Obviously, you don't want to be naming names, but I am wondering if any producer will hire a model they don't think is pretty. If so, why?

I assure you they don't.... And even if they did, they would never admit it publicly.

The issue is that "attractive" means 1000 different things to 1000 different people. Your question is like asking, "Do people eat food they don't like?" Well... Not intentionally. But your personal taste, and culture, and diet, and eating habits will result in you liking food that might be unappetizing to someone else.

And just to push the metaphor further... I often feel like I've found an amazing new dish, and I present it to the UMD with great enthusiasm, only to get the reaction of, "Thanks, but I'm fine with this Big Mac here."

You don't think a producer would film a type of model just to satisfy (what they feel is a) demand for a certain type, even though they don't see the attraction?

Eh, they might.
Just like a producer shooting a scene that has no interest for them, but has been "requested" by the community.

Typically this is always a lose/lose proposition though. Inevitably said "guaranteed sales" don't materialize, and then your regular customers don't buy because it's outside what they enjoy. You MIGHT bring in a different crowd, but at the expense of losing your core audience.

Customs are a totally different thing. If someone wants to drop $1000 on a particular model, I wouldn't personally care if she was hideous to me... because the shoot would be profitable. (Spoiler alert: No one ever drops $1000 on a custom. Even $100 is like squeezing blood from a stone!)

Anyway, if your theory is correct.... Why don't male producers of female WAM use male models occasionally? It would absolutely give them a different (and eager) fanbase of customers, but I think the heterosexual male producer not being attracted to the man overrides all other positives.

[True story: I entertained the idea of bringing in a male model to shoot scenes with a few females, either male WAM or coed stuff. But the male models were even harder to book than the females, and I decided it wasn't worth it.]

Yeah, I'm confused, what would be the point of hiring a model if you know there's no chance of an inappropriate boner?

Rich, I'll pay you $100 right now to throw Brin or Breana into a mud puddle!

Unlikely, as if you don't see the attraction yourself, chances are you're not going to do a very good job of filming that attractiveness, which will result in low or no sales, especially if you're in competition with someone who does understand that niche properly and knows how to make it work.


I experimented with that after one of my female models pulled a (to my untrained straight eyes) smoking hot gay guy at a club. We shot two scenes, one him solo, one him and her gunging each other. The solo one has sold five copies in five years. The other did slightly better, five copies in two years. Conclusion: I have no idea how to shoot a scene to appeal to a gay male audience, so I'm focusing on scenes that appeal to people who prefer women, as I at least half way understand how to do it.

I have hired women that I don't personally find attractive for films because everyone has their own idea of what is sexy. Some models I don't find all that attractive sell well so why wouldn't I hire them? If you're just making films for your own personal jerk off collection than that's a different story. The more variety of models the larger your audience will be, it's just a good business practice.

I have a related question that I've been debating asking for awhile: What do producers do when they book a model and she is not as attractive as advertised? The portfolio or pictures don't reflect the model's current appearance. Do you send her home? Proceed anyway?

Good question!

But why do producers always find my MONEY attractive?

You've never done a shoot before, I guess.

This isn't a standard photo shoot where you can just roll up a backdrop and call it a day. You're already invested at least $50 or more in terms of materials that have already been made, and most definitely won't keep for more than a day or so.

I've had models show up hours late... Postpone til the next day (hi Toshia!)... Sometimes cancel outright the morning of.... You name it. In every case I was seriously looking at a real monetary loss on top of wasted time, beyond just the psychological aggravation of throwing away slime and pies that could've wound up on a model.

I've dodged a few bullets simply by having a couple really good models available with very little notice (hi Shelly!). There's definitely a couple clips here and there that were "make sure everything gets used" scenes.

But yeah... A model showing up and not looking quite as good as her professional, heavily PhotoShopped pictures that were obtained with the help of a hair and makeup team, perfect lighting, and a skilled photographer? Welcome to working with models. You gotta adjust your expectations down from "unrealistic" to "normal." Also, in this day & age, you're hurting yourself if you're not checking out all her social media. Even a carefully curated IG will have a few "natural" shots sneak out. Use those.

But on a less snippy note: I've been burned a few times. Although mostly by the combination of "model not as good as her pics" AND "model has bad attitude." Funny how those go hand in hand.

Often if a model has "fallen off" from her earlier pics, it's indicative that she doesn't really care about doing a good job anymore, period. So that's the killer. I've been lucky to catch a lot of models at the "right" time, too, so I guess it evens out.

Also, I won't name names, because quite a few of those "fallen off" models wound up selling much better than others I thought were great in terms of looks AND attitude.

Meeting beforehand is a great idea... but also a luxury. It just rarely happens anymore. Some of it is logistics (model is too far away) and some is just time crunch.
The worst trend for me is the unwillingness of all women under 35 (not just models) to actually use a phone for talking. It's all text. Which is fine... But communication suffers, wires get crossed, and you don't really get a feel for someone's personality (and certainly not their speaking voice).

Most models "humor" me by actually talking on the phone beforehand... But Ginger, for instance, wants to do everything by text now. Once in a blue moon I can reach her on the phone and she always acts like I'm doing her a HUUUGE favor. Quote: "Every other photographer just texts me!"

100% correct. And I doubt I ever will, nor have any sort of WAM session.

I know produces who have told women who looked nothing like their photos that they would not work with them. I would feel bad doing that but it's fairly easy to tell when a model has only over-photoshopped pictures of herself that she isn't as attractive as her photos make her seem.