paul smith's Snaps & Bytes e-home
May 2008: PAUL'S PIECE - Viv Thomas and the Babe of the Year awards - Issue 57.
When an email turns up in my inbox with BOTY in the subject line, I immediately reach for the Delete button. Not because I don't like emails featuring bottoms -far from it- but because I hate badly spelt spam. However, on this occasion I noticed the email had been forwarded by ETO's editor Dale before I condemned it to oblivion and I rerouted my cursor to Read. It turns out BOTY is short for Babe Of The Year, and ETO had been invited to Budapest by Viv Thomas to attend his Babe of the Year awards. I checked the date; basically I had the weekend to get packed, find my passport and Hungarian phrase book (I didn't want to be saying "My hovercraft is full of eels" again), buy a fist full of Forints and book QueasyJet flights and car parking, purchase travel insurance...
So it was a quite flustered me who pitched up at the Bastya Bistro on one of Pest's main roads in the city centre (Buda is on the other side of the river) on the evening of the 8th of April. The stretch limo and Ferrari outside assured me I'd found the right place. The thirty stunning girls inside also cemented the idea in my mind; Viv's reputation for only working with the cream of the modelling crop is justified. There were porn stars there from as far away as Prague, drawn to the bistro for a night of good drink, food and company, with some flashing later. Just to bring anyone reading this while scratching their heads up to speed, Viv Thomas is a well known name in the high-end lesbian film market. I was pleased to see some girl-on-girl action as I sat down with some ice-cold water. It was only girl-on-girl's-lap action at this stage, but I felt it was a step in the right direction.
Following successful BOTY events in 2006 and 2007, the awards are a bit of fun for Thomas, allowing him to give a thank you to the actors and actresses he's worked with in the past year while the forum at VivThomas.com do the difficult job of actually deciding who most of the gongs go to. Three guys from the forum, two Dutch and an Italian, had travelled to Budapest to attend, and I heard Viv had taken them out for a meal the previous night. Having never been to one of these events before, I sat down next to what I took to be a forum-user or press-dude to ask them what the score was. I discovered he was actually the Hungarian husband/bodyguard of one of the models, and my question, "What happens here?" was perhaps misinterpreted. "It means the winner gets more money", he simply said. Well, it's one interpretation of the question, and a refreshingly candid one.
While I was taking some photos of the awards waiting to be- well, awarded, Viv unhooked himself from some adhesive blondes and came over to me. In his blunt South African way, he growled, "We're missing two. Bloody FedEx lost them. They're sitting in Lisbon. We're going to do some shenanigans for the photographs. We'll give 'em and take 'em back. Some girls will have to hand them back once their pictures have been taken, but we'll sort it out." It was then I realised he was talking about the awards, not girls, and my mind was put at rest.
After a brief introduction to a room of attentive and mostly attractive faces, Viv launched into some stories and the award presenting. First up was Kathy Moore, winner of the Best Forum Contributor award. Apparently she's always on there, talking about her adventures and dog. Next was James Brossman (not his real name, but source of endless 'Double Oh Sixty-Nine, Licence to Thrill' puns, no doubt), an Italian from a little village 50km from the border who's worked with Thomas for 10 years. He won the Outstanding Contribution to Adult Entertainment (Male) award, and was followed by blonde Sandy, for the female equivalent. Then Vera and Nella were up for Best Lesbian Scene, which was in Office Girls 2. A big hit, I believe. Vivien's award, like Vera and Nella's had been voted for on the VivThomas.com web site's forum. She won out as Best Newcomer. Coky Ice had been voted Best Male Performer and Trisha Brill was awarded the title of Best Female Performer in a Heterosexual Scene, or something punchier which means the same thing. A very pretty Eve Angel won Best Lesbian Performer (I secretly hope she was just playing the part of a lesbian. So to speak) and she was followed by the highlight of the night- The award the awards were named after; Babe of the Year. Picked from the previous year's Babe of the Month winners, it was Jo who forum-users felt was the most babe-ish of the past 12 months. She was also given a present by Paulo, the Italian guy from the forum, and was clearly delighted to have won. She gave a short speech to that effect and thanked Viv for the support he'd given her over the years. Some lucky-dip cash prizes followed, drawn by last year's BOTY, Nella, so even the girls who'd not won anything could still leave with more than a belly full of beer. Nella, Vivien and Kathy Moore were the lucky winners of cache prizes, much to their amusement.
