The Money Shot/Merchants of Venus 

 
A Barna Alper Production
60 Mins. • 1 episode of a 6 part series THE SEXUAL CENTURY • ITV, History Television, CBC

CREDITS:

Directed by RIC ESTHER BIENSTOCK
Written by RIC ESTHER BIENSTOCK AND RUSSELL SMITH
Series Producer ALEX GIBNEY
Editor STEVE WESLAK
Associate Producer MARIANNE KUSHMANIUK

Produced in association with
ITV, HISTORY TELEVISION & CBC

THE MONEY SHOT is one episode of The Sexual Century, a six-part series that chronicles the profound changes that have characterized human sexuality in the 20th century.  Drawing on film, music, advertising and other media, the series traces the evolution of sex from a basic human instinct into a powerful cultural force and explores how private passions become public obsessions.  

THE MONEY SHOT is a frank, fun and entertaining exploration of the business of hard-core pornographic films from the seedy underground at the turn of the century to the sanitized digital present day. 

With extraordinary access to the players, Bienstock's camera takes us deep inside the industry to meet the producers, distributors, agents, and actors, who are willing to bare their soul to share in the ever-increasing profits generated by baring their flesh.

At the end of the millennium, the selling of sexual imagery has become more than tolerated: it is celebrated. THE MONEY SHOT takes us deeper inside the industry than ever before to examine how this industry is permeating mainstream culture.

SELECTED AWARDS:

Silver Plaque, Chicago International Television Festival, 2001

FESTIVALS:

PALM SPRINGS FILM FESTIVAL, 2001
SEOUL KOREA FILM FESTIVAL, 2001
NEW ZEALAND FILM FESTIVAL, 2001
HAWAII INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 2001
ATLANTIC CITY FILM FESTIVAL, 2001
NEW YORK EXPO, 2001