TeraPatrick&EvanSeinfeld
Layers Magazine presents:
interview by brian james
The Pocketbook Series Volume Five
Below is the original introduction to this interview. Its obviously dated. Evan and Tera are no longer a couple but remain close friend and business partners.
__________________________________________________________
Late last year I had the opportunity to interview Evan Sienfeld of HBOs Oz and Biohazard fame at the Metro in Chicago. It was revealed toward the end of that interview that Evan was engaged to porn starlet Tera Patrick. Shortly after that interview took place, Evan and Tera tied the knot with a small ceremony in Las Vegas. A few months later I was invited back to interview Evan and his Vivid Video wife at the Admiral Theatre in Chicago. The interview was specifically in regards to Teras adult industry comeback and Evans introduction into the world of porn. Thats right Biohazard fans, Raise your DFL tattooed knuckles and give a warm welcome to mutha fuckin Spyder Jones. Yes, Evan Seinfeld, a.k.a. Spyder Jones, is officially a full fledge porn star. He is also the CEO of his and Teras Vivid Video connected Production Company, Teravision.
Since this interview, the empire of Tera and Evan has risen to dominating proportions. The second major release from Teravision, appropriately titled REIGN OF TERA, spilled out into the market with records breaking sales; and in June of 2005, Tera and Evan officially launched the Tera Patrick Agency, a talent agency committed to representing the highest end adult talent for both the adult and mainstream entertainment industries. Tera Patrick is now the only active major adult star to run a talent agency.
Layers: Talk about your formal education and your more conventional career choices in life before becoming a major player in the world of adult entertainment.
Tera Patrick: When I was a teenager I was strictly a straight model. I did that for a few years and at the age of 18, I quit modeling because I had decided I wanted to be a doctor. So I began studying Biology in Boise, Idaho. My first certification in the medical field was as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) and thats what I did for a job all throughout college. I loved it and I knew that I wanted to work in the field. I dont want to say that I loved the blood and guts that was involved because Im not a macabre person, but I really liked working in that environment and going to the scenes of the different accidents. It was really exciting to me. But I needed something more stable for a career. Thats when I decided to go to nursing school. And I eventually became a nurse. And all during this time I was still working on my degree in Biology. Then one day everything just kind of changed. I leapt into the (adult) business in a weird way. What happened was I transferred to another college in California and I was really struggling financially. I was going to school full time and I was working as a nurse and I was so tired of shoveling bedpans and getting shit flinged at me. It kind of took its toll. And its funny because allot of my patients and co-workers would always tell me how pretty I was and how I should become a model and be in movies. So finally I was like. Yea, I should get back into modeling. I should be in the movies. And I had some girlfriends who sent their pictures to Playboy and I was like, Fuck that! Im gonna go straight to Playboy and see if I could get into the magazine right then and there. And a casting director spotted me and said that Id be great for the Playboy TV show Sex Court. This was around June of 1999. So I did an episode and at that time Julie Strain was hosting the show. And she was like, Oh my God. I have to take your pictures. And everyone got really excited over me from that one episode and I really didnt even do anything except show up. It was scary because before I got there, I had the mentality that I could do this no problem, but when I got to the set it was a whole different story. I got really shy. I had to sit there naked in front of all these people I didnt know. I was really nervous.
Layers: Did you know that there would be that many people behind the scenes?
Tera: No, but that part didnt bother me. What made me nervous was the thought of who would be watching this. I didnt know if my dad was gonna be watching this or if anyone from the hospital would be watching this. I knew that Playboy TV was really big and I was still trying to be somewhat undercover. At that point in time I didnt know that I would have a career in this. I was concerned that this would be the only time I did anything like this and that it would come back to haunt me for the rest of my life. And when they brought me down to the Playboy shoot it was like, I either do this, or I dont. It was one way or the other and theres no turning back. And if I do it, Im gonna do it and be proud of it. So I weighed out the factors and I chose to do it. I called my dad, because if anyone was gonna be angry with me it was gonna be my dad. I told him and he said that I was a big girl and it was O.K. He kind of looked at it like it was an honor to be involved with Playboy. Because obviously, its the nicest and the cleanest out of all the mens magazines. So if his friends discovered it, he would be able to defend it easily. He looked at it like a status thing more than as a dirty thing. And my step mom felt the same way. And because I had his blessing with that, I was like. Ill go straight to Penthouse! So I went to Penthouse and posed for them and because I posed for Penthouse, Playboy refused to publish the photos I took for them.
