Pornocratie: Les nouvelles multinationales du sexe (2017) - full transcript

(upbeat electronic music)

(static buzzing)

(tires screeching)

(intense techno music)

(keyboard clacking)

(electronic warbling)

(women moaning)

- Hello.

- [Ovidie] Never before has
so much porn been watched,

and yet the porn industry
is in its death throes.

- [Ovidie] These sites
have turned the industry



upside down.

They've swallowed up everything,

absorbed everything, without
mercy.

- We knew that it was gonna,

gonna kill the industry.

(woman moaning)

- [Ovidie] Production
companies are shutting down

one by one, and the
first victims are women.

Actresses are forced to
take part in increasingly

hardcore porn, for half as much
money.

- Many production believe
that the harder you shoot--

- Yes the harder the better.

- The bigger you put inside.

- Yeah, she's had a lot
of cocks in her ass.



Four cocks at the same time.

- [Ovidie] Just a handful of
geeks,

who came out of nowhere, have
profited from this misery,

earning unprecedented amounts of
money.

- [Interviewer] How
many users of Pornhub--

- 16 million a day.

- Wait a minute, who is this?

- Turn over a month was
roughly $40 million, US.

- A month?
- A month.

- I don't believe anything that
they say,

having worked for them,
because nothing makes sense.

- [Ovidie] Behind all of this

are shady financial operations,

an opaque business where
the law of silence reigns.

- In the last three years,

I have had my life
threatened maybe six times,

so I carry a gun, just in case.

(intense techno music)

(keyboard clacking)

(somber music)

- [Ovidie] I made adult
films for 17 years.

I know this industry very well.

A few years ago, I found out
that my films

were being shown for
free without my consent,

and that now, anyone can access
them;

Neighbors, colleagues, children.

The piracy of my films has
affected my life far more

than anyone might ever suspect.

Since the mid-1990s, Budapest
has been the undisputed

European capital of porn.

If we would find the victims

of this great transformation
anywhere, it would be here.

(birds chirping)

- Hello.
- Hi.

- I'm Alina, nice to meet you.

- Ovidie, nice to meet you.

- Welcome.

- [Alina] Hello.

Yes.

Hello.
- Hello.

- Come, come inside.

- Ovidie, nice to meet you.

- [Ovidie] Nice to meet you.

- This is the main page of our
website.

Here you can find models
who does hardcore shootings,

so like, girl-girl,
boy-girl, anal and more.

So you have information here;

Name, age, place of residence,
the breast,

and all the stuff that
productions need to know,

and what she does, from soft to,

to double anal or whatever.

(chuckling)

- [Ovidie] How many girls
do you have right now?

- Right now?
- Working right now?

- Right now, this (chuckling)
I don't know, I don't count.

From our hardcore, it's
I think around maybe 200,

150, but it's always changing
because

some of them get pregnant,
some of them get married,

some of them just don't want
to work in porn anymore.

So we have, the girls are always
changing,

but we keep it up like I think.

- [Ovidie] So you started eight
years ago.

The tubes arrived, meanwhile.

(laughing)

- It was sweet, sweet beginning.

It was super nice
business, everything was,

everyone was cool, and
the rates was higher,

the business was, and
all the girls was pretty

because the rates was a bit
higher.

And then one moment, everything
started falling down,

crashing, productions began
closing, after crisis.

I think that half of the
big productions were closed,

the Americans stopped to come.

- [Ovidie] And the practices,
did they change as well?

- Oh yeah.
- It's become more rough.

It's become more, let's say,
generally,

humanity

changes, so it has become
more pervert, more dirty mind.

- [Ovidie] Do you think
it's because of the tubes?

- Yeah, because the porn
become more accessible.

Anyone now can open internet
and find anything they want,

and when they watch this, they
say,

"Okay, what's the next level?

"What's the next step?"

They always curious about,

go deeper and deeper and deeper.

People become crazy.

Much crazier than before.

(calm music)

- So today, very easy,
it's only pussy sex today.

We don't want to push too
much, she is completely new,

it's her second time she
is with a boy out of me

for the casting, but afterwards
David, and now it's you.

She is a super adorable
person, she enjoys so much,

she likes to be slapped on the
ass.

So do not hesitate to be very
active,

but not too much aggressive.

And,

do whatever you want in term of
position,

she enjoy very much, she
do fantastic, fantastic,

you will see, she is great.

So I think you will have fun
with her.

(laughing)

Kisses, you put the hand under
the dress,

and you tickle the panties,
okay?

And we will begin with that.

