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An Interview with Vic Lagina about 'Filthy'
Vic Lagina has worked on a lot of porn movies. And I mean, a lot. So much, that he's recently released a memoir on the trials, tribulations, the pros, the cons, and the filth of working in the Porn Industry.
We caught up with Vic Lagina to chat about this book, The Rise and (Pending) Death of Vic Lagina, to talk about his humble beginnings as a recent film graduate, working with A-list performers like Phoenix Marie to navigating the often brutal tapestry of the Porn Monopoly. Here's that interview.
My Kind Of Weird: Would you like to start by telling my readers the brief history of Vic Lagina?
Vic Lagina: Vic Lagina was someone I conjured for the sole purpose of shooting porn. He was birthed in April of 2002 in a seedy, crack smelling condo in the San Fernando Valley after a Mexican kid with a speech impediment put an ad on AdultStaffing.com looking for a director for his porn movie. Given I had 2 (useless) degrees in Film Production, I bullshitted him and told him I was more than capable to shoot his movie. We aimed to shoot 5 scenes that day, but only completed 4, with the last scene being with Ron Jeremy. It was a hell of a first day in porn and one that changed the trajectory of my career.
When I smelled the stench of crack burning in the air, I decided in the future, I was going to eliminate as much of the seediness as possible on my future sets and run my porn business legitimately and in a safe space. Financial straits were the reason why I accepted that job, and I planned on remaining in the business until my credit card debt was gone. However, once it was gone, I had a fledgling business on my hands and I had just met the men who would start Brazzers (and change the porn industry forever), so I decided to see how far I could take it. The answer was a successful 20 years as a producer and director, much of it with the biggest (and shadiest) company in porn: The Porn Monopoly known as Mansef, Manwin, Mindgeek, and now Aylo.
My Kind Of Weird: To me, one of the biggest surprises and sometime disappointing aspects of an industry, whether it’s movies, horror, comics or in this case - porn - is how the sausage is made. What was the biggest eye opener when you entered the porn industry all those years ago?
Vic Lagina: While consummate professionals existed within the industry, the biggest eye opener was the amount of trainwrecks I encountered who happened to be the most popular and requested performers. Another eye opener was seeing the glammed up performers after they got off the plane, sans make-up and hair. The transformation into the glossed up starlets sometimes took hours to achieve through a talented make-up artist. I also marveled at how proper hygiene escaped many of them.
My Kind Of Weird: There are some gnarly porn bloopers and, dare I say, accidents that have been caught on film. What’s the worst you’ve ever seen?
Vic Lagina: I wasn't on set for it (I was in the control room directing), but during a Live Show, one of the performers was "colonically challenged." Prior to shooting anal, performers usually adhered to a strict regimen of no food nor caffeine until after the scene, but not this A-list starlet. In fact, she bolstered her claims because she was a vegan, she would be fine while she sipped on a large coffee.
Needless to say, liquid poo piled up on Jordan Ash's (RIP) torso during reverse anal cowgirl. Our cameramen knew to frame this out so our viewers at home would not see how truly disgusting porn could be at times. Jordan, who had a psyche made of steel, simply got up, went to the off-set baby wipe station, cleansed himself, and went back into battle, dedicated porn soldier that he was.
My Kind Of Weird: Your book, Filthy, is billed as a salacious tell-all on the porn industry. What made you decide to write this book?
Vic Lagina: My relationship with Mindgeek ended in the summer of 2020 after 16 years of dedicated service. While I despised the owners for being greedy and arrogant (which is perfectly legal), it didn't sit well that they treated everyone as replaceable, even those who made them a ton of money and was fiercely loyal as I was.
They passed on the opportunity to have me sign an NDA, and given I was happily retired from the industry and no longer needed the Porn Monopoly, I decided to nuke the bridge to the industry and finish the manuscript (which was initially a journal) I had started 7 years prior. It was cathartic as well in helping me return to civilian life. Plus, I didn't see the porn industry as pretty or glamourous, so I wanted to tell a brutally honest (and true) story of what I witnessed over the past two decades.
My Kind Of Weird: You’ve mentioned the Porn Monopoly a few times. For my readers who aren’t familiar, would you care to delve into this landscape of what this looks like?
Vic Lagina: When I started with the company in 2004, they were a bunch of frat bros from Concordia University in Montreal operating under the moniker 'Mansef.' They were the real geniuses behind the operation who knew how to effectively market porn on the internet. Once I was out of debt, they were ready to level up and told me if I moved to the west coast (from South Florida), they would keep me very busy, which was an understatement. Then they started Pornhub, and in addition to all of their paysites which focused on big boobs and big butts, they grew into a behemoth.
