
Porn Industry Using Airbnb Rentals as Film Sets - AndrewUnmuted
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/Porn-Industry-Uses-Airbnb-Rental-Houses-for-Filming-370228041.html
======
sandworm101
>> The county told NBC4 if Lucas had filled out the permit application, the
owner could have learned about the shoot before he filmed there.

Lol. The data on a form filed for a porn shoot at a particular location will
not find its way into the hands of someone renting on airbnb. I'd be surprised
if they are even digital. With due respect to homeowners, this is what happens
if you rent your property. People will be having sex in your house even
without the cameras. That's what people do. Owners may be embarrassed if their
friends identify their home, but something is very wrong with this porn if
people are noticing the architecture.

It sounds like this did not involve a home, but unit owned for purposes of
being rented out. A porn shoot does not want someone's home. They, like any
other production, want a film set. That means little furniture, art, or other
identifiable things. So I am not surprised to see this porn shoot occurred in
a rental unit rather than someone's actual home. But they should certainly
have done a better job cleaning up after themselves.

~~~
AznHisoka
I agree. Don't want this to happen? Easy, don't rent your home out. Renting
your home out comes with risks, and you do get rewarded for that risk, but
there's still risks. Nobody is forcing you to rent it out.

~~~
hipsterrific
That's a straw man. While no one is forcing me to rent it out, it's common
courtesy to let your landlord know of any activities you wish to pursue. After
all, it's not your property you're staying in, there's a reason why you're
renting it. After all, people rent out their homes on AirBnB for leisure. What
porn film makers are doing is capitalizing on AirBnB rentals by circumventing
not only regulations (not a fan of but sometimes it's necessary) but they're
making a profit from your property. Not to mention the fact that they left
this person's house a total mess which is already a dick move on the film
makers part.

~~~
stcredzero
_> That's a straw man._

That's not a straw man. It is a rather cavalier and entitled attitude,
however, and I agree with you that it should be common courtesy.

I have noticed a common attitude in the technology sector and amongst gamers,
that if you can get away with it, then you are effectively allowed to do it,
and if you're "smart," you'll heartlessly exploit all such opportunities that
come your way. (Note that I am in the technology sector and would be called a
"gamer" by many.)

Underlying such an attitude is the unspoken belief that being "smart" makes
one superior to the average person and therefore somehow entitles one to such
exploitation. My opinion is that people who express such attitudes are scum
who will stab you in the back if the reward is great enough.

~~~
slantyyz
>> I have noticed a common attitude in the technology sector and amongst
gamers, that if you can get away with it, then you are effectively allowed to
do it, and if you're "smart," you'll heartlessly exploit all such
opportunities that come your way. (Note that I am in the technology sector and
would be called a "gamer" by many.)

I think that attitude is found across the population in general, not just
tech, not just gamers.

I've seen way too many people take the "better to ask for forgiveness than
permission" tack with a lot of things in life.

------
mturmon
This is part of the churn due to the passage of Measure B in LA County, which
mandates use of condoms on shoots. A lot of production has moved out of LA
County in consequence
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measure_B](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measure_B)),
away from the established sets in the San Fernando Valley.

All of this was predicted in advance. I was somewhat surprised the measure
passed. It was pitched publicly as a good-for-performers health measure by its
sponsor, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation
([http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/medical-privacy-sex-
wor...](http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/medical-privacy-sex-work-aids-
healthcare-foundation-michael-weinstein-safer-sex-in-the-adult-film-industry-
act-porn-gay-porn-condoms-a/Content?oid=4007341)).

This foundation, weirdly, is now spearheading an anti-development ballot
initiative in Hollywood ([http://www.advocate.com/hiv-aids/2016/1/13/ahfs-
michael-wein...](http://www.advocate.com/hiv-aids/2016/1/13/ahfs-michael-
weinstein-has-new-fight-and-its-not-about-hiv)). Coincidentally, this is again
relevant to AirBnB because AirBnB (like dense housing development) has been
viewed as a force for gentrification.

~~~
c3534l
The measure probably passed in order to discourage porn from being shot there.

~~~
chimeracoder
> The measure probably passed in order to discourage porn from being shot
> there.

That's a reasonable guess, but once you look at the pattern in Michael
Weinstein's behavior, it's clear what his real motives are.

Weinstein is the president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which championed
the initiative. The AHF has done good things in the past, but as of 2016, it's
doing far more harm than good.

Weinstein has a really puritanical view towards sex, and has a history of
actively opposing harm-reduction approaches to HIV treatment and prevention.
Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence in favor of pre-exposure
prophylaxis in preventing HIV transmission, he has actively campaigned against
it, intentionally spreading inordinate amounts of misinformation to discourage
its use.

