On Thursday the Adult Entertainment Expo convention arrives in Vegas (at Venetian) ending in the porn Oscars, AVN Awards on Saturday night at Palms. To preview the event I offer this rare interview with director and Evil Angel owner, John Stagliano who reveals that he and his industry have far bigger concerns than the current prosecution he faces. It is the economy stupid. Apparently like Sin City, the adult movie industry had a miserable 2009.

As I have already written Stagliano is a friend. Therefore I was able to call his cell to arrange the interview and by-pass the lawyers who have suggested that as someone facing Federal obscenity charges he should not be giving interviews to me. Stagliano had no reluctance to talk: “Who would I be keeping a low profile from? The Feds? They can’t do anything else to me. My lawyers have done what all lawyers do, which is to tell me to keep my mouth shut in case I say something really stupid that could be used against me. They were right. The government took what I said in interviews and used it in a motion to try to get the judge to peremptorily order me not to say those things. I think the judge knows what can be said in a courtroom and doesn’t need that pointed out to him by the prosecution. But I don’t know. I am not a lawyer.”

Last month the judge rejected arguments by Stagliano’s attorneys that the government in the net age had no business or ability to decide which movies were obscene and worthy of prosecution. In this case, the government by-passed a store full of porn DVDs to special order some films distributed by Stagliano’s company, Evil Angel.

Stagliano expected the Obama administration’s Justice Department to continue the Bush administration’s prosecution over those films including one titled “Milk Nymphos.” But to Stagliano the pretrial motion and its appeal holds as much significance as the entire case. He is not surprised his libertarian argument about the government ceasing to be obscenity police was rejected. Even as a movie critic the Federal government must make the movie move across state lines to declare the film obscene. Stagliano made clear his intention to appeal the ruling, and his expectations on the outcome: “When we lose our appeal, I won’t be surprised. And, when the Supreme Court refuses to hear it, I won’t be surprised either.” But the core of the case remains his view that the government should not be declaring films obscene.

Still, Stagliano does not expect to see the inside of a jail cell. “I really think I will win my trial in Washington D.C. Of course, I could be pleasantly surprised.” He means the appeal. For Stagliano the argument against obscenity prosecutions is more about government power than First Amendment expression. But as a fierce and active libertarian (he is currently considering financing a film on the Federal Reserve) there is an obvious First Amendment defense. To Stagliano that would be an unfortunate defense to require, because having the Supreme Court remove the government from these adult to adult obscenity cases would be a triumph of his philosophy, a philosophy held long before a government prosecution provided him the opportunity to have such a significant impact on the law.

Stagliano does not think it was a coincidence that he was targeted at the end of the Bush administration: “The Justice department was criticized for going after fringe producers: people who were not significant to the amount of pornography put out in the world. My company has close to as many new release, DVDs anyway, as the biggest producers in the business.”

After all the government by-passed many similar films to order ones from Evil Angel. To prosecutors the very centrality of Evil Angel films made Stagliano a target: “I am not surprised. They could have picked rougher movies. The content of my movies is not outside the norm of what people will accept in porn.” He also admits despite facing serious prison time he considers the prosecution funny, really funny: “I do think this prosecution is funny. There is a lot of humor to be had from the government coming after me for girls and milk. It is seriously funny.”

As mentioned, the prosecution Stagliano sees as a diversion form working at guiding his company into the new adult business reality: the age of pirating and free porn. In fact, being prosecuted for DVD sales is almost quaintly antiquated. “2009 has been unlike any other year that I have seen,” Stagliano says. “Every year since I entered the business in 1983 it has been up, up, up. I am psychologically unprepared for such a downturn.  The challenges are new technologies, the expansion of choices. Adult entertainment can be consumed in so many different ways. People thought that would be a big boon for porn. But in fact this has been a detriment to producers because there is now so much more competition that people are choosing what is not very profitable. DVDs were the more profitable thing to produce. And, the amount of free stuff available on computers through the Internet has been devastating. If you assume the purpose of the prosecution is to hurt the porn industry, there is something else that is hurting a lot more right now.”

So, Stagliano is not keeping a low profile at the convention this year. Evil Angel has porn stars here to be at the company booth to sign. And, Stagliano, who is best known in Vegas for his Fashionistas dance show at Planet Hollywood’s mall, this year is offering a dance number during the AVN Awards. “The dance number is going to have Belladonna. It will have only one dancer from the Vegas show and more porn girls. It will therefore be less technical and more sexual.”

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority 30,000 people are expected this week for the 2010 Adult Entertainment Expo. Stagliano sounds a dire note contemplating the future of one of the conventions that has come to define Vegas:  “I think the people in Las Vegas should turn out in droves for the AEE (Adult Entertainment Expo) to show support for an industry that really needs it this year. It is possible if the numbers are lower than anticipated there won’t be another AEE show.”

(photos Sarah Gerke)