The beautiful and charming Avril, Mrs Thomas -the third Mrs Thomas, I learned- wasn't around so Viv didn't need to worry about spending too much time with the girls. There was some good-natured horseplay (soon to be outlawed in the Netherlands?) but all in a very respectful way. Passing food soon drew the crowd of around 50 into the back room for some dinner. Phil from AVN Europe commented on the heavy, stodgy nature of classic Hungarian cuisine and wondered how the girls all stayed so slim. I had one word for him, "Bulimia." I'd no evidence to back this up or even suspicions, if I'm honest, but it was a snappy enough comeback at the time. Speaking of snappy, several photographers and VivThomas.com's official lady videographer were kept busy recording events.
A surprise addition to the night was a lesbian floorshow after dinner, which isn't something you'll find me complaining about. Especially as I'd had the foresight to bring my own camcorder with me. Think of it as the follow-up to the girl-on-girl's-lap action I mentioned earlier - Girl-lapping-girl's-lap, if you will. Once dinner and some other things had settled, I was able to catch Viv and have a proper chat without having shaven-headed beauty CJ distract me. This had been happening a lot.
We briefly spoke about the event, and how it was recognition of the hard work, professionalism and dedication the performers put into their craft for Viv, which then lead to him explaining his reasons for leaving the UK. The simple answer is the problems he had with British talent, and he ran through a long list of the sorts of issues he faced. Not turning up, turning up late, turning up without medical paperwork and turning up without the clothes they said they'd bring being just the tip of the iceberg. This reflects some of my experiences of making Cum Fly With Me! (available now from Queensway!) so I understood the frustrations which had encouraged him to leave the UK. Hungarian girls, he said, are more reliable and therefore less stressful to work with.
"Sit down", he told me when I asked how long he'd been in the industry, and I did. "Fuck. Twenty five years. Good years, mostly. Enjoyable! I left the UK two and a half years ago- By accident I'd been introduced to an agent in Budapest, came here, worked with him once or twice and we formed a very good relationship. A very good friendship. I'd been coming here ever since. Between us, the agent and I formed a business here. We bought a couple of flats to use as locations, and we stay in them so we don't have to pay for hotels. We have one just up the road from here," he waved an arm across the bistro, "and one just across the road. So it's convenient and this is our hangout, yeah."
A girl needed a kiss before leaving, and I waited for Viv to do the honours before I asked him how he'd describe his place in the industry. "I don't know really. I started in photography, and that's how we made our name. I was very lucky that I was introduced to the American marked by a friend of mine in London and the same guy introduced me to the video business. He said to me, 'forget about photography, one of these days video will be…'" He used his hands to suggest a very big thing. He continued, "We slowly developed into the video business, some 15 years ago."
Asking about his recent successes, Thomas said, "Office Girls went down exceptionally well, and Office Girls 2 has absolutely gone through the roof. I think it's HotMovies in America where we're number one, with Office Girls. For us that's just mind-boggling. Stunning. Against American studios- We're very proud." And he looked it. In fact, as Viv's tanned face beamed back at me across the table it was hard to believe this vital guy is 60 (he promises he is) or that he had a very serious brush with not getting to be 60 not so long ago. I delicately asked him how he is now.
"Well. I'm ok. I don't mind talking about it because I believe the more you talk about it- this dreaded disease, cancer- the more people are going to be aware of it. When I was first diagnosed… well, you can imagine. You just think, 'This is it'. I remember my wife and I sitting in the car, both crying, thinking 'That's it. It's done', you know? The doctors gave me nine months, unless the treatment was successful. You really don't know- and I don't think anybody in the street knows what this situation entails. I don't mind talking about it because if I can pass my experience onto anyone, that's good. You know, there's hope. Cancer isn't the death sentence it used to be. We made a web site about what happened to me called Cancer-Throat.com. We have a lot of people looking at it, and I've had a lot of people contact me personally about it, asking me about my experiences and for advice, from all over the world. If I can help one person, then it's been worth it. I'm happy to offer my assistance to anyone who gets this shitty disease. I got the help and reassurance I needed- I had unbelievable friends around me."