All right?

Action.

(woman moaning)

(man sighing)

(woman and man moaning)

(woman and man moaning
and breathing heavily)

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] The difference
with previous generations

is that today's actresses
have grown up with porn.

They've been subjected
to and accepted practices

that most producers would
never before have dared

to even propose.

- [Alina] We are having
a model house here,

in the city center, that
is close to all locations.

There is six sleeping places,

and girl living all together and

they are not like, really alone
here,

they can get everything they
want and we are 24 hours online

to help them with anything they
need.

- History of porn, they just
need to

watch all of these movies.

(Juliana chuckling)

Actually, it is including
history for the last

15 years of porn.

It's Americans, Europeans,
all nationalities,

all type of porn.

It's Rocco Ravishes Prague 4.

I think now it's 27 already or

34 or something.

(both speaking foreign language)

(both laughing)

- If the girls want to see, they
have DVD.

And time to watch.

- Niki, she worked in
this industry just for

I don't know, for one month,
maybe, a little bit less.

And she arrived and most
of the things in sex,

she tried on the shootings,

even such a simple thing
like a cowgirl position,

she had never tried it in her
real life.

Of course, first anal,
she tried it on the set.

First double penetration,
she tried it on the set.

- [Ovidie] And she's
been here only one month?

- Yeah.

- It happens often that some
girls--

- Try new things?

- Try new things on the set?

- Yeah.

Not such simple things like
a blow job for example,

or some positions.

Of course on special positions,

we shoot in the porn movies
like upside down or something.

(laughing)

Normally we don't do in
real life, they try here.

But anal, pretty often it
happens

first time on the shootings.

(dramatic music)

(hair dryer whirring)

(Arwen speaking foreign
language)

(chucking)

- [Arwen] Breakfast.

(Arwen chuckling)

- [Ovidie] Only sweets for
breakfast?

- Because sweets give energy.

Nothing food.

Water and sweets.

- [Ovidie] Why?

- Because

anal sex,

it's

food

(vocalizing)

and whoa, it's no good, no good.

But I'm wash.

It's normal.

(upbeat pop music)

(people conversing quietly)

- [Man] Okay.

(Arwen speaking foreign
language)

- So you can, you can get
white with this and this,

and

what about the shoes, it's here?

Okay, perfect.

Perfect.

Okay.

(people conversing quietly)

- Would you prefer, two
cocks, or three cocks?

(Anya chuckling)

- [Anya] Five.

(all laughing)

- Shit...

What about you?

- [Anya] No, I have--

- What, guys?

What (laughing)

- You prefer one cock, two
cocks?

You like five?

- [Anya] I have three holes, so
three--

- In one...

- [Anya] My pussy, my ass
and my mouth, so it's--

- It's perfect.

- [Anya] Perfect!

(laughing)

Hmm?
- In my ass?

- Yeah, she's had like a
lot of cocks in her ass.

- Four.

- Four cocks at the same time.

- [Anya] Four in your ass?

- Yes.

(laughing)
- Yeah.

It's enough, plus it's in your
ass?

- Really?
- Show me your ass!

Show me your ass!

Because I have never have two in
my ass.

(laughing)
- But it's three cock.

It's not, it's--
- Okay.

- [Arwen] It's not...

- [Ovidie] Five cocks, six
cocks?

I wonder what the next challenge
will be.

A hemorrhage?

Death, maybe?

The worst part is that
the actresses' names

hardly ever appear on these
sites.

They are reduced to a
series of categories.

They're like a cannon fodder.

One gaping hole amongst many.

(intense techno music)

How can you empathize with these
girls,

if after all, they don't really
exist?

(dramatic music)

I haven't been in the
Berlin Fair for 15 years.

Here too, things have really
changed.

It used to be the biggest
event of its kind in Europe.

Back then, adult film
stars were worshiped,

and producers would
sign contracts non-stop.

But today, at each stand,
the gloom is palpable.

(people conversing quietly)

(laughing)

(people applauding)
(rock music)

(people cheering and applauding)

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] So how did it come to
this?

And if everything is available
for free,

who is making any money?

(keyboard clacking)

(static buzzing)

(dramatic music)

(static buzzing)

(dramatic music)

- [J-T] We launched Youporn
26th of August, 2006.

So we took it from very,
very small traffic to

the 26th busiest website in the
world.

- [Ovidie] Did you imagine
that it was going to become so,

so huge?

- [J-T] Yes.

We had round about 370
million visitors a month,

used to come into Youporn.

- [Ovidie] How did you
get this idea of Youporn?

