Publishers Weekly Review of Money Shot

Money Shot: Wild Days and Lonely Nights Inside the Black Porn Industry
Lawrence C. Ross Jr. Thunder's Mouth, $15.99 paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-56025-913-8

In this intriguing account, Ross offers closeups on the lives and dreams of black porn actors. Combining interviews with personal observations and some theoretical gloss, Ross travels to the San Fernando Valley (center of the porn industry), an Adult Entertainment Expo in Vegas and a swinger's party in Oakland. The African-American niche commands about 10% of the multibillion-dollar porn market, and performers with names like Lexington Steele, Sinnamon Love and Sledge Hammer discuss their schemes to carve out a piece of it (as with the mainstream movie business, many actors hope to produce and direct). Ross gets good interviews and his straightforward prose suits the material: “Just like hog butchers who use every part of the pig 'from the rooter to the tooter,' porn exploits every part of the body to make a profit.” The most graphic and disturbing episode is that of a female performer who prides herself on not doing anal (“I think I'm too cute for that”) but then allows herself to be beaten and humiliated in a scene by white men. There are many subgenres, writes Ross, but “white men overtly degrading black women are some of the most popular.” (Oct.)

Sluggish...

Week one of the old lifestyle change went horribly average. Gained about four pounds, and did not an iota of exercise. Been feeling sluggish all the way around. I've really got to watch that because not being in school means not walking around campus. And that means less exercise each day. SOOOOOO... I've just got to take my ass to the gym at 7am. Do one hour of Lifecycle. After July 4th, I don't have any eating holidays until Thanksgiving, so I have a real chance to drop weight. May even experiment with going veggie for the rest of the summer.

On the writing front, need to finish the Divine Nine update and start the Crips book. Finished the sixth draft of The Bestsellers, and now Ben is reading it. Hopefully it's cool because I think I've done all I can with it. Still needs to be cleaned up, but yikes, I'm at my wits end with it.

Stepping back...

Okay, I made the changes in the first act, and I love them. This is rewrite #5 for THE BESTSELLERS, and man, I really do like my first act. But this second act, you know, where the magic happens, is really fucking with me. So what to do? Plough ahead and hope things work out? Be satisfied with what I have and just hope it works out in the end? Nope, I'm just going to relax. I'm going to spend all night writing Icono articles, and take my mind off of the script. After that, I'm going to think about my characters. I'll listen to music that I think would be appropriate for the film. But most importantly, I'll think about one question: What is the script really about. And by Monday, I will send Ben a script that I like. I'm close, but it's not there yet. I'll get it there.

The Bestsellers...

This week, I'm going to finish the sixth rewrite of THE BESTSELLERS. The idea is to send it to my boy Ben on Wednesday for more notes. After that, I'm going to do something I heard Al Pacino talk about on Larry King. He would have actors read his script and tape it, so he could visualize the film. That's what I'm going to do. Listen for the flaws in dialogue, description, and format. After that, I'll clean up everything, send it to my professor Tim, Ben, and a couple of other people to get a verdict. If they give the okay, then I'm going to send it to two agents who want to read it. I'll let you know what they say.

Weight Loss...for real....

All right, now that school is done, I have no more excuses. Time to get my ass in shape. So I'm going back to the whole change the diet and exercise. Watched Celebrity Fit Club, didn't really follow it this year, and besides deciding that I would kick Dustin Diamond's ass if I were on his team, I looked at Warren G and realized that his pre-weight loss weight and height are approx to me. I'm 6'1 and rolling 222lbs. Only dif is that Warren is two inches taller. So...

I'm going to start on Monday. The goal: lose 32lbs in 90 days, just like Celebrity Fit Club. That will get me to 190lbs, which I haven't seen in nearly a decade. So here we go again: My target weight loss for the next weigh in: 5 lbs.

Ah...