His logic is basically, "we need to encourage condom use, and we should
indoctrinate people into using condoms by ensuring that the porn they watch
uses condoms". There are a lot of things wrong with this logic, not the least
of which is that it's had no effect on the number of condoms used in porn
shoots, as everyone now just shoots in Las Vegas or other nearby cities
instead.

~~~
c3534l
That's one person and you need an entire electorate to enact a proposition.
Many (but not all) probably would have voted for an outright ban.

~~~
pessimizer
> you need an entire electorate to enact a proposition.

No, you just need an active interested group and for everyone else to be
indifferent or unaware.

------
benten10
The money-quote for me was:

>>"When you force the industry from a well-equipped infrastructure like the
Valley, with not only traditional sound stages, but a large number of easily
rented homes where adult filming is permitted and encouraged, and push it to
the margins, and to area and locations where people are not aware that adult
film is being shot, you're seeing the beginning of an industry moving
underground."

AKA, you don't let us what we want to, we'll do things illegally. And that's
the issue I have with all the 'disruption' (belch) happening around.

Soo, the porn industry is 'disrupting' location/set industry. How long before
we can expect to see our houses in mainstream cinema after having airbnb'd to
some rando 3 years before?

~~~
fweespeech
In this case, its more prohibition of a critical component of the porn
industry [ no condom shoots ] that was necessary for them to be economically
viable.

~~~
x0x0
lots of industries are more "viable" (profitable) if you allow them to kill
workers

~~~
fweespeech
[http://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/](http://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/)

> Using male condoms the right way, every time, can reduce (though not
> eliminate) the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including human
> immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral hepatitis, as well as other diseases
> that may be transmitted through sex like Zika virus and Ebola. Using male
> condoms the right way, every time, can also help prevent pregnancy.

The existing safeguards aren't 100% but condoms aren't 100% either.

All you've really done by backing this is driving people to produce off the
books and outside of the regulated area. All it did was add to their commute.

------
protomyth
So, we have people with a business relationship to a company that flouts the
law (many put their for property owner protection) renting to people making
porn then getting mad there is no protection for property owners.

------
frogpelt
Tai Lopez uses rentals for his YouTube video sets too.

~~~
rasz_pl
I like how googling this person brings up "Is Tai Lopez a scam?" at the top

~~~
randycupertino
lol. The only thing I know about him is everyone makes fun of the way he says
"garrraaage" and "knawledge."

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv1RJTHf5fk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv1RJTHf5fk)

------
mannotbear
I think we all knew this was coming...

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3146060/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3146060/)

------
kafkaesq
The thing is it'd be very easy for Airbnb to fix this problem (more or less
immediately) if they wanted to: "I agree not to us this dwelling for
commercial purposes except as follows ...", leaving space for people to put
down legitimate business uses such as remote software development. And then
another section indemnifying Airbnb against suing them to collect legal
damages, etc.

~~~
Johnny555
From the article _Airbnb prohibits commercial filming without the consent of
the host and agreed to pay Knapic 's cleaning fees._ So it seems like just
telling people not to do something in the contract is not going to stop them.

~~~
kafkaesq
Right -- that's why they should put some muscle into it.

------
c3534l
> An enema kit, bottle of lubricant and a business card

To be fair, that might happen anyway.

------
ilek
Hmm, unrelated but I hadn't realised you had laws at the county level too in
the USA. I assumed it was federal and state only.

~~~
Zikes
Goes all the way down to city level, even.

~~~
jsprogrammer
Some companies and private organizations will even create "by-law"s in an
attempt to control you.

Uh, why does this comment have a negative score?

~~~
Zikes
Yep, a homeowner's association could put a lien on your house if you broke
their by-law about hanging a sports team flag on your front porch, for
instance.

------
waterlesscloud
To be fair, the porn industry in Los Angeles has always used rental homes for
sets.

~~~
scholia
The thing being that if you rent out somewhere for film or photography -- even
if it's just a home or garden -- then you make a lot more money than if it's
just for somewhere to stay.

(Source: I used to be in the photography industry and have done it.)

------
Mikeb85
> But Knapic is concerned about damage to her home's reputation, now suing
> Michael for a cut of the profits from his films.

Ah. Something tells me this is the real crux of the article...

------
j1vms
Still better off than one of those unwitting homeowners, albeit they were
fictional of course, in Breaking Bad.

------
atirip
It is called disruption.

------
atrudeau
I'd bet a lot of airboy renters would be willing forego rent in exchange for a
turn. "Pay by visa, PayPal, ladies..."

A lot of guys rent a room in hopes of just that. Why not make it explicit?
Just sayin...

