By Peter Berton

QUEBEC CITY, Canada – Training the average guy to perform in adult content is a crapshoot, at best. Even if he appears to have the staying power to have sex on-camera and on cue, there’s no guarantee he won’t freak out, lose his erection and waste an entire’s day of production.

In offering a beginner’s class for aspiring male performers, Pegas Productions has taken the bull by the … uh … “horny.”

Michael Racette is Pegas Productions’ first assistant director.

YNOT: First, introduce Pegas Productions.

Michael Racette: Pegas Productions is a French-Canadian adult production company established in 2006. Over the years we have become one of the leaders in the porn industry in Canada. To date we have produced close to 500 scenes with more than 120 different girls. Our content is available on our website and also on television and DVDs.

A light and funny style has become our trademark. Our goal is to make the best porn we can without taking ourselves too seriously, all the while remaining true to our roots and official motto, “le meilleur du cul Québécois” [“the best porn in Quebec”].

Why did you decide to open a school for aspiring male performers?

We had the general idea of Pegas 101 in the back of our minds for a long time, but the turning point came after a disastrous shooting day with a newcomer. It was a real wake-up call for us. It became obvious that something different needed to be done, and so we did.

The reason we chose to do a “porn class” tailored for men is very simple: Even though every week we receive on our website dozens of modeling applications from guys who want to break into porn, it’s actually quite hard for a production company to figure out which one of those have what it takes to perform in front of the camera. When people watch porn movies at home it looks easy and fun, but in reality shooting a sex scene on a porn set is very challenging.

That’s especially true for men who act in an often-overlooked role in the shadow of their female counterpart. The whole experience is nothing like what happens in the bedroom. Being a male porn star is a dream job for many, but it’s easy to see only the dream and forget that it’s also a real job. Everyone wants to be a porn star, but not everyone can.

Why is attending “porn college” an advantage for would-be Lexington Steeles?

From experience, we know that one of the main causes of failure with novice actors is the stress coming from not knowing what to expect, and also the many new things they have to keep in mind all at once. So, we aim to lessen the effect of stress by immersing the candidates and gradually familiarizing them with the real conditions on a professional porn set, minus the performance anxiety.

While the atmosphere during the training course is relaxed, it is still the closest thing to being on a porn shoot without actually being there. You have to learn to crawl before you can walk.

Another important thing is that students are also given concrete tips and tricks to help them in their performance. For example, they learn how to recognize — and fix — common mistakes, how to position themselves in order to give the camera the best possible angle and what to do if suddenly their tool runs out of gas. So, from the get-go, they will benefit from what normally takes months or even years of trial and error to acquire, giving them a nice head start in their career.

Fucking is easy. It’s fucking for the camera that’s hard.

What is your classroom setting like? Who teaches the classes?

Our classroom looks exactly like a real classroom at school, combined with elements from an actual porn set — cameras, tripods and spotlights — to give people a feel of the real thing.

We keep the number of students to 10-12 people so we get to know everyone on a first-name basis. This allows for a greater level of interactivity: People can ask questions and participate in demonstrations. It also builds a sense of camaraderie among people, and that’s very important for us since we are all going to work together at some point in the future.

The course itself is divided into two parts: theory and practice.

We start off by busting myths about the porn industry and covering the basics about a career in porn, such as pay rates, sexual health and safety, and impact on personal life. We also give an overview of the essential qualities we, as a production company, are looking for in an actor.

Then we get to the nitty-gritty, like how to prepare during the days before a sex scene and, of course, what to expect during a typical porn shoot. Next, there’s a [question-and-answer] session with veteran porn actors, both male and female, to get an insider’s perspective of what it’s like to have sex in front of a camera for a living.

Finally, we talk about the actual duties of a male porn actor, which include more than just fucking beautiful girls, before getting to the real fun stuff: live demonstrations of sexual positions, optimized for the camera according to our XXX version of the Kama Sutra called the “Pegasutra.”

As for the teachers…. Other than the porn actors mentioned above, there is Pegas Productions Chief Executive Officer Nicola Lafleur and yours truly, Michael Racette. Together, we have more than 25 years of experience in different aspects of the porn industry.

Do you eliminate some applicants at the outset?

Yes. We do not accept automatically everyone who wants to join the training course. Our screening process starts with an application form on our website. After reading some basic information about the course, the first step for the candidates is to fill in their personal information and physical description and send recent photos.

More importantly, they also need to tell us about their motivation to become a porn actor. While there are no right or wrong answers, simply replying “I like sex” is not going to get you very far.

But that’s not all. After reviewing the applications, we hand-pick a few standouts for a quick interview over the phone to make sure they are the ones with the most potential.

In the end, from the 50-plus responses we got after announcing the initial training course on Facebook, we selected the 10 best candidates for the first edition of Pegas 101.

What skills are important for a successful porn actor?

There is a very real reason why you always see the same actors in every porn movie: They know what their job is and they do it well. It’s definitely not just about who’s got the biggest dick.

In fact, we actually have about 60 different criteria. Some are more important than others, but each contributes to create “the perfect porn actor.” Without going into too much detail, we can group them into five broad categories: sexual performance, physical appearance, personality, attitude and professionalism.

Sure, the capability to “get it up,” keep it up and cum on cue are all essential for any porn actor, but the No.1 skill is in the head. It’s the ability to successfully juggle between the sexual aspect of the penis, the technical aspect of the camera and the artistic aspect of the acting, all at the same time. This multi-tasking aptitude is what differentiates pros from the others.

Do you expect to hire your graduates?

In the past we have used different casting methods, but so far our success rate has been less than 10 percent. We believe [the classes] will yield better results. Attending the training course doesn’t mean a guaranteed job at Pegas, and every student is well aware of that. But at the end of the day, this is not a competition and there is room for everyone, so we do hope to be able to hire as many graduates as possible and help them become the best porn actor they can be.

Is this a profit-making venture for Pegas?

With an entry fee of $149, Pegas isn’t turning a profit — but that’s beside the point anyway. The real objective is to find and develop a new, better generation of porn actors. That’s the cornerstone of our strategy.

Whether it will work or not remains to be seen, but as they say, “necessity is the mother of invention.” Sometimes you have to think outside the proverbial box.

Is “porn college” an endeavor other studios should consider starting?

Maybe; maybe not. It’s still too early to tell. As for us, we see the whole endeavor as an experiment and a long-term investment for our company. We strive to make superior movies — always have and always will. That’s our goal [with Pegas 101], and we have to keep our eye on the prize.