Ah, the cap and gown have been worn. The speeches have been given. The pictures taken. The food and drink eaten (damn good chocolate chip cookies TFT!). And now, I'm done, chilling on my couch, listening to Amy Winehouse's Rehab for the tenth time, and thinking of chilling tomorrow as I split time between watching 24 Hours of LeMans and the US Fucking Too Fucking (Sorry David)Hard Open. I'm done, and boy is my brain happy. Now, I have a ton of writing to get to beginning next week, but suddenly, I have a lot of time.

Today is Graduation Day....

So it's finally here. Graduation day. I can really say that I had a wonderful time at the UCLA film school, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Okay, maybe for a five picture deal, but that's pretty self-evident. Now, I will drink a lot and try not to bake in the sun.

One down...

Showcase was last night, and I had a great time. It was nice to see my friend David Whelan get read on stage. Like all of my friends, he's a really cool and funny guy. As for the program itself, it wasn't as tight as I remembered it in the past. One, we had a nice turnout, but the place wasn't full, and I seem to remember it being full the past two years. There were some glitches with the video presentations. None of this was big, but they're things that I noticed. Anyway, a great time was had by all. Oh, and I got to talk to Felicia Henderson, the sister who exec prod. and wrote for Soul Food and a bunch of other shows. She's mad cool and has the career I'd like to emulate. I'm going to interview her for The Divine Nine update and hopefully get a word of advice about moving forward.

Speaking of that, I'm working on my paper right now. Hopefully, by the end of the night, I'll be done. After that, the only thing I have left to do is turn in a signature form, pick up my cap and gown, and wait for graduation on Friday.

My weekend will consist of me lying on my ass, watching high speed cars drive around in the 24 Hours of LeMans. Because you know that in my alternative life, I'm an international race car driver who speaks French, appears in movies for five minute cameos that are acclaimed as brilliant, all the while being the most lauded humanitarian in the world.

Or I'm just a writer with another deadline over the horizon.

Wow...

I hope I'm not turning into those once a week bloggers! I've got to start picking it up. So this week...

We were getting the winning and honorable mention scripts to our judges, and I forgot to include the thank you letter. It was right there on my computer desktop, but I forgot to include it. That is a major faux pas, and I'm pissed that I made it. This contest producer job really took way too much of my time, and the last thing I need is an unenjoyable Showcase because I have to deal with angry judges. So I'll call them all on Monday and hopefully they'll be understanding.

This Friday, I took a quick trip to the Berkeley (I was there and back by noon) where I completed a nice order of HoodieTees. We're now going to be in Rasputin's and a bunch of other stores in the Bay. The guy who owns the store is MAD COOL, and I appreciated the order.

As for writing, I'm doing Icono stuff tonight. I have a twenty pager due this week, and I'm going to try to get it done tomorrow. I have the Showcase on Monday night. On Friday, I graduate.

I'm going to continue working on THE BESTSELLERS this week, and hopefully get it tight for a final rewrite during the week of the 17th.

I'm still finishing my DIVINE NINE update, so the faster I do that, the more time I'll have by the end of June.

UPCOMING SUMMER WRITING PROJECTS (in no particular order):

1. Ghostwriting a memoir about a founding Crip gang member
2. Working on a rewrite of SECRETS & LIVES
3. Finishing SLAVERYLAND
4. Working on the TV-ONE doc development deal stuff
5. Finishing new sports book proposal
6. Start a new script.
7. Keep working on THE DREADED DETECTIVE

No grad school means more time for everything. So no worries about overwork. Except for the doc and Secrets & Lives, and the gang book, I'm under no pressing deadlines. So I'm as relaxed as I've been in two years.

Hopefully, I'll post mid week.

The Home Stretch...

I have two Icono calls this week, and a twenty page paper at the end of the week. It's my last paper I'll ever write in school. On June 7th, the school is having an award breakfast, and I'll be there. I have to fly up to the Bay Area to deliver some HoodieTees to a store up there. I'm going through THE BESTSELLERS for another rewrite via the notes I received from Ben, and I'm finishing the Divine Nine update. We have the Screenwriters Showcase on the 11th, and then graduation on the 15th. After that, I will chill for about two weeks, doing nothing. I will reacquaint myself with my golf clubs, which have stared at me for two years. Vacation for at least one whole week.