Raging Stallion tops ManNet 100 Best Films of 2008 List

San Francisco-based Raging Stallion Studios dominated the ManNet Top 100 list for the second year in a row, claiming 16 entries for the studio's main brands plus seven additional entries for movies produced by or distributed by the Raging Stallion family of companies. With 23 total mentions, Raging Stallion claims almost one quarter of all top movies released by the entire industry during 2008, a remarkable achievement that further cements Raging Stallion's position at the top of the porn pyramid. In addition to entries from all of the studios brands, two High Octane titles were selected. High Octane was purchased by Raging Stallion in May of 2008 and is now the European division of the studio.

Films by all of Raging Stallion's directors (Chris Ward, Ben Leon, Tony Dimarco, JD Slater, Jake Deckard, and Herve Bodillis) appeared on the list. ManNet, owned and operated by Butch Harris, has published this annual list for many years, and inclusion is a highly sought after goal of all top studios.

Company President Chris Ward was pleased with the results. The ManNet list is the first event of the 'porn awards' season, and we are very happy to have so many releases singled out for inclusion. We strive to make sure that every movie we release has the high standards that Raging Stallion customers have come to expect and enjoy. We remain the only studio with a 100% refund guarantee on every movie we release--if a customer is not happy with one of our products, they can keep it for free. Everyone at Raging Stallion has worked hard over the past year and I am very happy that ManNet has included us on the list of the Best of 2008.

Raging Stallion Branded Titles on the List:

1. The 4th Floor
2. Bar Back
3. Big, Bigger, Biggest part 1
4. Big, Bigger, Biggest part 2
5. The Drifter
6. Home Bodies
7. Hotter Than Hell part 1
8. Hotter Than Hell part 2
9. Hunter/Hunted
10. Jock Itch Part 1
11. Jock Itch Part 2
12. Maximus
13. Monument
14. On The Job
15. To The Last Man part 1
16. To The Last Man part 2


High Octane Titles on the List:
1. Lock Down
2. Masters and Servants


CAZZO Titles on the List:

1. Luthando
2. Matchmaker
3. Reality Sex


Collin O'Neal Titles on the List
(only distributed by RSS)

1. East Berlin
2. Edinburgh

Raging Stallion Dominates Nominations for XBIZ Awards

San Francisco based Raging Stallion Studios received more nominations than any other gay studio for the annual XBIZ industry awards, a show which will be held on February 12 in Hollywood at Boulevard 3. The awards show coincides with the XBIZ 2009 Conference at the Warner Center Marriot in Woodland Hills. The XBIZ awards recognize achievement in the adult industry and covers both online and traditional sides of the business.

RSS received a total of ten awards in 5 categories, meaning that the studio will be competing against itself as much as against other companies. To The Last Man, Raging Stallion's big-budget fall blockbuster, was nominated for best picture, and all three of its directors (Chris Ward, Tony Dimarco, and Ben Leon) were nominated for best director. Pistol Media, which handles all aspects of Raging Stallion's web operations, was nominated for GLBT Company of the Year, and RSS itself was nominated for GLBT Studio of the Year. In the highly contested category of GLBT Performer of the Year, RSS has an unprecedented four nominations, with nods going to exclusives Damien Crosse, Steve Cruz, R.J. Danvers, and Ricky Sinz (all of whom appeared in To The Last Man).

Company president Chris Ward was pleased with the nominations. "These are the first nominations of the 2009 porn award season, and I am pleased to see Raging Stallion on top once again. Last year we swept almost all of the awards shows with GRUNTS, our big military movie. To The Last Man is an even bigger and better movie. I am sure we will do well. As for Ricky, RJ, Steve, and Damien all getting nominated for performer of the year---WOW! What more can I say?"

RSS Man of The The Year Ricky Sinz Talks about To The Last Man

Ricky Sinz has the role of a lifetime in To The Last Man--he stars as the psychotic leader of a gang of renegade ranchers who lust for both sex and blood. Like a street kid gone bad, Ricky's rancher character fucks his way thru life with a brutal focus that leaves a wake of destruction along his twisted path. The role, as written by Tony Dimarco, is a complicated one to play, and few porn actors have the ability to carry it off. Ricky, however, gives us the year's best acting performance--indeed, its one of the best porn acting performances of all time. No doubt he will be a very strong contender this year for the coveted title of Best Actor at the various awards shows. Watch this interview and you can get a sense of Ricky's spirit and ability as he talks about his role in the movie and about his career in general.