As soon as I said I was glad he was 100% ok again, he gripped the table. "Touch wood! Let's not tempt anything. This thing has changed my life. I've become much more emotional. I can't help myself. I never used to be like this, but I am. An emotional South African!" We shared a tension-defusing laugh. "My reputation was as a right arrogant piece of shit sometimes, but I think I've changed. I really have- Just watching a movie can make me cry. That would never have happened before. Watching my favourite rugby team win has me in tears. So- I don't know, it's as if I've been saved for some reason, and maybe that's so I can help other people going through the same thing as I did. I think some people are saved, for some purpose."
Speculating on what impact the new Viv Thomas has had on Viv Thomas the business, the man himself was happy to explain. "I used to get so angry, and uptight. When a model didn't turn up, or didn't come with the right fucking clothes, or whatever. I used to go into orbit. Now, it's 'just one of those things'. Moving here has helped too. My staff as well- they've noticed a huge change in me. If things weren't going well, they'd walk around on egg-shells in the office. Everything's more relaxed now. If they fuck-up I still get angry, but it's not the same. Life is too short to spend angry, and I want to enjoy all of this life which I have left. I'm sixty years old. If I get another ten, fifteen years, it'll be enough. When I was diagnosed and told my staff I was going for the treatment, I said then if I get through this and get another ten years to appreciate what I have, that'll be enough, I'll be happy. And I am. I really am enjoying my life. I'm playing golf again- at the moment my handicap is 15, but I'm working on it. I want to get back to single figures. I used to be a 6."
"Golf?" I said. "Sounds like you're thinking of retiring." Viv gave me a smile. "I'm going to retire. I think everyone knows. I'm setting up the business to let me do that. I've been working with my guys- I've got a great group of guys who I've appointed as directors, given them shares. There's six of them and they're going to run the business while I play golf. I'll still be around, keeping in touch, making sure they're able to pay me off in the future. I'm exceptionally lucky; these guys all went to university to do film studies, and they all know how to make mainstream movies. Because there are more people than there are jobs, they've all joined me and that's why our movies are so different. So special. It's quality- they have this extra edge no one else does. Absolutely. They're all intelligent, conscientious boys and keen to make more great films. I've told them I'm retiring at the end of the year. I'm building a massive fucking house in Portugal. It's a mansion we'll use as a location. Pool, wine cellar, the whole business. It's 80,000 square metres of property. It's huge. Ridiculous. Six bedrooms, six bathrooms, each individually designed for photography or video. I'm going to approach TV and film people too, as a location for movies, adverts, what-have-you. I hope that's what my 'retirement' we be. The boys will run the business and I hope they can buy me out, down the line. They might not be able to pay me what the business is worth, but if they make me an income for a couple of years- well, that's the plan. This time next year I hope to be playing golf five times a week, travelling the world…"
I asked how far away from Villa Thomas the local course was. "Five minutes. Literally five minutes. I can walk out of the office at 4 o'clock, and by quarter-past I'm on the tee", Viv replied with a grin. I suppose it must be a truism that to make someone really appreciate life, you first have to threaten them with losing it, and Viv would be an example of that at work. Not just life, but work too, I thought as I watched him return to his duties as host, shepherding the girls for photos with the guys from the VivThomas.com forum, one of whom told he was honoured to be there. Having survived both throat cancer and the cut-throat (no pun intended) world of adult entertainment for a quarter century, I reckon Viv's earned his retirement and share his confidence in his team to deliver future Viv Thomas productions.
So next time you get some badly spelt spam, take a moment to look beyond the surface. Sure, it probably was sent by a Nigerian who unaccountably wants to give you $24,000,000 in return for a measly £5,000 processing fee, but it might just have come from a South African. Especially if it has BOTY in the subject line.