- Right, the very first,

the first few weeks,
it was a joke and then

we kind of realized what
we had on our hands.

At that point, we realized the
damage

it was gonna inflict on the
industry.

So we made a decision

to help content partners.

Now, we were evil.

We were reaching out to
content partners, saying,

"Hey, we're from Youporn,

"we want you to license us your
content.

"We want to help you, we
want to send our members,

"our users, to your websites,

"for you to convert
them into memberships."

And the general consensus from

the whole of the industry was,
"You've got to be kidding.

"Why would someone that is
viewing content for free

"want to pay a membership?"

But tube sites have been
there for eight years.

So, if you're an old
school content producer,

you would have already adapted
to using the tube sites.

Those that refuse to adapt,

they're simply no longer in
business.

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] J-T's right.

All the people I knew have
disappeared.

If it was only J-T that had come
along,

then perhaps they might have
survived.

But the worst was yet to come.

(intense techno music)

(beeping and buzzing)

With Manwin, Fabian Thylmann
built the first multinational

empire of sex.

The majority of the world's
porn videos are now hosted

on websites that he owns.

(static buzzing)

The only people interested
in this unknown man

are German journalists.

(static buzzing)

They were the first to
reveal the obscure nature

of the company.

(dramatic music)

Who is Thylmann?

What kind of guy is he?

- [Lars] He is certainly
what you would call a geek.

More of the technician kind of
guy.

Sort of the person that has
never been at a porn shoot,

and in a way, he was
probably at that moment

the right person for
the distribution of porn

in the 21st century.

- Can you show me how,

when it all started?

- Yeah, well I mean, this is
how it all started for us.

So that's the front page of the
paper

that was published in September
2012,

and it's basically

the result of a long time of
work

because we started in January
with our investigation.

So it took us nine months in
a way to get this thing done.

All description, how it worked,

when he bought what, everything.

You've got also some
documents that we could show

that led us to quite a lot of
questions.

- [Interviewer] Fabian,
tell us about yourself,

where you're from, how did
you get on the internet and,

we want to know it all.

- So, Fabian.

I started online in '99,
roughly, as a programmer.

And I,

I was very interested in high
speed, high traffic websites,

so complicated programming.

So it's the stuff you would find

at that time was porn,
with a lot of traffic.

So I started buying a couple
of companies in Europe first.

But the biggest coup really I
did was

buying a company in Canada,

which was back then already
one of the big players

in the market.

- [Interviewer] Can we
name, is compliancy,

can we name of one of those
sites?

- Pornhub, okay.
- Yes.

The second one which is
bigger but more known--

- [Interviewer] How many
users does Pornhub--

- 16 million a day.

- 16 million daily active users?

- [Fabian] Yes, active users,
yes.

About--
- Very active.

- Yes, very active.

(laughing)

- Anyway, that's why we invited
Fabian,

so it's not only about the
materials.

- [Ovidie] How old is he?

- [Lars] 36, 37 I think.

- [Ovidie] So he was quite young
when he

became the King of Porn.

- Well, I mean, that's sort
of how our story started.

Because we saw this,

this video from this big
porn conference in Las Vegas.

And it's a four part
video, it's on YouTube,

and there is suddenly
coming this young German guy

on the center stage, sitting
down in his sweater and

he was looking like a sort of

cheap version of Mark
Zuckerburg or something, yeah?

And he sits down there

in front of the American porn
industry

and he tells them his vision
and how he's doing things.

And it's like a nobody
appearing, yeah?

And for us, it was like,
"Wait a minute, who is this?

"And why the hell are all
the others listening to him?

"What does he have to say?"

- We had roughly 65 million
people on our websites each day.

Different ones.

About 450 million people
a month, different ones.

- 450 million a month?

I'm not sure if I'm mixing
up numbers as usual,

but that sounds like
half the size of Facebook

some time ago, right?
(Fabian laughing)

- So, turnover a month was
roughly $40 million, US.

- A month?
- A month.

Yeah, I always think in
months, I don't know why,

everybody else does it
in years, I don't know.

And...

- You grew so fast.
- Yes, that's probably,

it just kept changing so--

- Well, the first thing
that a reporter does is

go into the archives,

looking whatever has
been published before.

So we had a list with webpages,

we had a list with company
names,

and then we started to
pull for every company

the record from the trade
register.

In the end, we had a network
of about 35 or more companies

that belonged to this empire of
Manwin

that Mr. Thylmann was running.

(whistling and pinging)

We started to ask ourselves,

why do you need companies
in Cyprus, for example?