A few years later, they decided to sell the company to Fabian Thylmann who was a software engineer who made millions off his invention, NATS (a click-tracking software). They rebranded into 'Manwin.' He then took out nine figure loans from Wall Street and bought every company in the industry which turned a profit, effectively becoming The Porn Monopoly. They owned most of the business from dating sites, gay sites, tube sites, and so on. Things were going well until he was arrested for tax evasion. Then, a group of men, some from within the company and one from the outside who ran RedTube, bought his shares and rebranded again to 'Mindgeek.'
Slowly, they sucked all the joy out of the job and I grew to despise them as humans. I lasted until summer of 2020 when Covid fortunately ended our relationship. Had it gone on any longer, I likely would have died of an overdose or had a mental breakdown. I stayed in it because the money justified all of the daily bullshit. Shortly after, all of the allegations of the nefarious goings-on at Pornhub surfaced and they were raked through the coals. In early 2023, a group bought the distressed asset known as Mindgeek and rebranded again as Aylo. I hoped they would be better people, but thus far, they have shown they aren't much better.
My Kind Of Weird: Let’s talk more about your book. Would you say it’s exclusively for those who are already fans of the porn industry or will it also open the eyes for those more conservative eyes?
Vic Lagina: It's for both. Fans love it while those on the outside are jarred to the core about the realities of the industry. It's also for those who want to enter or are curious about the porn industry. I felt that most incoming talent was not properly versed by their suitcase pimps or their agents and weren't given the full reality of what porn can do physically and emotionally. With those I discuss who died, and understanding the darkness with which surrounded them, I hope that the book can perhaps save a life or two.
My Kind Of Weird: Would you say 'Filthy' is like a memoir? And if so, what stories do you look most fondly at when you think of your career?
Vic Lagina: Filthy is most definitely a memoir, and while my personal life and journey was a shit show that readers will find interesting, I wasn't sure it was compelling enough to sustain a reader. So, I added a lot of side topics about the industry (In Memoriams for the fallen performers, Fly-On-The-Wall breakdowns of some of my more insane shoots like Live Orgies which are the Prologue and Epilogue, and new students can get educated in the nine lessons of Vic Lagina's School of Porn).
I am not sure I look back at any of it with fondness, so I leaned into the bizarre and awkward aspects of being an introvert in a business who had nothing in common with my working peers. If anything, I think the parody I shot of 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' was one I am fond of because it was a smooth shoot, and everyone was happy to be there. As a result, it was a fun production.
My Kind Of Weird: Who are some other pornographers whom you admire?
Vic Lagina: None, and not because I am an asshole. I just don't know many others nor follow their work.
My Kind Of Weird: Who are the porn stars you wouldn’t hesitate to work with again?
Vic Lagina: Phoenix Marie - because she was always a professional and I am very much looking forward to seeing how her lawsuit against Aylo (the fourth iteration of the Porn Monopoly) pans out. Otherwise, my favorite performers were those who made their flights, were happy to be on set, and put their best foot forward when working so we collectively achieved the objective. While they existed, they were few and far between. There was a lot of misplaced ego on my porn sets, and since production is a collective/collaborative effort, it always bummed me out when talent made themselves and their problems the forefront of the day. It was a real bummer, man.
My Kind Of Weird: I love Phoenix Marie. Out of all the porn queens out there, she seems like the most fun to be around. What’s your favourite Phoenix memory?
Vic Lagina: Despite being a force to be reckoned with, she has proven to be one of the few genuine folks in the industry. In fact, I was talking shit to her all this week leading up to the Super Bowl as she is a Chiefs fan, I an Eagles fan. We all now know who is the better team. I am not sure if this is a favorite memory, but it is a memory: when she and Bridgette B almost got into a fight during the fifth Live Show for Brazzers.
There had been some beef between them I was unaware of regarding (what else) a guy, and neither knew the other was participating in the show. However, consummate professionals they were, they both remained in the show. Things got spicy when Bridgette tossed water onto Phoenix who then grabbed Bridgette by her weave and yanked her to the mat. I have been told they mended fences not long after and all was right in Pornlandia. But it did make for compelling footage that Manwin used for future marketing.