Layers: How do you feel about Playboys hypocritical stance on abandoning their girls when and if they decide to go hardcore? How has that affected you besides the obvious of not having your original photos published?
Evan Seinfeld: ...Especially since Playboy TV is the largest distributors of in-home, on-demand, pay-per-view porn in the world.
Layers: ...Not to mention Playboys lesser-known relationship with Vivid Video.
Evan: Yea, what happened with that is Playboy TV was bankrupt. They werent doin very well. And Steve Hirsch, the owner of Vivid Video, bought Playboy TV from Playboy Inc. for 10 Million bucks. This is public knowledge. It took Vivid a couple of years to turn it around, but when they did, they sold it back to Playboy for like 120 Million. And Vivid still gets a piece of the action to this day.
Tera: I actually did a special called Centerfold Babylon that aired on VH1, and theres a huge chunk in that program that discusses how Playboy abandons their girls who make the move into porn. While at the same time, all the Playmates are high-class hookers. Its public knowledge that most Playmates, because they dont make any money working strictly for Playboy, have turned to high-class prostitution. Had I been published by Playboy and never done Penthouse, my life would have probably been totally different. I dont know if I would have gotten into porn. And I was upset with Playboy at the time. I didnt think Penthouse was all that bad and didnt understand why they wouldnt publish my photos? Their excuse was that Penthouse was their competition and they couldnt have me on the cover of both. But the funny thing is that I was on the cover of both three years later.
Layers: Which was the first time a model appeared on both the covers of Penthouse and Playboy in the same month?
Tera: Yes. That was the first time that has ever happened.
Evan: Penthouses Pet of the Year issue and Playboys Pornstar Issue came out at the exact same time and Playboy had no idea. So it was kind of by accident. Penthouse knew but they didnt care. Theyre bankrupt too.
Layers: Yea, poor Bobby. (Guicione, founder and publisher of Penthouse Magazine) That guys a fuckin artist pure and true.
Tera: Yea, unfortunately, not the best business man. Which to no fault of his own. He let his wife run the company for many years, and when she passed away, it got thrown into the hands of his sons and other people.
Evan: I did some research on the business part of it, and apparently, the magazine always made money. That wasnt the problem. The problem was that Bob always had 500 other investments that he was involved with. And everything else he put his fingers on just fuckin tanked.
Tera: And to go back to the whole Playboy controversy, if you asked me if there was anyone I admired in the industry, it would be Teri Weigel. She was the first Playmate who crossed over into the world of porn and she was very brave to do that because Playboy just totally abandoned her. And she was like, All right, Im not gonna let it get me down and Im gonna continue on. And shes been around for over 20 years now. Shes still one of the most popular girls 20 years later. She has endless amounts of energy. She goes all over the country and dances, and she was the first girl who took me under her wing and showed me the ropes. She was so nice that way. When you come into this industry allot of girls have this attitude where they expect you to figure it out on your own. And she was very open and she helped me out allot. And look how successful she is. She doesnt take herself to seriously and she works hard. And thats what the girls have to do when they get into this industry. You have to be passionate about it, but you also have to have fun. She loves her job. She loves what she does and it really shows. Thats why shes got such a cult following.
Layers: How did your contract with Vivid Video come about?
Tera: Well, I had a really rough year this last year. I was involved in a lawsuit with my former company Digital Playground. And I knew I would eventually go back to work, but I also knew that when I did, I was gonna start my own company. So I was a little worried about the legalities. See, the only benefit of being a contract girl is that you get a good publicity push. And I had heard through the grapevine that Steve Hirsch (Vivid owner) knew I was single and available. And he was looking to have me in the stable of Vivid girls. And I hesitated for a second because I didnt want to be just another mere in the stable. But he was like, You can still own your own company and do your own thing and we can work together and Ill promote you as a Vivid girl. So that was the main thing that sealed the deal. And plus the fact that hes a very honest businessman. I really like how he handles his business.
Layers: So your company, Tera Vision (run by Tera Patrick and husband Evan Seinfeld) was already up and running before you signed with Vivid and then it got taken up by Vivid?
