The year was 1999 and I'd just graduated from university. My name is Michael and I'm 23 years old. I scored a job, thanks to my Uncle, with an accounting firm in Los Angles, found a small apartment, and things were looking pretty good. I had a girlfriend who was the manager of a gym in the area and she was kind enough to give me a free membership. My life was moving along pretty well and I felt great about the future and what it all held for me.
Then things changed quickly and not in a good direction. My boss, who turned out to be a bigger idiot than anyone realized, was arrested for embezzling to support his massive coke habit. With his arrest, the firm closed and I lost my job. My girlfriend took a job at the corporate headquarters of her company and she moved back east. Then my car's transmission died and I didn't have the money to fix it, so I was forced to use my bike for any and all transportation. I was pretty down on my luck at this point and money got very tight. I spent the majority of my days looking for work and hit the gym every night since I was pretty well broke and couldn't afford to do much else. The only upside to this was the fact that riding my bike all afternoon from job interview to job interview and my nightly workouts at the gym put me in the best physical condition of my life. By the time a month went by, I'd transformed my 6 foot average build body into a lean, 170 pound statue without an ounce of fat.
I knew if I didn't find work soon, I'd have to make that dreaded phone call to mom and dad to ask for either money or to move back home in disgrace. I'd been on the job hunt for over a month and was about to give up when I landed a position as a new car salesman at a dealership not very far from my apartment. It turns out that I'm a pretty crappy salesman and since my paycheck is based mostly on commissions, my financial situation didn't improve as much as I'd liked. I'd taken the job as a stop-gap measure to pay rent, hoping to keep on looking for accounting work somewhere, but I kept at it and I'd make a sale every once in a while.
It was a typical day on the lot, most of the other salesmen were busy with a potential buy and I was reading up on some materials. When I looked up, there was a man in the lot eyeing one of the cars so I jumped up and approached him. We introduced ourselves and I started the process of getting him into the car so we could take it for a test drive. His name was Marty and he said he was looking for a new car and to trade in his old one. I was successful and as we pulled off the lot, I started to talk about the performance specs of this particular model.
Marty interrupted me and asked where I was from. "I'm from a small town in Indiana, south of Indianapolis. You've never heard of it," I told him. He looked at me and said "You have a very down home, innocent look about you. How old are you?" I told him I was 23. "You seriously look a lot younger that. You could pass for 18." I'm pretty used to people telling me I look younger than I really am and my usual response was "Thanks. I hope I look this young when I'm 70."
The remainder of the test drive went well. We made it back to the dealership and as I was reaching for the door handle to usher Marty into my office, he stopped me. As we sat in the car, he looked at me and asked if I've ever done any modeling. I told him no and he told me "You have a very innocent look that's exactly what I'm looking for. You'd do very well, I think. I just lost a guy and I need a replacement. Have you ever thought about doing porn?"
"Porn? Me? Are you kidding?"
"Listen, I'm not going to bullshit you and waste your time. You've got the look that I'm after. You're obviously in great shape..." he grabbed my left hand and looked that the palm "...and judging by the size of your hand, your penis is probably about 7 inches long. Am I right?"
"I, um...., I, uh....." was all that escaped my mouth.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out his business card, and handed it to me. "I'll make a deal with you. You seem like a good kid. I need a new car and I'll buy this one tomorrow afternoon if you come to my office tomorrow morning and just talk to me. You won't have to do anything except listen to what I have to say and listening never hurt anyone. Come and do the interview in the morning and I'll be here tomorrow before closing to buy this car. What do you say?"
I said "I don't know Marty...." I looked at his business card. It read "Marty Pinner, Filmmaker" and gave an address and phone number.
"Look, Michael. Just think about it, ok? If you show up tomorrow morning, the worst thing that will happen is that you'll get a cup of my good coffee and listen to my sales pitch. If you do, I'll come back here and listen to your sales pitch. Is it a deal?"
I looked up at him and said "Sure. It's a deal. I'll be there at...what time do you want me there?" I looked at the address on the card and figured it was about 2 miles from my place.
"Make it 10:30. Does that work for you?"
It did and we said good bye. All that night, no matter what I was doing, I couldn't stop thinking about what I was getting into. Sort of the angle vs. devil on my shoulders. The Angle would say "There is no way you're doing this. Your parents will kill you!" Then the devil would say "You're only going to talk to the guy. What's the harm in that? You might get laid!" I hadn't had sex in over a month, so the devil held the upper hand for sure. On and on the argument went on in my head all night. In the morning, I was faced with that age-old question that everyone must ponder at least once in their lifetime: "What is the proper dress for an interview in the pornography industry?"
When I walked into Marty's office, there was a young man behind the desk, most likely his secretary. The man looked to be about my age and he looked vaguely familiar. The name plate on his desk said "Barry Pinner." He looked up at me when I entered and I told him that I had an appointment to see Mr. Pinner at 10:30. He smiled and asked me to have a seat and then picked up the phone. As he spoke, I realize where I knew this guy from: he goes to the same gym as I do. He put the phone down and said "Marty will see you now. Please come with me."
I got up to follow him and said "I think you go to the same gym as I do. It's about 10 blocks from here."
He turned to me, looked me up and down and said "Yes, now I remember you. You're there in the evening, same time as I am." He opened the door and I walked into Marty's office.
"Michael, come on in! Barry, please get Michael here a cup of coffee." I shook hands and took a seat across the desk from him.
He started his sales pitch matter-of-factly and I listened as I sipped my coffee. Honestly, I'd decided against doing it as I rode my bike over but I figured I would listen anyway. As he talked, I started to reconsider things. He was offering me $500 per scene I did and I'd be contracted to perform in three scenes. The contract would terminate in 30 days or at the completion of the third scene, whichever came first. "Of course," he said, "there are some added bonuses in the contract, but that's for legal to sort out." I could make $1,500 in less than a month? Maybe more? I could get my car fixed and expand my job search! At that moment, I decided "what the hell?" and told Marty that I was interested.
"Good," he said. "The first step is to get you physical. I have a doctor friend of mine who will do it for me today. He's about three blocks away and I'll have Barry call to see when he can see you."
"Why do I need a physical?"
Marty said "I need to know that you're free of disease and infection."
It turns out that the doctor could see me now and his office was fairly close. It was a rather thorough physical exam, to say the least. He took three large vials of blood and a urine sample. Then he proceeded to poke and prod every inch of my body for what seemed an eternity. When it was over, I headed to work at the dealership.