Then the headquarter,

the headquarter was in
Luxembourg.

So we asked ourselves, why is
the headquarter in Luxembourg?

And we went to Luxembourg
and when we arrived there,

I have actually photos that
I can show if you like.

Then, it's a building out
of concrete and glass.

We could look basically
through the door in the office,

and the office was entirely
empty.

There were a few pieces of
furniture standing around--

- [Ovidie] So this is the
headquarter

of the biggest porn company in
the world?

- This was, in 2012, the
headquarter of

the biggest porn company in the
world.

But the point is, in that
building, we asked the neighbors

and on the lower floor,
there is a Chinese bank.

And we asked the lady there and
we said,

"What is going on the fourth
floor, where's Manwin?"

And she said in this funny
Chinese voice,

"Oh, there's nobody there.

"Oh, there's nobody there."

And it was weird, yeah?

And those were all things where
we said,

"Okay, it doesn't make sense,

"it doesn't prove anything,

"it doesn't show, okay,
this must be tax evasion."

For us, in the end, obviously
as a German newspaper,

we follow the German angle.

There was one company in
Hamburg,

the Manwin Germany Company,
that was very interesting to us.

Because they run this
website, My Dirty Hobby.

The company said actually
on their webpage here,

"We are run from Cyprus."

And even though we knew
that the performers were

living in Germany and were
shooting their movies in
Germany,

the tax that was deducted
was the Cypiotic VAT.

It's really hard to judge
if everything is going

in a legal way there from the
outside,

but at that point, we had
a lot of reasonable doubt.

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] I've heard of My
Dirty Hobby.

It's one of Germany's
largest amateur porn sites.

But what I didn't know
is that it was one of

Fabian Thylmann's first
businesses,

and a cornerstone of his Manwin
empire.

- [Ovidie] Let's see.

There, it's you.

Naughty Over Forty.

- [Tina] I'm a German MILF.

- [Ovidie] Do you have an idea
of how many fans you have?

- For My Dirty Hobby, over
15,000 fans.

It's a very great fan
base on My Dirty Hobby.

- How many videos have you done?

- 500.

- 500?
- Yes.

- When you do a video, you
have to upload it yourself?

- Mmhmm.

- When we start with the film,
I give it to my Dirty Hobby.

- Okay.
- I can give the go,

and then it's go online.

- But they control it.

- They control it, yes, really.

But the marketing for
these clips, it's our.

- Is it inconvenient to
ask you how many percent

they take from your,

from your income?

- 78--
- 78%.

- 78?

- And--
- We get

22%.

- 22%.

And then we must pay tax and
other things from this 22%.

It's not much.

In my next life, I'm
owner of a good website.

(laughing)

Yeah.

(train rumbling)

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] Fabian Thylmann may
have had his first successes

in Germany, but he made his
fortune in the American market.

And it's also there that
he extended his monopoly

over the entire industry.

(seabirds calling)

- I was under contract
with a studio called

Digital Playground from

late 2007 to

the middle of 2013.

And then Digital Playground was
purchased

by a larger company called
Manwin,

and they have a monopoly on

the production studios in
America.

One of the first things that
I noticed with the new owners

was this complete lack
of respect for the crew.

And they put in extremely
long hours sometimes,

like especially in a large
feature, 20 hour days.

(laughing)

I was there at 6:00 am, shoot
all day,

leave set at two o'clock in the
morning,

go home, sleep for a couple
hours, come back the next day.

It was a capitalism machine to

the detriment of any other
concerns.

You don't take care of your
people.

Which then, sure enough, they've
repeated

massive firings of the workers,

and that's just it.

Capitalism.

Yay.

- [Ovidie] Have you ever met the
board,

someone like Fabian Thylmann?

Have you ever met him?

- I met him.

I don't necessarily believe

that he ever owned the company,
really.

They're just fishy, all right?

They're just a fishy, weird
company.

My Fleshlight royalties, when
the wire transfers come in,

go through banks in
places like South Africa,

they have offices in Ireland.

It's a bunch of,

it's a bunch of men with Greek
last names

and thick Greek accents
claiming to be Quebecois.

I just don't believe anything
they say,

having worked for them,
because nothing makes sense.

(dramatic music)

- I was investigating a load
of online black markets,

digital activism, Anonymous,
that kind of culture,

that was mostly what I was
writing about.

And there were rumors, and
actually,

one company did, for all
intents and purposes,

own a complete monopoly on
porn distribution online

and no one really know about it.

They have hundreds of tube
sites.