Evan: Yea, Teras company is set up allot like Jennas (Jameson). We kind of used Club Jenna as a business model. We adopted what we thought was good about the way Jenna ran her company and then seeing the things we didnt like, we did those things our way. We also adopted allot of tactics that Ive learned over the years from running a band. Especially on the merchandising, marketing, and touring side.
Tera: Even though I have my own company now, people are taking me much more seriously now that Im with Vivid. I have my name, and yea, Ive been successful, and I go out and promote myself, but because I have a big company standing behind me, it legitimizes me in a way as a company owner.
Evan: Understand that right now on Sunset Blvd. in L.A., theres a gigantic billboard on top of the Rainbow with Teras new movie Tera, Tera, Tera on one side and Jenna Jamesons The Misuse on the other.
Layers: And I believe Evan, that Tera, Tera, Tera, was also your debut role as a porn actor.
Evan: Yea, its my first. Tera broke my cherry. My porn name is Spyder Jones.
Layers: How did you come up with that name?
Tera: We thought of allot of different names actually. Even normal ones like Frank.
Evan: It was gonna be Frank Castle, the Punisher, but thats probably gonna be my photographer name for when I publish my photographs. I do allot of photography as well.
Tera: He wanted to have a separate band aside from Biohazard called Spyder Jones and the World Wide Web. And the name Spyder Jones just kind of stuck.
Evan: I thought Spyder Jones sounded like a character in Pulp Fiction. Like, You dont fuck around this neighborhood, this is Spyder Jones neighborhood. I wanted it to sound tough. Like a 7 foot black guy. Its tongue-n-cheek. The thing is, everything Ive done my entire life has been so serious. Biohazard, Oz. And although porn is a serious business, we dont take ourselves very serious in what were doing. We take the sex seriously, but the rest of it, like the acting, we just have fun with it. We wanna make beautiful artistic films, but were doing it to have fun. And Spyder Jones is a fun name. I also didnt want to be stuck with a name like Jack Hammer or Dave Helmet.
Layers: I review porn for adultdetective.com and my porn name is Ronny Reckem.
Evan: It should be Ronny Rectum.
Layers: Im not reviewing gay porn.
Evan: Hey, the best selling porn has nothing to do with gay, but it does have to do with anal. Were planning on doing a movie called Tera Patricks First Anal.
Layers: Is it gonna be what it sounds like?
Evan: Yea, shes never done anal on film before.
Tera: In the course of two years, I only did like 3 movies. I didnt work very much. Thats why my newest movie was really anticipated because people were like, O.K. shes out again, shes working again, whats she gonna do now. And now that I can do whatever I want because Im not under contract per say to someone else's company where theyre tellin me what to do, I can do whatever I want. So I can actually do what I want sexually and do what turns me on. And plus Im completely turned on by my partner. And thats the one thing Ive always felt about anal scenes. Anal sex is something you do with a person you have good chemistry with.
Layers: Will you be doing and boy/ girl scenes with anybody else besides your husband Spyder Jones?
Tera: No. Were a monogamous couple both on screen and off. So when he starts getting played out well dress him up in makeup and wigs.
Evan: We have a makeup artist who does skin tones so he can take the tattoos off. Weve shot four movies so far and were planning on shooting as many movies as we physically can. Cuz Teras got a lot of fans who are gonna buy up everything she puts out.
Layers: What are your feelings on the current HIV crisis going on in the industry right now?
Evan: I think the HIV crisis is a global crisis. And I think that its an election year and I think that the radical conservative right needs a scapegoat and why not pick on the porno industry. Lets distract attention from the war. And lets distract attention from our poor educational systems, and from our internal poverty and our fucked up foreign policies and lets play pin-the-tail-on-the-scapegoat. And it is unfortunate because there are a few irresponsible companies out there. Because there is no union. And there are no true regulations. The only real standard practice thats out there is that everyone has to get an HIV test. And allot of companies just dont follow that as closely as they should. If everyone got tested. And everyone's tests were current, then nobody is gonna get AIDS. If I go down stairs right now and pick up one of these strippers and go fuck her in my truck, I have a way better chance of catching something from her than my pornstar wife. I saw a guy on TV from the Christian right saying how Janet Jackson exposing her bare tit on TV traumatized his 9 year old child who is now being seen around the clock by a team of fuckin psychiatrists. Thats just bizarre to me. Killing and maiming on TV is O.K. But sex is not? Yet every single person on this planet was born because two people had sex.