My Kind Of Weird: Pornography has been going on for hundreds of years. Arguably, it’s the reason why cameras were created in the first place and it’s one of the first things that was posted on the internet. Do you think we’ve reached the limit on what porn can do and what boundaries it can push?
Vic Lagina: Next is AI, which will be the final frontier of porn. It will evolve over the next few decades, and consumers will be separated into two categories: the organics (who prefer real people) and the digitals (who are fine with AI performers and girlfriends). From a business standpoint, AI makes sense as it eliminates production costs and any emotional baggage a performer and crews harbor.
My Kind Of Weird: I find it interesting how porn has evolved. From magazines to tapes and to the internet. Do you find it puzzling that even though OnlyFans is so popular that porn is still considered taboo and frowned upon?
Vic Lagina: I hate the term the younger performers use: Mainstream Porn. There is nothing mainstream about porn, otherwise we would not be seeing banking discrimination for sex workers, cyberbullying towards performers, and the influx of age verification laws coming to each state of our great country. 'Company Porn' or 'Studio Porn' are better terms for non OnlyFans productions. But I don't find it puzzling. People are uptight about sex, despite the kinks they possess and exhibit behind closed doors.
My Kind Of Weird: I find the uptightness of porn an interesting topic to tackle. When it comes to people in the USA do you think it might be down to the puritan movement that has been passed down over many generations or something else?
Vic Lagina: I think religion has a great deal to do with it. The fear of going to hell which is a purely human construct. I am not religious, I am more spiritual, but the religion I grew up with did not have the concept of hell, nor was fear used to keep us in line.
It seems as though progress has been made in the last 50 years in regards to breaking down our fears about our own sexuality and we'll likely continue down this path and stop being so uptight. While our sexuality should be an intimate and personal topic, the better path is to explore it, ask questions about it, and certainly not run from it nor pretend it doesn't exist.
My Kind Of Weird: Where can my readers find you and pick up Filthy from?
Vic Lagina: I am on Instagram and X @viclagina and I enjoy interacting with my readers. I also encourage people to visit my website to watch the trailer for the book. It contains porn star boobies, so hopefully this will get your readers there. I operated out of two studios during my tenure and only shot movies which ended with a facial, so I felt given my production background, it would have been a travesty to not shoot something personal and creative.
So, before I sold my studio in late 2021 after the relationship with Mindgeek disintegrated (while they unknowingly paid my mortgage for 6+ years), I did just that. It was originally going to be a feature about Six Days of a Pornographer and starred James Duval (Donnie Darko, The Doom Generation) as Vic Lagina while featuring Jennifer White, London Rose, Hazel Moore, Spencer Bradley, Tommy Gunn, Marcus London, and Will Pounder. The editor took forever to deliver a cut (18 months and I wasn't impressed), so in the interim, I finished the book and turned the gold from the footage into a book trailer.
The book is available in print and kindle through Amazon (buttons are on my site, but typing 'Filthy Vic Lagina' will direct you to the purchase links). I also narrated the audiobook which was a fun process of 40 days recording and 50 days editing using the skills I honed the previous 25 years to deliver this passion project. I had never listened to an audiobook, so I made mine unique. 37 days were read in full sobriety for the straight read.
However, my alter-ego chimes in throughout the book, so those 3 days were recorded not sober. There was a weed/wine read, there was a high energy/manic cocaine read, and of course, there was an LSD read for additional weirdness. That was a 2.5 hour recording session where the words on the screen were constantly moving. The audiobook has been described as an acid trip, so if you travel a lot or commute, I suggest spinning it on Spotify or through Apple Books. It goes down faster and it's much more fun. Plus, I use actual sound bytes from the productions I mention.
My Kind Of Weird: Thanks for stopping by.
About Filthy: The Rise and (Pending) Death of Vic Lagina
Meet Vic Lagina. Hippie. Dog lover. Bachelor. Businessman. Asshole.
And once the busiest pornographers you've never heard of. Come along for the ride as Vic takes you behind the curtain of his filthy twenty year career as a smut producer. As "Front Line Commander" for Brazzers, Vic spearheaded an operation required to blast out content for millions of jerkers worldwide. That’s a lot of semen.
Serving corporate overlords he despises, our anti-hero feverishly clings to his soul while immersed in a world of endless drugs, sex, and daily mayhem. Relationships, family, and stability are strained to an immeasurable level as Vic's life builds to an uncertain climax. Will Vic survive the journey through the muck of a career in porn? Impossible... or is it?
What follows is a hilariously disgusting tale of how the porn sausage is made. You may need to shower after reading.