But Pornhub was always their
main one.

I think it's the one
they focused primarily on

attracting to a female audience
more,

so they took a lot more of
the aggressive, extreme,

horrifying fetishes out of it

and left in all the other ones.

But also using Pornhub as an
advertising campaign online,

billboards, Times Square,
everywhere, just kind of

recognizing that it's already
popular,

but for anyone out there
who may not use Pornhub

or know of Pornhub as their main
go-to,

just show that it's a legitimate
business,

because of course, if you
can advertise in public,

you must be legitimate.

The natural conclusion,
why would anyone think that

an evil company could put a
billboard anywhere in New York?

All you need is hand

Ba ba da da da

All you need is hand

Ba ba da da da

All you need is hand, hand

Hand is all you need

- [Man] One more time and go!

All you need is hand

Ba ba da da da

All you need is hand

Ba ba da da da

All you need is hand, hand

Hand is all you need

- [Ovidie] The bigger they
become,

the more they can get away with.

This is how our suffering
became part of pop culture,

with a little bit of
cynicism, and a lot of lube.

Worst of all, everyone is
lapping it up, or seems to be.

It seems that asking too many
questions

would kill the excitement of it
all.

(dramatic music)

- [Roy] Why would anyone pay

if you gave them something for
free?

Why would people choose
to do the moral thing?

I don't think people in their
nature

are altruistic all the time,

especially when it's something
that has

the connotation of shame and
secrecy.

And we're not really
comfortable with our erotica

and our pornography in general.

It's easy, it's available.

(dramatic music)

- A lot of people don't even
realize

the videos that they're
watching on those sites

are probably not there
with the permission of

the studio that produced it,
or the performers or anything.

People just kind of disregard
it, like,

"Oh those are porn people,

"who cares if they're getting
ripped off?"

People just don't have much
sympathy for

porn performers or studios.

You know, in the 80s, you
had the Meese Commission

and you had anti-porn
people, like Andrea Dworkin,

who were determined to put
an end to all pornography.

And those people sought to
really destroy

the adult entertainment
industry.

And they were unsuccessful in
doing that.

But then you have a
company that comes along,

owning these tube sites,
who's done more damage

to the adult industry than any
politician

or anti-porn person could
have ever dreamed of doing.

And instead of circling
the wagons and putting up

a unified front against
them, we've invited them in.

So, just so many people, in my
opinion, have just sold out.

They said, "Well, I'll
just take the money."

And ethics, money talks and
ethics walks.

And it's very disheartening
to some extent.

(calm music)

(women speaking foreign
language)

(laughing)

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] Since the
beginning of the crisis,

the porn industry has been
facing a sharp increase

in sexually transmitted
diseases.

Because they fear losing out on
work,

some actors falsify their
medical tests.

In 2012, a syphilis epidemic
affected the whole industry.

Ironically, during that same
year,

Manwin financed a large
campaign against Measure B,

a law that would make the use of
condoms

during filming obligatory.

- Hi, I'm Tara Patrick.

- And I'm Ron Jeremy.

- A mandatory condom law will
not

make our work place any safer.

But it will drive our $20
billion dollar industry

and 10,000 jobs out of LA
county.

- Vote no on Measure B.

And keep the adult business in
California.

(light music)

(people applauding)

- Sorry, you need some drink,

otherwise this will never work.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am very
honored to be here tonight.

Obviously, we have to find a way
to stop

harmful acts against
people in the industry,

which goes for both women and
men.

For me, this was very
important in many, many ways,

because I knew the way I ran the
business.

I, in my opinion at least,

protected everyone as much as I
could.

So I do prefer

people coming to my websites
than going to others,

which are much more,

more underground so to speak,
and do not control so much.

Thank you.

(people applauding)
(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] Success proved to be
fleeting.

Game over for the King of porn.

(beeping)
(electronic music)

(dramatic music)

(beeping)

At least with Fabian Thylmann,
we had a name and a face.

But since Manwin became
Mindgeek,

the picture is far less clear.

(keyboard clacking)

But who's behind this company?

- It's not clear.

I mean we know at the beginning,

the original company was called
Mansef,

and that was Stefan Manos
and Yuissem Youssef,

which was the Man and the Sef.

And those were allegedly
the original founders.

And then, after a while, they
changed their name to Manwin.

And at that point, they
would not say whether or not

the original owners were
still involved or not.

They said, "Well it's
under new ownership",

but they wouldn't say who it
was.

And that's when Fabian Thylmann
became

the face of the company.

