiable appetite for watching online sex.
When I proposed to my bosses at Current TV that I look at the porn industry for answers to the quandary of other popular media, eyebrows shot up around the office. Was this just an excuse to look at porn at the office and hang out with naked women all day? As I ventured behind the scenes, what I saw surprised me in ways I never expected. The business people and techies I met were young professionals with credentials as impressive as those from some of the hot Silicon Valley startups. And contrary to their image as Internet pioneers with an ever-increasing market, I found porn producers just as perplexed as other media as piracy and the plummeting costs of production sucked away the sizable profits they used to enjoy. Even the sex has changed in the race to keep a step ahead of copyright thieves and amateur porn pushers. It's never been clearer that if the industry wants to survive in this day of age, it needs to adapt to a changing marketplace.
Editing "Porn 2.0" for Vanguard's documentary series was a challenge because the subject matter we were covering could not be shown on television. At the same time, we couldn't just show the talking heads of industry executives bemoaning the downturn. On the first day of work for our new crop of interns, I handed out a boxful of hardcore adult DVDs and told them to look for some "tasteful" clips we could use on the air. I knew the assignment would either get me called on the carpet for offending the newbies or go down in Current history as the coolest internship assignment ever. Luckily, it was the latter.
Vanguard: Porn 2.0 (Video)
Recently on the Vanguard Blog:
- What world have we entered? - Mitch Koss
- Hey Electronic Arts, when you going to do a pirate video game? - Kaj Larsen
- Christof’s Doc, the Porn Community, and Obscenity… - Mitch Koss
- You Have a College Degree: So What? - Tracey Chang
- What Transformers 2 has to do with Japan's falling population - Adam Yamaguchi
- Why Should You Trust Us? - Mitch KossFrom music to movies to newspapers, the media industries are struggling to figure out... more
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It was a big night Wednesday when the new season of Vanguard premiered with "The OxyContin Express" and Embedded premiered with Mos Def in Japan.
The teams that worked on these two awesome shows celebrated at Little Bar a few miles from the office with Mediterranean grub and Current playing on about 5 or 6 TVs. The observations from around the bar appeared to be that the premieres went off without a hitch.
The bartender even made a special martini for us -- the Vanbedded.
I'm not sure what was in it, but Vanguard PA Tania Rashid had one!
I didn't even have to buy myself a drink. I tried, but Infomania's Conor Knighton and later Vanguard's Darren Foster had me covered. Thanks dudes!
"The OxyContin Express", Vanguard's first of the new 8-episode season, is a must-see. But so are the exclusive web extras.
You can check out an extended interview and follow up with Todd, who says he's been sober for nearly 100 days. Good for him!
As well, you get to see some footage from the cutting room floor that didn't quite make it into the doc. A jailed addict scares a group of school children straight and Todd's mom confronts Todd about his addiction.
While this is the third official season of Vanguard, to many just discovering us, it's their first. [Side note: if you need to check out previous seasons, they're available here and here]
In case you haven't figured it out, Vanguard's mission is to cover stories that no one else is covering. While many news organizations attempt to do this, the young correspondents at Vanguard aren't afraid to get their feet and hands dirty.
As Vanguarder Mitch Koss put it yesterday, the mission "is to try to keep track of important changes in the world, changes that affect us all, but might not get a thorough examination if we don’t look at them. We try to tell you important stories that otherwise might not get told—because we think it’s important for society that we know and understand" what's going on around us.
So to introduce myself, I'm Vanguard's one and only intern. I've yet to fetch coffee and I haven't even bought my own drinks. So the situation could be much, much worse.
Instead, I get to transcribe interviews from upcoming documentaries. That means sneak peeks at what is to come.
I also do lots of research on potential upcoming stories, like the kidnapping industry (yes, industry) in Mexico and how tourism is starting to pick up in Iraq. Sometimes, I even watch porn in the office to make sure correspondent Christof Putzel is including the best examples of amateur or professional pornography scenes for the upcoming episode "Porn 2.0."
Now I come from a newspaper and web journalism background, but know my way around a videocamera, a voice over and radio. But the question I get all the time is what kind of journalism do you want to do?
That seems like an unfair question: every good journalist knows he or she must be well versed in all mediums. I'm too new to decide on a favorite.
The answer to why I'm here; however, is simple: I really like what Vanguard does, and see a real value in journalism. So many people these days question the existence of true journalism, but when a younger generation is reporting for a younger audience, it's different. Vanguard is one team hoping to make a difference. So here's to us.It was a big night Wednesday when the new season of Vanguard premiered with... more
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Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel takes a behind the scenes look at the adult entertainment industry, examining its history and impact on the ever-changing face of new media.Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel takes a behind the scenes look at the adult... more
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