Chris Ward

Raging Stallion Re-signs RJ Danvers

San Francisco-based Raging Stallion Studios today announced an addition to its 2009 roster of exclusive stars. Noted sex pig RJ Danvers was signed to another contract following his successful first year with the studio. Danvers made his first appearance for the studio in the award-winning GRUNTS and has gone on to star in many of Raging Stallion's top films. His performances in The Drifter and Hotter Than Hell won wide praise, and his pairing with Tristan Jaxx in To The Last Man is a sure contender for best sex scene at next year's GayVNs.

RJ is Raging Stallion's youngest actor (19 years old), but he performs with the experience of a seasoned pro. He is today's top hairy actor, following in the footsteps of such men as Mark Evrett and Steve Cruz.

Chris Ward, president of the studio, was certain that he wanted to re- sign RJ. "After shooting RJ for all of 2008, we simply could not let him go! He is a top Raging Stallion performer and all of us at the studio love him. He has a very large fan base--I think because he is not just another cookie-cutter star. We have big plans for this little sex pig, including featuring him in some hardcore fisting films!"

RJ was also excited about working with team Raging Stallion for another year. "The last year with Raging Stallion has been one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had, so of course I couldn't pass up the chance to re-sign with them. When Chris offered me a two- year deal, I was ecstatic. The guys at the studio are practically a second family to me now. I'm excited about branching out and getting into the fetish side of Stallion, and doing things on film that I already love to do off camera. I'm looking forward to the next two years and what they have in store for me, and I can't wait to get started."

To The Last Man Prebooking Now Available

Click on the boxcovers to prebook your copy

To The Last Man, Raging Stallion Studio's huge Western Epic, is now available in prebook at Ragingstallion.com. The film posted record sales over the weekend, making the controversial two-part movie into the top hit movie for the fall season. To The Last Man stars Ricky Sinz and Scott Tanner, together with a cast of nearly a dozen other exclusive RSS actors. Several non exclusives are also featured in the film. To The Last Man was directed by the high-horsepower team of Chris Ward, Ben Leon, and Tony Dimarco. It is the studio's largest production since last year's GRUNTS (which won best picture, best director, best actor, and most other top awards).

Ward, who is also the studio president, was thrilled by the first sales returns. "This weekend saw our highest sales so far of 2008-- and this at a time when retail sales are very poor. To The Last Man is going to be the biggest hit movie for the entire industry this year--especially if these early numbers hold up. We are planning on making another major movie next year, but we need to wait and see how To The Last Man performs--we cannot afford to undertake projects with $200,000 budgets unless they are able to make a strong profit return. Obviously we are all thrilled with the early numbers!"

To The Last Man has generated a storm of controversy because of extreme violence--the studio has called it a "Tarantino" inspired production. Both full edits and a non-violent, all-sex edit are available on the DVD. Customers also receive two special features discs packed with content, including an extensive behind-the-scenes documentary, half a dozen full solos, director commentary, features shot by TheSword.com, porn star interviews, and bonus scenes from earlier western-themed movies from the Raging Stallion film vault.

To The Last Man is available in a double boxed set that contains both parts one and part two of the film. Parts one and two are also available individually. To The Last Man will have a limited wholesale release to TLAvideo.com and GayDVD.com on Thanksgiving weekend, with a wider world-wide wholesale street date of January 1.

Ward also confirmed rumors that a graphic "dead porn star calendar" entitled "They Died With Their Boots On" was printed in limited numbers, but only as a private marketing tool. Despite repeated calls from customers who have heard rumors of this calendar, Ward noted that it was not going to be put on sale. "We sent it out to reviewers and people in the industry--it was a limited run, numbered and signed by photographer Geof Teague, so if there are any left over after our marketing needs, we can decide if we want to offer them to our customers." The calendar shows most of the actors in the movie in their death photos. "Its a rather horrific calendar--not something you would want to look at every day. If anything, we may give some to our best customers if there are any calendars left over."

Click here to prebook your copy

Sex is Front and Center in To The Last Man

A lot has be written about the violence in To The Last Man--indeed, the plot of the movie has created a firestorm of controversy. What has gotten lost in the noise is the fact that this movie is one of the hottest sex films of the year--if not the hottest! Check out the all-sex trailer and tell us what you think!

Chris Ward Responds to Violence Controversy Surrounding To The Last Man

See the Controversial Trailer

Dear Friends:

When I returned from my vacation I was surprised to see a number of emails complaining about the "extreme violence" in our upcoming movie To The Last Man. Although many customers, blog posters, and reviewers are excited about this film and its contents, many have voiced serious concern about a merging of sex and violence. Some have made outright nasty comments to me about this film, even though no one outside our studio staff has seen it. Evidently, To The Last Man is not a politically correct film.

