Henri Pachard Finds An Audience??
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AdultBeat Welcomes Henri Pachard AKA Ron Sullivan To Its Growing List Of Columnists
by Duke Floored (send email to Duke Floored)

One of the first persons I met in the business was Ron Sullivan. I spent hours talking to him. He was hospitable and funny and kind.


Here's a good biography of the man.

Here's his first column for our site:

I'M A LITTLE DIFFERENT, BUT A LOT OLDER

By Henri Pachard

Or am I a little older but a lot different? Fuck, I'm not sure which has changed the most – me, or the porn business. I've been a player in the porn world longer than anyone else that's still alive now; and every day I've been in action it's never been the same as the day before.

Porn never sleeps because it's always changing, always moving, always shifting. So the people in it can never stop changing; if we do we'll die – just like a shark does when it finally becomes still.

We've gone from no rules to far too many rules. We've become so big and vast that the playing field changed from a tight inner circle of some of the boys down in the basement, to an arena with an endless horizon.

Over thirty years ago, all we ever shot were those x-rated films that played in theatres; and by 1979 I was well on my way to building up a pretty big name in the game. And before the twentieth century ended I had directed over a hundred adult features that were shot on film; and I still don't know how many hundreds of videos – most of which were also features; porn videos with those silly-ass stories.

During those times, I had one of the biggest profiles in the business. In the early eighties, when I was really kicking ass over the country, there was a couple of dozen of us that were shooting porn on a steady basis; but most of these guys always tried to keep a low profile in the business. It wasn't so much that they were ashamed of what they were doing to support themselves; but most of these guys had hopes of one day shooting something besides porno films, and they didn't want to get a "bad rep" among their peers from the "legit" end of filmmaking.

So the more I noticed how a lot of my competitors-in-porn would dodge the spotlight, the more I played the press and media to my advantage. And the more publicity ink I picked up, the more bookings I got. I wasn't the only game in town; it just seemed that way for a lot of new investors that were anxious to make a big score in this new industry that was growing so fast that the money was coming in quicker than you could steal it.

From 1985 to 1995, I did more interviews, and appeared on more talk shows, documentaries and local news shows on the topic about our "sordid and shameful" world of porn than any other producer or director. I think the only other person to have appeared in more of these things than myself was probably performer Ron Jeremy.

But since 1995, there's been another guy that's done more radio and television talk shows about his life and the porn business than both me and Ron combined. Yet he doesn't shoot porn; or even take his dick out of his pants for the sake of the game.

He's Luke Ford, the writer. He not only writes books; he gets them published.

I first met Luke in 1995 when he interviewed me for his first book, A History of X: 100 Years Of Sex in Film; and he's been writing about us ever since.

By now, Luke Ford knows more people in the game today than I do, and there are probably more people in porn today that know Luke and have never heard of me. The business has expanded more than a hundred times from its industrial beginnings more than a generation ago; and Luke Ford's name has become a household label in the industry.

So when Luke asked me to write some articles for Adult Beat, I was so overwhelmed and blown away that it's taken me five days just to get over the – what -- writer's block?

I was also flattered in a way I never thought I would ever experience: A recognized writer – a guy that's had his books published -- actually asked me to write for him.

And people still ask me why I love this business so fucking much. What's not to love? I'm damned near sixty-five and I'm still making my moves in a business that's known for both eating its young and letting its seniors starve. We're not known for compassion; our business is a pioneer's dream and there's never been a single pioneer in the world that was also known to be a savior – at least not without making a profit. And besides, we only the young that have stopped moving.

Of course, I'll write some articles for Adult Beat; and they'll only be this site. I'll write articles and stories about myself and this amazing business, along with some of its secrets, some of its joys, and some of its horrors.

I've had one hell of a run in this game; and fuck, here I still am, still shifting, still moving; but being more careful now that I'm older and a little wiser.

I don't want to scare the sharks.

Henri Pachard