Expert: Dan Pepper - 3/8/2010

Question
Hey, Dan! I realize that your expertise lie in the legal side to this business, but if you could provide any answers you can to my questions simply based on your own experience or what you've heard, I would forever be in your debt :-)

I'm working on a concept for a TV show about the people who work behind the scenes in the porn industry: the clean-up crew, makeup artists, cameramen, and yes, the directors. What I'm interested in knowing is what a typical day at work looks like for these people, if they work at a bigger-budget straight porn studio.

Some specific questions:

1.) Who are the first few people on set, and how early do they have to be there?
2.) Who sets up the...well, set, and the lights, cameras, and monitors?
3.) When do the actors come in, and how does their day begin?
4.) What's the typical day of a director like? When and how does his day begin, and how long can production run for? When does the director take a break, and what do they usually do on their breaks - apart from have lunch, that is. When and how do their days end? Do they have to do anything work-related when they get home (or alternately, does their work affect what they do at home in any way)?
5.) What's the typical day of a makeup artist like? When and how do their days begin? In their line of work, how dirty do their hands actually have to get? How often is a makeup artist needed during a shoot? When do they go on breaks, and what do they do besides eat? When and how do their days end? Again, do they have to do anything work-related at home?
6.) Pretty much the same questions about cameramen: when do they come in? What do they do first thing? What do they do on their breaks? When and how do their days end? Also, to what extent do they interact with actors offscreen? Do cameramen sometimes have to step in as fluffers, or does someone else do that?
7.) Same questions about the cleanup crew. Also - this is silly - but what do you call a cleanup crew member, if you don't want to call him a "cleanup crew member" (which can be long and tedious)? Do they ever have to step in during the shoot or do they only come in after everyone's done? If it's the latter, what do they do during the shoot? What happens if there's an unfortunate accident and a director or cameraman gets...um, bodily fluids on him - who cleans that mess up? What cleanup equipment is required for this line of work? Does cleanup ever get to deal with actors?
8.) How does dealing with female actors differ from dealing with male actors?
9.) When shooting an indoor scene, where are the film sets usually located? (This porn studio is going to be in Porn Valley.)

Whew... I realize that there are a lot of questions here, and I really appreciate you guys volunteering to answer people's queries like this. You're great!  

Thank you so much for your help!

Answer
Adam,

All of these questions would require some pretty comprehensive and lengthy answers, which I cannot fully address in this forum.  You might want to visit some of the adult industry websites like xbiz.com and ynot.com and reach out to some of the production crew on there to see if they'd be willing to chat with you about your questions.  Good luck!