Layers: Whats up with this reality TV project Ive been hearing about?
Tera: Its called Rock Star, Porn Star. And Evan came up with the concept because people, our fans, are constantly asking us what were like in real life. I get long rambling e-mails from people who want to know what I do. People want to know why I dont have web cams in my house. Yesterday a fan asked me when I was gonna come out with an autobiography. People are just curious and fascinated by what rock stars are like and what porn stars are like. For some reason were not normal people to them. And our lives certainly are interesting. Were in a different city every day. Especially now because were striking when the irons hot. Were always promoting at parties and doing something and I thought it was finally a good time to let people in.
Evan: The easy part about it is that it doesnt take any time out of our lives. The producers of the show are really close friends of mine and the deal was that they would do all the work. I was like look. Well do a reality show but were not gonna do a fake reality show like Nick and Jessica. Were not gonna stop and get made up and ask them to shoot scenes over because we didnt like the way we looked in them. If they can keep up with us, then they can film whatever they want. And they can edit it however they want to. The idea is that if were goin to the porno set cuz were gonna fuck on film that day, and the camera follows us, then great. If Teras goin to get her nails done and Im goin to the gym then thats were the cameras will follow us.
Layers: Whats your involvement with the Free Speech Coalition and AIM?
Tera: Ive known Sharon Mitchell since I first got into the industry. And Sharon is someone else who I really look up to. And having worked in the health care industry, Ive donated money to them and I support their causes. And the one thing that people dont realize about AIM is that they take care of the spiritual side of the girls as well as the physical. This industry can be really emotionally draining on a person. And girls come in all the time after scenes and its good to know that theres somewhere to go. Ive always been able to call Mitch and Ive spent time with her outside of work and I can let my guards down and just talk to her. And I think that thats really important that the girls know theres always a place to go to free your mind. And as far as the Free Speech Coalition is concerned, I love that organization. Bill Margo has always been a supporter of mine. Especially when I went through all that drama with Digital Playground. He was there for me and that says allot especially since this industry can really turn on you.
Layers: what do you say to people who view the adult industry as a negative aspect of society?
Tera: I think allot of people who say and think that is because I dont think they fully understand what the adult industry is really about. Ive done countless interviews were people say that women get raped because of porn and that it degrades women. And Ill be the first to say that yea, there are some dark aspect to porn and there are people in the industry who dont treat women very well and who dont make the industry look very good as a whole. But I also think that there are allot of really smart and talented business people in the industry. Alot of people who get into the sex industry come from Wall Street and all different areas of life. The adult industry is such a mix of a lot of different creative people.
Layers: Do you think that the girls in the industry are being exploited?
Evan: Oh completely. Porn is alot different from the music business. And I look at all the differences. With home recording being the way it is today, the music industry is losing 30% a year. Its down like 400% from where they were like 10 years ago. And the porn business is growing every year. Largely. The porn business grows like 30% to 40% a year. And I think that allot of girls are getting smarter and realizing that they can make their own movies and put out their own movies. Our attorney just helped Teras girlfriend, Alexis Amore, get out of a contract she was in and now shes got a directing deal. So girls are getting smarter and realizing that they can do this on their own.
Tera: But after shes already done 300 movies. I think that unfortunately, most girls who get into the industry dont realize the level of what theyre being exploited at. I think that they dont feel theyre being exploited because 99% of them think that they will be the next Jenna Jameson. They dont stop and think about what it takes to get to that point. Jenna has been around for 11 years and had to do 400 movies to get to where she is. Alot of these girls think that theyll do some movies and then Hollywood is gonna come calling.