And even then, people were like,

"Is he really the owner of the
company

"or is he just kind of
the front man for it?"

It was still very unclear.

And then a few years ago, they
rebranded their name again

to Mindgeek, and they still
won't say whether or not

the original owners are
involved.

With other adult studios,
you pretty much know

who owns the company.

But with these guys, nobody
really knows

(chuckling) who's behind
everything.

It's very kind of mysterious.

(dramatic music)

- On the paper, Mr. Thylmann
was the owner and CEO,

he was running the show.

Now, obviously, there
are other dependencies.

There are people that gave him
the money,

people that we don't know.

Then also what is weird is Mr.
Thylmann

was sitting in Brussels,

but the main headquarters
with the most employees

and still the same thing today,

Mindgeek is actually residing
in Montreal in Canada.

Now from Brussels to Canada
is quite a distance, yeah?

So and, I'm very certain that
other managers in Canada,

the same that bought Manwin
and renamed it Mindgeek

that they were very influential
also in the days back then.

To me, it's like, of course, the
Canadians

manage the show in that moment,
you know?

(dramatic music)

During the course of our
investigation,

we pulled up some trade
register records in Cyprus.

And there was a remark on a
charge.

And that was giving the number
of

$362 million US dollars,

I think was the number
that they gave there,

so I assume that this was
sort of the amount that he got

to buy companies, other
companies.

- And where does this money come
from?

- Well, it's tough to say.

We tried to follow the money.

In the end we found

two guys that were former
Goldman Sachs bankers

in New York, Wall Street,

who are now working on their own
ticket.

And,

they were deeply involved with
the,

the moving of the money to Mr.
Thylmann.

But, obviously, at some point,
people are not telling you

where the money is coming from
anymore.

(dramatic music)

- Two journalists, two German
journalists from Die Welt,

they say that some of
the money from the loan

came from Wall Street,
which is right here.

- Yes.

- And from a hedge fund, but, I
mean,

no hedge fund never, ever
invests money in porn.

- Oh yeah, you would never, I
mean,

for the longest time, the only
people who would finance porn

back in the early days was like,
the mob.

You weren't getting a loan
from the bank to shoot

the next Deep Throat,
that wasn't gonna happen.

So, it's still that way to some
extent.

You see, to this day, performers
get their bank accounts

shut off from different banks,

so there's still that kind of
stigma.

So I can't imagine,

Goldman Sachs saying,

"Here, take a bunch of
money to shoot porn."

So I mean, it's,

it's mind-boggling, it's just
crazy,

would they really get money
from a hedge fund for that,

or was there something else
involved?

It's just,

it's hard to wrap your mind
around.

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] Advertising
campaigns, Wall Street money,

swanky offices in Canada,

you could almost forget that
their business is pornography.

But if Mindgeek seems so
respectable,

why then do so many people in
the business fear it so much?

- My experience was
mostly a wall of silence.

I probably could have spent
weeks

calling hundreds of more
producers and performers and

there were people who
just didn't even know

what Mindgeek or Manwin was,

and the ones who'd been around
for a while

were much more hesitant to talk
openly.

And as more publications came
out,

you began to realize that
many actors and producers

that went out publicly
to talk against Mindgeek

said that they were
blacklisted as a result,

that they were blacklisted
in the industry,

couldn't perform, couldn't get
any deals.

There was intimidation.

You can look on several
publications online where

porn stars have talked
openly about being threatened

through legal documents or
warnings,

and many who have been
outright blacklisted,

who don't work anymore and
who had to create their own

independent brand, and
very small boutique site,

that they hoped people would
come to.

But as we know, 95 plus
percent of porn viewers online

go to tube sites.

So the majority of the porn
audience,

if you want to get their
attention,

you have to work with
Mindgeek to some degree.

So, it had this kind of

cartel, Mafia feel to it
more than a business model.

(plane engine roaring)

- [Ovidie] The more I dig,

the more complicated
it all seems to become.

The American authorities
seem strangely uninterested.

The only investigation dates
back to 2009 in Atlanta.

Maybe there, I will find some
answers.

(dramatic music)

- Yeah, I was afraid he was
gonna run into that because,

yeah, everybody will
tell you about Mindgeek

until you ask them on the
record.

You know, when they
actually have to say it

in front of a camera,

or say it with a tape recorder
rolling,

then they don't want to
say anything because, yeah,

they depend on Mindgeek for
work.

- [Ovidie] Mike knows the dirty
secrets

of the American porn industry.

He was one of the first to be
questioned

by the Secret Services after the
accounts

in Atlanta were seized.

