Adult film actor Joey Mills makes rallying cry for performers to accept no less than $1,000 per scene
Adult film actor Joey Mills. (Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)
Adult film actor Joey Mills has spoken out about “predatory” porn studio practices, calling on performers to accept “no less” than $1,000 per shoot.
The 21-year-old’s rallying cry comes after Armond Rizzo thrust himself into headlines after he alleged that porn studio BlacksOnBoys pay bottoms less than tops.
Multiple high-profile performers have now stood behind Rizzo on the issue, with Mills tweeting Monday that performers should “know their worth”.
Studios are ‘taking advantage of young performers’, says Joey Mills.
“As performers can we go ahead and say that no one who is preforming for a studio should be getting paid any less than 1k a scene,” the actor, whose credits include working with Men.com and Helix Studios, said.
A “scene” is just one story or unit of action within a video.
You can try and say this hurts up and coming studios but if you have to take advantage of people and fuck them over to start a studio you shouldn’t be running one 💁🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
— Joey Mills (@JoeyMillsXXX) January 27, 2020
“I hear about some of these new models scene rates and how multiple well known studios are knowingly taken advantage of young performers.
He continued: “You can try and say this hurts up and coming studios but if you have to take advantage of people and f**k them over to start a studio you shouldn’t be running one.”
Especially in the USA— Joey Mills (@JoeyMillsXXX) January 27, 2020
“If you’re a performer making less than 1k this isn’t me coming after you in any way I just want everyone to realise what your worth instead of letting your studio decide for you.
“Especially in the USA.”
Adult film actors sound off on the issue of pay in porn.
Joey Mills’ tweets prompted many performers to be transparent about their pay, especially around how it has changed across their careers.
One actor explained that he started out his career making $500 per scene.
I will say this…. when I started out I was making $500 per scene but then again I had a regular 9-5 job I just wanted to make good porn… now that I am more experienced I feel like a model should make no less than 1K
— Nic Sahara (@NicSaharaXXX) January 27, 2020
“Now I am more experienced,” Nic Sahara said, “I feel like a model should make no less than 1k.”
Another performer, Owen Hawk, said that the first scene he was offered paid him $300 in 2003.
My first scene was for Titan in 2003. They paid me $300 plus airfare to SF. I took it bc I was trying to break into the industry, which was hard, back then, living on the east coast. 17 years later still going and I don’t regret taking that pay for the opportunities it brought.
— Owen Hawk XXX (@OwenHawkXXX) January 27, 2020
“I took it because i was trying to break into the industry, which was hard back then, living on the East coast.
“17 years later still going, and I don’t regret taking that pay for the opportunities it brought.”
Mills later explained that regardless of how small or large the paycheque may seem for a scene, when a studio uploads it to their site, it’s there to be streamed “forever”.
Studios own and have the ability to make money off of your videos FOREVER…. you only get paid for them once. #1kornothing https://t.co/GAdS5Dwp4p
— Joey Mills (@JoeyMillsXXX) January 27, 2020
According to several testimonies from queer porn stars and producers compiled by Queerty, the average actor earns around $500 to $1,000 per scene.
Tallying an average pay in the porn industry can be difficult, and as many evergreen performers and porn stars alike flock to services such as OnlyFans, how those in X-rated entertainment earn money is changing.
