March 12, 2012 | The Biz

Condoms now required for shoots in Los Angeles

Last week it became official: actors must use condoms when shooting sex scenes within the city limits of Los Angeles.

"Today really is a milestone in the advance of health and safety for these adult filmmakers," said Ged Kenslea, spokesman for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). For several years, AHF has been pushing for the new law.

However, AHF's win may prove more symbolic than practical. The city has yet to determine how to police the new law, with officers and city officials still struggling to determine the best method for enforcement. 

As well, porn companies that shoot in studio, where no filming permit is required, are technically exempt from the law. And smaller companies will probably skip the permit requirement for shoots taking place in more private locations. About 50,000 porn films a year are made in Los Angeles, but only 200 permits are requested each month.

"This is the first step of government overreach into the way we make movies," argued Diane Duke of the adult film lobby group Free Speech Coalition. "It's clearly the government interfering where it really doesn't belong.… Because our industry deals with sex … we're vulnerable and easy to attack."

Duke points to rigorous STD testing of performers as proof the current arrangement did not need to be fixed.

Some within the industry have suggested that they will just move to less regulated cities, taking some of the $13-billion industry with them.

Kenslea didn't seem worried about the threat. "The industry is not going to pack up and move. They are too entrenched here," he argued, adding that AHF would just follow the companies wherever they go.

And some cities have already promised to create even stricter regulations in hopes of keeping porn companies out. “This is a family-oriented community, and we don’t want the smut industry in our town,” Simi Valley’s mayor, Bob Huber, said.

Law on Condoms Threatens Tie Between Sex Films and Their Home [New York Times]

Porn industry may boogie out of L.A. over condom law [LA Times]