News Round-Up
It's been awhile since we did a news summary here at Jack Manly although you've probably noticed we've done a few entries that were news-oriented. This time around we're playing catch-up with a few older stories (a few weeks to be exact) and some breaking news.
Escort, producer, and website owner Harlow Cuadra was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Cobra producer Bryan Kocis and could face the death penalty when the jurors deliberate on his sentence this week. Thus ends the sordid tale that began in January 2007 when Kocis was murdered and his Pennsylvania home was burned down in an attempt to cover the crime. In May 2007 Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes were arrested and charged with the murder as well as theft, robbery, arson, and abuse of a corpse. After spending months behind bars Kerekes pleaded guilty in December of last year and received life in prison without parole. For more background on Kocis and the case check out this article at Wikipedia.
While we're on the subject of crime, Nickolay Petrov (real name Edmon Vardanyan) was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for a series of attacks on an elderly couple he had carried out in New York and Florida. He had been hired by the couple's son-in-law as a hitman and was only paid $5K for his services--which he failed to carry out successfully after three tries. Even if he gets out of prison early, Petrov won't be able to return to performing in porn---upon his release he is to be deported to his native Armenia.
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Here's where political news and adult industry news meet up and we can all breathe easier. David Ogden was confirmed as deputy attorney general, in spite of a half-hearted smear campaign against him by conservatives. Why is it good news? Ogden had represented the adult industry on several occasions and the Free Speech Coalition has applauded his confirmation. As someone recently said on a political talk show, elections matter.
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We now shift to more entertaining news.
Wolf Hudson has won the online contest to be this year's special co-host of the Grabby Awards. He joins MCs Chi Chi LaRue and special guests Honey West, Brent Corrigan, and Blake Riley. Wolf was among many who were up for the honor of co-hosting the awards and openly campaigned. He also had several friends in the industry who were helping to get out the vote. The nominees for the Grabbys (to be held in late May) will be announced soon.
In related news GayVN announced the 2009 inductees into the GAYVN Hall of Fame. The presentation of these inductees will take place during the GayVN Awards on March 28 and again Hall of Fame member Gino Colbert will be the presenter. The Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented that night and the recipient is Roger Earl. He's worked in mainstream media as a producer and road show manager for Dean Martin and later co-founded (with Terry LeGrand) Marathon Films. Here he directed, wrote & edited 16 mm gay adult films for which he was director, writer and editor. He and LeGrand also formed the Gay Producers Association of America which held the first gay porn awards. Up until he retired in 2007 he also worked at the Tom of Finland Foundation. congratulations to Earl and the following inductees for 2009:
Dink Flamingo. The founder of popular military-themed website Active Duty expanded in recent years to include video company Dirty Bird Pictures. The company has produced GayVN nominees (including many this year) including Endgame. Flamingo also helped Brent Corrigan in the formation of his own studio, Prodigy Pictures.
Michael Lucas. Performer, producer, director, and owner of his own studio Lucas Entertainment. Certainly one of the more colorful AND successful figures in the industry during the past few years.
TJ Paris. He was involved in the adult industry for 20 years before leaving in 2005 to return where he had first started out--in fashion photography. He works in fashion videos and men's fitness photography and has done wardrobe and art direction for mainstream films.
Dean Phoenix. Handsome & well built Phoenix has been an icon for over 10 years. A past GayVN Awards winner, he retired in 2000 only to return 4 years later to more acclaim. Recently he contributed to the Mike Donner book How To Be A Gay Porn Star.
Jack Simmons. Simmons started out in 1995 (as Buck Stradlin) and is the first African-American to work for high-profile studios. He's also played a role in the careers of others while appearing in almost 70 films.
Phil St. John. Here's an inductee with a resume of "firsts" . He's the first Oscar nominee on this list (for a student film he did several years ago) He's also the first to shoot a double-penetration scene, the first to shoot gay porn based on skate culture and the first to include a behind-the-scenes extra for a DVD.
Chris Steele. Another modern legend who's done work for many studios and won several awards. In recent years he's turned to directing and is one of the owners of JetSet Men.
