Los Angeles' Once-Lucrative Porn Industry Is Now Shooting Blanks

Since the passing of Measure B, the ordinance voted on in L.A.County that requires pornography actors to wear condoms while shooting, the number of film permits issued for adult films in the area has experienced a dramatic drop. Where is the happy ending? Where have all the pornos gone?

According to the LA Times, only two film permits for adult films planning to shoot in L.A. County have been issued in 2013 — an extreme difference from the 500 permits that the county is used to issuing annually. But the year is young! According to Diane Duke, chief executive of the porn industry trade group Free Speech Coalition, many X-rated film companies are delaying production until a lawsuit challenging the measure as a violation of free speech goes to U.S. District Court.

Those who initially opposed the measure (both because consumers often don’t want to watch films where the actors are wearing condoms and for a whole multitude of other reasons) warned that not only would it be bad for the porn industry, but also that it could cost L.A. County millions of dollars as adult film productions (a cash cow for the region) may decide to go elsewhere. Turns out, that might be exactly what’s happening as an apparent increase of adult films are now being shot in nearby Ventura County.

“We’re not surprised by this,” Duke tells the LA Times. “Movie companies are beginning to look for other areas outside of the San Fernando Valley.”

While this might be a solution for the industry itself, it is causing problems for residents of Ventura County who have complained of hearing “moans and groans” and “seeing naked people” around neighborhoods where the adult films are being shot.