YNOT Q&A With Vince Biel, Director of BH Entertainment
One positive change to the adult entertainment industry ushered in by the development of the commercial Internet (and related technologies and platforms that have followed) is the relative ease with which new content creators can enter the market and express their unique vision and personal style.
Paired with an increase in the number of performers self-producing content, the ‘democratization’ of adult content production in the Internet age has resulted in more diversity, not just in terms of performers but in the types of content being produced. A generation of aspiring content creators, many of whom eschew the cliches, tropes and stereotypes found in a lot of ‘traditional’ porn, have sprung forth, eager to produce content that’s different from what they’ve seen before.
One such emerging content creator is Vince Biel, the Director of BH Entertainment. A recent entry into the adult market, BH is building its brand on authenticity, humor and Biel’s readily confessed tendency to be “a bit of a perfectionist.” YNOT recently sat down with Biel to talk about his unusual background, his inspiration for starting up BH Entertainment and his vision for the future of the company.
YNOT: Tell us a bit about your background and what you did before you got started in the adult entertainment industry. Sounds like you’ve had quite an interesting career path.
Vince: Unusual, perhaps, but there is a thread of consistency that runs through my adventure. From a very young age I had strong interests and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Like many in the late 80s and early 90s, I grew up watching action movies and pro wrestling. I fell in love with the larger-than-life personalities and beautifully choreographed violence. Where I differed from my peers was my never-ending obsession of wanting to know how it was done. I naturally took to physics (how to gorilla press slam) and chemistry (how to develop 24 inch pythons), then later to history (why are all bad guys Russian?) with a healthy patriotic lean. In a sense, I turned out exactly as one would have expected. The U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, which was my first year of college. Though I was already contemplating military service, I was profoundly impacted by the book AWOL by Roth-Douquet and Schaeffer; America is at war without her best and brightest leading the charge, what am I going to do about it? I joined the Army with every intention of saving the world. I was not naïve; I knew my impact would be limited, but I planned to contribute all that I could to the cause of freedom. Unfortunately, the aforementioned absence of the best and brightest was felt almost immediately. I worked with some amazing people, but time-servers and petty tyrants were everywhere. I left after five years, then went into fitness. I taught biomechanics and exercise physiology at a personal training school and did some personal training as well. I wanted to open up my own school and gym, but those plans also went awry.
In 2014, I got married (to my future producer) and started over. I used my GI Bill to go to law school, because it seemed like a useful degree to have. I hated law school and I hate much of the practice of law. The work is fine, but much like any other “professional” industry, it is filled with insecure and emotionally stunted people who dramatically overestimate their own intelligence and/or importance. I still practice law, mainly in roles where I do not have to communicate with other attorneys, like contract writing. I like contracts because they’re real; the words on the paper control the agreement, unlike the ridiculous lies that get thrown back and forth in litigation. I’m a big fan of the truth, and that often puts me in awkward situations. Awkward for other people, I mean.
I also do management consulting, which, done properly, is another form of truth-telling. They’re both strange businesses with negative feedback loops. People tend to studiously avoid the truth, which is why they need attorneys and consultants in the first place. They’re often looking for affirmation of the status quo, unlike a doctor’s visit, where the implication is that something might need to change. I don’t scam people by validating the lies they tell themselves, but that is how the majority of attorneys and consultants make money. I might make a decent living one day if I find an honest clientele.
YNOT: What inspired you to start producing adult content and when did you first get started?
Vince: It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. My sister owned a video store (back in the days of VHS) and I would look through the catalog of adult films. I looked at tiny nudes on box covers and read suggestive movie titles, but very rarely had access to the films themselves. I think it was for the better, as I let my imagination run wild, and I have ever since. I always created scenarios in which all participants were physically engaged for good reason. Though my personal fantasies never involved cameras, what transpired in them was always cinematic. When I started dating in high school, I was shocked by how boring some girls were. I think I credited a lot of my early girlfriends with knowledge and sophistication well beyond their means, because I so badly wanted them to be what I imagined. By the time I lost my virginity, I felt like I had been mentally training for a lifetime. Turns out that I was over-prepared… but that’s not a bad problem to have; at least one person is leaving happy.
When I started watching porn, I was frequently disappointed. The performers got tantalizingly close to “doing it right”, but would then fail to execute. One of my friends had a descrambler, so a group of us would sometimes get together and watch Playboy and Spice at his house. They can attest to the fact that I spent every single one of those nights criticizing every facet of every production. I actually preferred watching it scrambled, because I could hear it without seeing how bad the action was. It rarely served its purpose for me; I was much more likely to be aroused by magazines, because the photos allowed me to take it wherever I wanted. To this day I sometimes prefer stills to movies because I can “cast” the performers better in my mind than they were actually cast on screen.
When I was a much younger and handsomer man, I considered moving out west to try to break into the business, but I feared (rightly) that I would not be allowed to develop my talents. The industry notoriously treated people like meat, which is unfortunate for talent but also detrimental to long-term profitability. People are uniquely talented and can add real value to your business if you just give them a chance. I figured that if I was going to do it, I had to do it on my own terms. As for finally realizing the dream, it was an opportunity that came about from the shutdown.
Businesses were closed, so consulting opportunities dried up. I still had some legal work, but everything became remote. I used the lockdown to write, reflect, and meditate. One night, Sabrina (of producer fame) suggested that we use the downtime to build an adult entertainment company. I was apprehensive, but it was what I wanted, and another such opportunity was unlikely to present itself. We started our first day of work right there with pens and paper. She is an expert organizer and administrator, so she laid the foundation for the company’s operations. I handled all of creative, and we resolved to ask our friend to do photography. Company formed.