Escort, producer, and website owner Harlow Cuadra was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Cobra producer Bryan Kocis and could face the death penalty when the jurors deliberate on his sentence this week. Thus ends the sordid tale that began in January 2007 when Kocis was murdered and his Pennsylvania home was burned down in an attempt to cover the crime. In May 2007 Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes were arrested and charged with the murder as well as theft, robbery, arson, and abuse of a corpse. After spending months behind bars Kerekes pleaded guilty in December of last year and received life in prison without parole. For more background on Kocis and the case check out this article at Wikipedia.
While we're on the subject of crime, Nickolay Petrov (real name Edmon Vardanyan) was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for a series of attacks on an elderly couple he had carried out in New York and Florida. He had been hired by the couple's son-in-law as a hitman and was only paid $5K for his services--which he failed to carry out successfully after three tries. Even if he gets out of prison early, Petrov won't be able to return to performing in porn---upon his release he is to be deported to his native Armenia.
-------------------------------------------
Here's where political news and adult industry news meet up and we can all breathe easier. David Ogden was confirmed as deputy attorney general, in spite of a half-hearted smear campaign against him by conservatives. Why is it good news? Ogden had represented the adult industry on several occasions and the Free Speech Coalition has applauded his confirmation. As someone recently said on a political talk show, elections matter.
-------------------------------------------
We now shift to more entertaining news.
Wolf Hudson has won the online contest to be this year's special co-host of the Grabby Awards. He joins MCs Chi Chi LaRue and special guests Honey West, Brent Corrigan, and Blake Riley. Wolf was among many who were up for the honor of co-hosting the awards and openly campaigned. He also had several friends in the industry who were helping to get out the vote. The nominees for the Grabbys (to be held in late May) will be announced soon.
In related news GayVN announced the 2009 inductees into the GAYVN Hall of Fame. The presentation of these inductees will take place during the GayVN Awards on March 28 and again Hall of Fame member Gino Colbert will be the presenter. The Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented that night and the recipient is Roger Earl. He's worked in mainstream media as a producer and road show manager for Dean Martin and later co-founded (with Terry LeGrand) Marathon Films. Here he directed, wrote & edited 16 mm gay adult films for which he was director, writer and editor. He and LeGrand also formed the Gay Producers Association of America which held the first gay porn awards. Up until he retired in 2007 he also worked at the Tom of Finland Foundation. congratulations to Earl and the following inductees for 2009:
Dink Flamingo. The founder of popular military-themed website Active Duty expanded in recent years to include video company Dirty Bird Pictures. The company has produced GayVN nominees (including many this year) including Endgame. Flamingo also helped Brent Corrigan in the formation of his own studio, Prodigy Pictures.
Michael Lucas. Performer, producer, director, and owner of his own studio Lucas Entertainment. Certainly one of the more colorful AND successful figures in the industry during the past few years.
TJ Paris. He was involved in the adult industry for 20 years before leaving in 2005 to return where he had first started out--in fashion photography. He works in fashion videos and men's fitness photography and has done wardrobe and art direction for mainstream films.
Dean Phoenix. Handsome & well built Phoenix has been an icon for over 10 years. A past GayVN Awards winner, he retired in 2000 only to return 4 years later to more acclaim. Recently he contributed to the Mike Donner book How To Be A Gay Porn Star.
Jack Simmons. Simmons started out in 1995 (as Buck Stradlin) and is the first African-American to work for high-profile studios. He's also played a role in the careers of others while appearing in almost 70 films.
Phil St. John. Here's an inductee with a resume of "firsts" . He's the first Oscar nominee on this list (for a student film he did several years ago) He's also the first to shoot a double-penetration scene, the first to shoot gay porn based on skate culture and the first to include a behind-the-scenes extra for a DVD.
Chris Steele. Another modern legend who's done work for many studios and won several awards. In recent years he's turned to directing and is one of the owners of JetSet Men.
Posted by JackManly at 3/12/2009 12:37 PM 
Categories: gay porn, news
Tags: Wolf Hudson Harlow Cuadra David Ogden
Categories: gay porn, news
Tags: Wolf Hudson Harlow Cuadra David Ogden
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