Mark Spiegler: The Patron of the Tarts
12:42 PM PT, Jan 11 2007
Yesterday I met up with Mark Spiegler who is always one of the most popular people at AEE/AVN. From Jesse Jane to Joanna Angel, everyone shouts out to Spiegler around the convention. Spiegler offers an imaginative job title for himself, actually printed on his business card: "Patron of the Tarts." Though Spiegler is a patron in the sense that Colonel Parker was a patron of Elvis, for a percentage. As for his job description, Spiegler refers to himself as a "legal pimp." He is one of the leading talent agents in the adult industry. He has about 25 clients at this convention and they include well known names in the industry like Melissa Lauren and Katsumi. But Spiegler specializes in bringing new talent to directors. At this point, he says he gets about two e-mails a month from women interested in appearing in adult films. Most don't pan out. And of those who do, Spiegler estimates that the average length of time a performer stays in the business is under a year.Most of Spiegler's clients (called the Spiegler Girls) are signing for adult film companies at the convention during the day. That means their expenses are being paid by the company they are signing for. The handful of Spiegler Girls who are not signing for an adult company need to pay their own way to the most important convention in their industry. Those women are in various suites scattered around the Venetian with two aspiring starlets sharing a room with Spiegler. On the convention floor Spiegler can't be missed going from company to company. Spiegler hounds and leads his actresses as a group introducing them to the different directors and producers who could hire them for films. Perhaps, because Spiegler has a distinctive waddle with a chain of women trailing behind him in a row, more than one person compares the sight of Spiegler followed by the Spiegler Girls on the convention floor to a mother duck and ducklings.
I have known Spiegler for four years now, and every year I meet his actresses and every year it is an entirely new crew. What I love about interviewing the actresses around Spiegler is that they are not representing a company or trying to maintain an image. With Spiegler all the honesty, individuality and personality of the actresses comes right out. It is also a very relaxed atmosphere. They are among their peers, trading notes and many are excited to be at their first AVN. Then there is the drama. One actress had overdosed at AVN two years earlier. Another shared how she drove a car into an elementary school. And, there was some discussion about on-set bloopers that is too obscene to paraphrase, sorry.
One place Spiegler led his troupe was to the Evil Angel booth. He introduced the actresses to John Stagliano, the owner of Evil Angel. Since I know Stagliano, from his erotic show at the Aladdin, I felt comfortable intruding to listen how Spiegler pitched his charges. In Vegas, Stagliano is one of dozens of show producers on the Strip; but at AEE he is a legitimate star, a legend as a performer and director as well as the owner of one of the largest distribution companies in the industry. Stagliano told actress Lorelei Lee that he was a fan of her films. She flushed with pleasure telling me about that later. Another Spiegler client who has only been in the industry a month was hugely embarrassed when she didn't recognize Stagliano at once (until told his name by another performer).
In addition to Spiegler wanting to introduce his clients to Stagliano, Spiegler wanted me to meet someone. Since the middle of last year Spiegler has been e-mailing me about one of his new clients and she was signing for Evil Angel at the convetnion, Sasha Grey. In the four years I've known Spiegler he has never pitched a client before. His end of the industry, a commissioned talent agent, doesn't really deal in press. And, Spiegler doesn't think abstractly about money. Publicity doesn't directly bring a check. But Spiegler thinks there is something special about Sasha Grey and that she is destined to be a huge star in the industry. I talked to her briefly. She grew up in Sacramento and always wanted to do porn. She found Spiegler on the Internet and she plans to be around for awhile moving to write and direct films. I am going to have a longer interview with her on the Buffet later in the week.
After walking the floor, I invited Spiegler and handful of his clients to lunch. By the time the check came, Spiegler's entourage swelled to a dozen people. Fortunately, they were all adult actresses and thus fasting to fit into their AVN dresses; the bill for a dozen people came to less than $250 with tip, and I think it is tax deductible.
photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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