Evan: Allot of girls are stuck in a cycle. They work, they get paid, they work enough to afford their lifestyles, and allot of them arent saving money. Theres such a quick turnaround rate. Thats why theres new girls everyday and girls vanishing every day. It also has alot to do with the type of personality these girls have. Alot of these girls may be able to perform all these anal acrobats, but they dont necessarily speak very well. They dont know how to promote themselves. Theyre just not smart. Some girls are just dumb. Tera has a star quality to her that when she walks into a room, people know that shes somebody. Well go out to eat lunch and every head in the joint turns. Thats what separates the stars from the nobodies. Star presence and a star charisma is something you cant buy. And to get off the subject, something we always laugh about is that Tera makes more money at a strip joint doing a 12 minute show than Biohazard makes for an hour and a half concert that my body is broken afterwards from doing. And then what I make, I have to split between four other guys. And we have to pay the road crew. And its at the point where we cant even afford to tour anymore. So youre probably not gonna see a Biohazard show in America anymore. Everyone's got bills to pay and families to feed. And Im so busy with managing Tera and taking care of her business that there may not be another world tour. Basically, if youre not on the radio, its almost impossible to keep up the momentum. And we refuse to pay a 100 Grand to play Ozzfest. In case you dont know, it costs $100,000 dollars to play Ozzfest. You would think its an honor to play Ozzfest, but what people dont realize is that the bands pay to be there. Sharon Osborn is no dummy. Shes a smart businesswoman, but shes destroying us. My disdain for the music industry has gotten to the point that Im so much happier being involved with the adult industry. I have so much respect in this industry. Everyone takes my call. But as the singer of Biohazard, a band that has so much integrity and ten records that really matter to alot of people, I cant even get anybody on the phone. I have that Triple Sicks project that Rick Rubin has been interested in so well see what happens with that. The Triple Sicks project has been taking a while but rather than work on the push, were workin on the music. Were doing it for the love of doing it. See, what happens with allot of bands, is their outside responsibilities start to pile up and you cant make all your decisions based on what you wanna do. And rather then sell Biohazard out, Im willing to end it with the legacy weve left. I can never disrespect what Biohazard has been about just to make money off of it. Were recording an album right now thats more hardcore than our first record. Were aiming 180 degrees away from anything thats commercially viable. I want it to feel like an old hardcore record. We really took a chance at changing the world and we impacted alot of people. And I still get 150 e-mails a day, everyday, of Biohazard fan mail. I get e-mails from kids who live in Croatia who fought in the Serbian War and they tell me that the only thing that got them through it was State of the World Address. I know Ive had an impact on society, but at the same time, I dont want to be an old guy in a hardcore band. The way the business has changed is insane. Were still the same guys making the same music. Its funny, a band like Hatebreed can come along, and do virtually the same thing that weve been doing for so long and the timing is right and they get on every tour and theyre at right now were we were 10 years ago. Its been a strange ride for me. Like I said earlier, its more lucrative for my wife to go onstage and take her cloths off for three songs than it is for me do get up on stage and play two hours worth of songs about changing the world. It seems that the farther you go from something thats spiritually important, the more financially viable it becomes. And what I wanna do with my life is use our porno career as a launch pad. We dont wanna be making porno forever. Its fun. Dont get me wrong. I just directed my first feature for our company. Its called Tera Patricks Asian Love Palace. And this thing is fuckin beautiful. We had a four room custom set built that looks like an over-the-top Asian Bordello. You cant tell if it was shot in Japan or in the Valley. We had like 15 of the best looking Asian girls and we picked the male talent very carefully. We didnt want the same old faces that you see in all the fuckin movies. And I directed the sex really hot. And I gave all the girls a chance to look really beautiful where as a girl like Lucy Tai, who is a beautiful girl and who gives 100% on camera, is in all these gonzo movies where they just turn on the camera and five guys just start rapin her. And thats great whack-off material, dont get me wrong, but nobody gives these girls a chance to be really beautiful.
Layers: What advice would you give a girl whos considering a career in porn?
Tera: Get a lawyer and dont sign anything without one. Be conscious of what you wanna do and dont do anything you dont wanna do. The industry is wide open for you. If you treat it like a business, you have a bigger chance of becoming successful. Dont use it as a dating service.
Layers: Any final thoughts?
Tera: I would like everyone to check out my website www.clubtera.com and thats where you can see me live and interactive. You can chat with me and see my daily diary, and all new content of me. All my movies will be released on Tera Vision/ Vivid Video. You can also check me out on vividvideo.com and please check out my new movie Tera, Tera, Tera.
BackToLayers
