Breaking Lease To Film Porn? Subtlety Might Be Advised

by Calico Rudasill, Sssh.com, Porn For Women

I’m not in the habit of advising people on how to circumvent the law, or the terms of a contract they’ve signed, but if I were so inclined, the first thing I’d tell a person looking to do such a thing would be to take measures not to draw attention to herself.

Let’s say you’re going to cheat on your taxes, for example. If I were you, I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on social media bragging about how cheat on my taxes all the time, because that’s the sort of thing which might come back to haunt you later, should the IRS come calling.

Similarly, if you’re renting an apartment for the purposes of partying like a rock star (and/or filming like a porn director), it might be best if you don’t treat said apartment the way rock stars often do hotel rooms.

Read on…

Your Honor, Can A Moan Of Pleasure Really Be Considered ‘Excessive Noise?’

According to the lawsuit filed against him by his landlord, Thomas Tartaglia of Hell’s Kitchen (the neighborhood, not the TV show) has received quite a few “unauthorized guests” during his tenancy, guests who allegedly do things like break into vacant apartments next door to use the bathroom when Tartaglia’s is occupied.

Other ‘guests’ of Tartaglia’s have distinguished themselves by setting fires in hallways, openly using drugs and “engaging in prostitution,” none of which is particularly effective if one’s goal is to secure the affection of his or her neighbors.

Of course, this wouldn’t be headline-making news if all Tartaglia’s guests had done is start fires, get high and have sex with hookers. After all, if those things were enough to make headlines on their own, reporters in Hell’s Kitchen might not have time to write about anything else.

No, what makes Tartaglia’s ersatz funhouse clickbait-worthy is the lawsuit’s claim he permitted some of his guests to “conduct a commercial photo shoot and/or film which…. was pornographic in nature.”

Now we have a story.

Where Did This Guy Learn His Porn Trade?

Neither the article or the lawsuit it covers contains many details about the commercial porn shoot which allegedly took place in Tartaglia’s apartment and on the building’s roof, but if descriptions of the behind the scenes interaction with his guests/directors is any indication, this thing must be a barn burner.

The lawsuit claims several of Tartaglia’s have complained to the landlord about “loud arguments” between Tartaglia and his guests, which have included “vulgarity, abusive comments, yelling, screaming, banging and throwing of objects.”

Regardless of what the terms of Tartaglia’s lease stipulate, this is simply no way to run a porn set.

Directing porn isn’t like coaching a football team. You can’t go around screaming at male talent because they can’t keep wood like you would a young running back who keeps fumbling the ball – not unless you want to increase the pay of male porn performers to several million dollars a year to compensate them in advance for putting up with such verbal abuse.

Come to think of it, all the available details give me the feeling when it comes to directing porn, this Tartaglia guy is an abject amateur.

Among other things, any experienced porn director, particularly one familiar with working outside the relative legal safety of California and New Hampshire (the two states in which the courts have unambiguously ruled producing porn doesn’t make one guilty of prostitution or pandering) would appreciate the value of subtlety.

Let’s say I’m a director in Los Angeles who has decided to shoot porn without permit (an ‘underground’ tactic which likely became a common practice again in the wake of Measure B getting passed in California few years back) and I’ve chosen a ritzy home in the Hollywood Hills at which to shoot my movie. The list of things I’m definitely not going to do would certainly include pissing off the homeowners residing on either side of the place which is going to host my porn shoot. Along those same lines, I’d like to think I’d instruct my cast and crew to avoid setting fires – especially if they also intend to use those fires to ignite small lumps of crack cocaine while the neighbors watch.

I Hope The Sequel Has A Heck Of A Budget

At this point, it might be better for Tartaglia if the porn video allegedly shot in his apartment doesn’t turn out to be a major financial success, because such a success might embolden him to film a sequel – an effort which would be greatly complicated by the lawsuit he’s facing.

As part of the relief he’s seeking, Tartaglia’s landlord is seeking $300,000 in damages, an order preventing Tartaglia from subletting and a ban on advertising the apartment’s availability for use by third parties.

Obviously, if the court grants his landlord these requests, Tartaglia is going to have to find a new location. Given some of the things I’ve heard about other buildings in Hell’s Kitchen and some of their most famous residents, which include some quick-to-anger attorneys with extremely sensitive hearing, he might want to look into venues across the state line in New Jersey – or consider a ‘retro’ foray into pornographic silent film.

Visit us at Sssh.com now for Porn For Women Movies and much, much more since 1999!