- I got a tip from someone
inside Manwin who said,

"Look at Fortress Investment
Group."

It turned out that
Fortress Investment Group

bought a small piece of a larger
loan

that was made by Cold Back
Capital.

So Cold Back Capital loaned to
Manwin $350 million dollars.

And Manwin used that money

to buy the Digital Playground,

they used that money to buy
Redtube.

So you look at all these
purchases they made,

and most of them are failing.

I cannot think of one legal
business

that is making money, that
Mindgeek owns.

The important thing to remember
here

is what Mindgeek is selling.

They're selling traffic, okay?

And they are selling it

to other Mindgeek companies.

And they sell it to
other Mindgeek companies,

and they sell it to
other Mindgeek companies.

And what is traffic?

It's nothing.

There's no inventory of traffic.

I can't call up a parts supplier
and say,

"Hey, I need more traffic,

"so you have to send
me a million widgets."

They can create traffic anytime,
for free.

There is no inventory, so
it's very difficult to track.

It appears that their primary
industry is not pornography,

but moving money

from country to country
to country to country.

What we call in America money
laundering.

Can I prove that?

No.

That is my opinion.

But it is well-founded.

- [Ovidie] In the end,
the judicial inquiries

remain in limbo, and some have
been settled out of court.

Even in Atlanta, despite the
allegations

of money laundering, the
only penalty was a fine.

The empire appears to be
untouchable.

Has he ever tried to contact
you?

- [Mike] They have
contacted me many times.

Even Fabian Thylmann contacted
me,

And he offered me a lot of
money.

But I understood

it was not really advertising
he was trying to buy,

it was my silence.

In the last three years, I
have had my life threatened

five, maybe six times.

- [Ovidie] And do you know who
it is?

- [Mike] No.

- No?
- No.

- It's anonymous.
- They are anonymous.

- Okay.
- And, you know,

if they call me on the telephone
and say,

"I'm going to kill you",

or if they send me an email and
say,

"I'm going to kill you",

that doesn't concern me very
much.

But the last time, they
left a box on my front door.

It had a toy fire truck
and a fire extinguisher

and a book of matches
and a card that said,

"I'm sorry your house burned
down."

To me, that is a direct threat.

And so I carry a gun wherever I
go.

Honestly, I would hope that I
never have

to draw my gun on someone.

I hope that never happens.

But if it does happen, I will do
it.

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] Throughout my
investigation,

I heard some wild rumors.

Mafias across the world
seemed to be implicated,

in South America, the
Middle East, Eastern Europe,

and even Asia.

I'm not sure if we will ever
get to the bottom of it all.

Ultimately, today's porn
industry is all about

big internet companies that
generate billions of hits

that have no connection with the
workforce

at the end of the production
line.

(keyboard clacking)

Tube sites are not the only
websites

that took advantage of the
internet.

Another lucrative venture is the
live cam,

a kind of peep show 2.0.

It's one of the premium offers
to which the video sites

try to redirect consumers.

- Hello.

- Welcome in my room.

- [Ovidie] The girls perform
for consumers for a price,

and the IT platforms connect the
two.

Even porn has not escaped
the Uber-ization of work.

(dramatic music)

The market leader is Live
Jasmin,

also one of Mindgeek's main
customers

in terms of advertising space.

But Live Jasmin is more
transparent than Mindgeek,

and they agreed to open their
doors to me.

- This is the product
development department.

These are the guys who
are actually working on

the development of Live Jasmin

and our live streaming products.

So this is the finance
department here.

Here we have the legal
department, HR,

office management, VR
department.

- How many employees are
working here in Luxembourg?

- Around 200.

200, and most of them,

more than half of them are
developers.

For example, here are the
guys who are developing

the platform for the models.

- It's funny because it doesn't
look like

an adult company at all.

- No, it's not.

It could be a bank
because we have all the,

all the roles and all the
activities and

staff that's needed for a bank.

It's a well-structured big
company

that stands behind this
business.

So this why we don't consider
ourselves as adult company

because we are IT company.

We are company which is
responsible

for development of the platform.

We give the platform

and we give them to
the members and models,

and they can meet on the
platform.

- [Ovidie] In fact, you
never meet the girls?

It's very--
- Not really, no.

Physically we don't meet the
girls because

they are the other side of the
world,

and we just give them a
platform.

- [Ovidie] How many cam girls
are working for Live Jasmin?

- Well, that's, that's a
tricky question because

they are, lots of models come
and leave.