YNOT: What should potential viewers know about BH Entertainment content? What sets you apart?
Vince: Everything you see is real. We don’t allow fake body parts, orgasms, sounds, fluids, or emotions. We match people based on what they actually like. Good chemistry and real desire translate well on camera.
I found that porn had become unwatchable over the past decade; everything is a stunt and no one is actually having sex. The people never seem to be enjoying themselves, and quite a lot of it is geared towards intentional discomfort. There is a place for aggression and physicality in sex, but today’s market is skewed so heavily towards violence that the sex part is entirely lost. I don’t recall ever having the urge to make someone vomit or gape, because those things aren’t sexual. If someone is moaning/panting/swearing/otherwise expressing in a BHE film, it’s because they feel it, not because a camera is on them. If you see cumshot pictures, you’re seeing real cum, not the fake stuff that almost every other company uses. They use stage “cum” because hair and makeup are invariably messed up by the end of filming, but those are things we embrace. There’s sweat and smeared makeup in our pictures, because that’s an accurate reflection of what just transpired.
YNOT: I’ve been scrolling the BH twitter account; is it fair to say humor is an important part of the BH brand, or at least your social media presence? Does humor play a role in your content, as well?
Vince: I greatly appreciate that you picked up on that. Humor is extremely important in both our product and our presentation. Humans have a natural affinity for narrative; it’s how we learn, how we communicate, and how we entertain ourselves. A good teacher is not always brilliant, a good speaker is not always insightful, and a good movie is not always profound. Whether or not we are aware of it, we often measure our experiences by how well our attention is captured.
In every phase of scene planning I envision myself as a member of our prospective audience and try to answer the question “Why do I care?” If I can’t answer the question in a way that every person on set easily understands, I make adjustments. Every character in every scene is relatable, because they are based on the performers’ actual personae, and every action taken is a plausible manifestation of that character’s intent.
There is a long history of absurdity in porn, and properly placed humor enhances the product. The doctor playing with bubbles and conducting an examination with a telescope in “Deep Throat” is funny because it effectively parodies a doctor visit, and tastefully addresses some men’s inability to locate and/or stimulate the clitoris, a popular issue in the social conscience. The patient is desperate to find a solution to her anorgasmia, and the doctor confidently asserts that her clitoris is in her throat, then offers to physically stimulate it himself. Despite the simulated contravention of laws, ethical standards, and human anatomy, it worked because the characters were relatable and the initial premise (woman unable to achieve orgasm goes to doctor) was fundamentally sound. Without the story, it’s just a blowjob, and without the humor, no one would pay attention to the story.
The modern trend of skipping over the non-sex content has come about because that content has drastically declined in quality. It breaks the suspension of disbelief and thus reduces the quality of the product. A narrative is absolutely essential to the full enjoyment of porn, even if we have to make up our own stories because the ones presented are so bad. Even 2-minute user uploaded videos on streaming sites have narratives, usually contained in the titles. It’s always about someone paying a debt, cheating on their significant other, or possibly being found in a public location.
Our films are quality from the first second to the last. We want you to develop affection for our characters, because we want you to follow their stories. Yes, the sex is great, but what leads to the sex is just as important. The same goes for our staff. I play a lot of non-sex roles on camera, sometimes as myself (the director), sometimes as a character, usually short-sighted and dismissive. If I effectively play a “bad boyfriend”, I create sympathy for my female counterpart and some antipathy towards myself, but also some laughs, because I’m saying things that many frustrated men wish they could say.
I’m the mind behind the movie, but I’m also the playful idiot on the screen. I’m able to make fun of myself, like a doctor doing an examination with a telescope, and it’s effective because the truth is not that far off. The same logic applies to our producer, who actually conducts interviews as part of her job, then reimagines them in exaggerated form on screen as “The Producer”. Sabrina really is tough and demanding; she’s the reason anything ever gets done. She’s all about planning, professionalism, and timeliness. You can imagine that there is much for her to be frustrated with in this industry. Taking that angst on screen requires little embellishment. She actually hates any sort of acting and has difficulty portraying anyone but herself, which makes her performances that much better.
YNOT: Is there anything coming up for BH Entertainment that you’d like to mention? New scenes in the works, upcoming events you’ll be attending, anything along those lines?
Vince: We’re very excited about our last shoot. We’re initiating the first major story arc with returning performers and recurring themes. We’re going to be building on this concept, integrating ourselves into the product. I see the future of BHE as a sort of adult entertainment reality show. This is really us, this is really what we’re doing, and what you see is just a much more entertaining version of what’s really happening.
We will also be putting out some long overdue content that we shot in early 2021. We pride ourselves in maintaining our quality standards, and some of the content we shot requires excessive editing. We may put the material out for a discounted price and/or make it available on streaming sites.
We were at Exxxotica in New Jersey this year and will probably be there again next year. It’s difficult to attend many events because we have to prioritize our careers until this company becomes profitable. Though it is rare to see us in person, you can soon find plenty of us (or at least me) online. I did an interview for Smutty Talks last summer, but to my knowledge it has not been released. I was recently a guest on Phone Sex with Lily, my episode is set to air on December 10, 2021. I also did a brief interview with Demon Seed Radio at Exxxotica. We are also going to start producing a good amount of free non sex content; interviews, specials, watch-alongs, etc.
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