I mean, we have registered
around two million models

who are registered for the
website.

But I mean, I would say,
actively,

there are around 50,000
who are active currently

on the website, that they have
account

and they come online.

(dramatic music)

- [Ovidie] Far from Luxembourg
and its business districts,

thousands of workers
struggle to make a living.

Here in Timisoara,

I get the feeling that a
new form of exploitation

of sex workers has developed.

(dog barking)

(upbeat pop music)

(static buzzing)

- [Natali] I'm 25.

I was working as a waitress

in restaurants.

It was pretty hard and

I wasn't earning as much
money as I wished to,

because I have plans.

I want to finish university.

And my mother,

it's gone in another country for
work.

So I'm staying alone and,

and I have to pay for all.

So...

(upbeat techno music)

- Romanians, we produce 50%
of all incomes in the world.

Half from this industry
is produced by Romanians.

From my opinion, I think
that there are active models,

at least 10,000,

in Romania.

(rap music)

- [Ariana] I'm from Arad.

It's near from Timisoara.

I have four sisters more

and one little brother.

My mother is cooking in a big
restaurant,

and my father, I don't know.

(Ariana laughing)

I saw him only one time in my
life.

I think I will do this job

until I reach my goal.

And I open a little business for
me.

And, 'til I have a family.

Guys, if you want, there is
more.

You want a bit more?

- From here, they are not so
wealthy.

They are coming from poor
families.

And they are struggling to build
a future.

- My life is like this.

I work, I sleep.

I don't do nothing.

- [Ovidie] How many hours
per day do you work?

- Eight, nine, 10.

- [Ovidie] Any you told me that

some girls are from Colombia?

- Yeah.

Colombia is the next country
competing with Romania with

numbers of webcam orders.

- [Ovidie] Colombia.

- Yeah.
- Why Colombia?

(sighing)

- Because I think they are poor
also.

- But, this is this life.

We have to fight for have
something.

We can't have all the things
without, make something.

(rap music)

- [Ovidie] The platforms take
on average of 60 to 70% share

of what the customers pay.

For a girl working in a studio,
her fees are even halved.

But users always beg for free
shows

and the girls waste their time.

Sometimes the camgirls go
home at the end of the day

having earned no money at all.

(clock ticking)

- We figured out that every
day, maybe 200 or 300 people

at least visit their chatrooms.

Figure out,

customers that are entering
and said, "You are a bitch",

or said bad things to them.

And also the hardest part
outside here it's that

they renounce their social life.

So for my opinion,

it's a job that takes

from one year to five year
maximum.

- [Ovidie] How much do
they earn per month?

The average?

- Average, around

$1,400 US dollars.

The average.

(intense techno music)

- [Ovidie] What's the
turnover of Live Jasmin?

- It's, I can tell approximate
number,

it's around $305 million a year.

We have our incomes growing year
by year.

We can grow, we usually grow our
incomes,

it depends on the year but
more than 10% every year.

Sometimes even more.

- [Ovidie] And why are you in
Luxembourg?

- Well, there were several
reasons for Luxembourg that
time.

The obvious reason would
be to say that yeah,

it's for the tax reasons but

we are always focusing on having

the best people working with us.

The best people, especially in
technology.

And,

in terms of having an attractive
environment for people,

worldwide, I think
Luxembourg is a good place.

I think we are really happy to
be here and

we want to stay here.

(upbeat R and B music)

- So, Smitty, I want you
to remove your clothes

and down on your knees,

that you are positioned in front
of me.

Great, very good, my boy.

You like my boots?

Leather.

Clean my dirty soles.

Lick my heels.

Very well.

Now, I want you to put the
plastic bag in your hand,

and then around your neck.

Use that tape.

You will have no air.

So do it.

And how I promise you,
I will show you my ass.

(laughing)

- [Ovidie] In principle,
it's a private exchange

between consenting adults.

But if problems arise, who is
responsible?

- You see?

What do you think about her?

You like it?

She can do very dirty
things in private like

eating poo and drinking pee.

Most of the Chinese girl
are submissive ones.

It's asking just 50
credits for natural squirt,

including blow job, that's
almost nothing,

less than one dollar.

So it's, in my opinion,
selling herself very,

very cheap.

- [Ovidie] With the arrival
of the sex multinationals,

what we knew as porn has
given way to a sector subject

to the same rules of
an ultra-liberal world.

An unrestrained capitalism,
a scorched-earth policy,

a complete disregard for
workers.

When you think about it,

Mindgeek is a little like
the Monsanto of porn.

(intense techno music)