It is true that To The Last Man is a very violent movie. It is a Western epic, as true to a Hollywood blockbuster as gay porn will ever be. Ben Leon, Tony Dimarco, and I decided that we wanted to make a real Western movie--not some cheesy porno rip-off as has been made in the past. We shot on location in Arizona, used real horses, real guns, hired some real cowboys to be in the cast--in short, we spent lots of time, money, and energy to be as authentic as possible. In this spirit we made the decision to stay true to the Western genre--which requires violence. The Old West was a very violent place--on the ranch where the movie was filmed, there was a graveyard with a memorial to everyone who had died on the property. The monument listed how each person was killed: one man was killed by Indians up at the river; another person had been shot in a drunken fight at a saloon; still another died of injuries from a fist fight; the best one was the guy who died in a "horse wreck." No one in the graveyard lived past about 40 years of age.

Today Hollywood films are rife with violence--it is part of modern entertainment. To The Last Man looks to the examples of the Coen Brothers and Tarantino. It's not a porn movie from the 1990s nor is it Little Miss Sunshine. It’s a film for the 21st century and it reflects the entertainment values of 2008.

Having said this, we agree that the connection between sex and violence is problematic. None of us condone killing. None of us get off on rape. Because of this we have provided on each and every disc a fully non-violent version of the movie. In this "all sex / no violence edit" we have removed all killings, all beatings, all rape scenes, and any other thing that might be offensive to some viewers. In short, To The Last Man can be enjoyed by viewers who like violence and by viewers who are repulsed by it.

Several images from the movie have been singled out for criticism. One of these is the rape scene that comes near the end of part two of the film. I asked Ben Leon to offer his thoughts on filming such a controversial scene: "When we wrote the script I didn't give the rape scene a second thought. Once we were on set my impressions changed a bit given the intensity of violence that a rape requires. I really questioned the validity of filming a rape in the context of a movie that is meant to turn people on. Chris, Tony and I sat down and talked about it quite a bit and I felt after further consideration that the rape scene fit well into the narrative structure and into the lives of the characters we created. I still think that it is appropriate to question this decision, but in the end the movie comes to a violent climax that fits perfectly into the story."

Tony Dimarco, who was head writer on the project, told me this about the violence controversy: "I felt it was important to include violence in this film. In the Western genre, violence is what usually drives and or punctuates the story. Have you ever seen a Western without a single gun or anyone getting shot? If you have rival factions you are bound to have major conflict and this starkly contrasts the romantic aspect of this film. And speaking of romance, even in the most famous romance story of all time--Romeo and Juliet--in the end the lovers die. Writing a story of this nature is very complicated. In many cases the opposing sides need to have sex. All the scenes couldn’t be romantic interludes between enemies. That would be ridiculous. Forced sex made sense for the plot. I have to say that the rape scene is more brutal than I had imagined it, but there’s nothing pretty about rape. I think that there will be people who are shocked and opposed to this scene, but I’m quite sure that there will be an audience for it as well. Although people will deny it publicly there are many people who do have a rape fantasy. This film and all porn films exploit the fantasies of the viewers."

It is our hope that people understand that To The Last Man is a porn movie like no other. Nothing like this has ever been made in our industry. It sets a new benchmark for production values, for scriptwriting, for acting, and for pure over-the-top sex. It is easy to go out there and make the same old suck and fuck movie over and over again, but to do something new and original takes time and effort. I hope that porn lovers enjoy this movie for what it is--a major film that goes where porn has never gone before.

Chris Ward

To The Last Man will be available November 30

Antonio Biaggi Opens Eco-Friendly Store in San Francisco

It is always exciting to share the successes of the Raging Stallion Performers. From Ford Modeling Contests (RJ Danvers) to being part of the opening band for Cher (Michael Soldier). Now we have something a little bit different. After months of preparation Antonio Biaggi opened an entirely “Green” Home and Gift store in San Francisco, right in the heart of the Castro District. It is called Eco Boutique. The entire inventory of this quaint boutique-like storefront is made from recycled, repurposed, organic or sustainable materials.

“The store’s mission is to sell eco-responsible items at the best possible price,” Antonio states. “I was tired of my friends relating that they wanted to shop more responsibly but always resented the dramatically higher cost,” he explained. “More people are searching for eco-friendly products that are both green and affordable. Consumers want to make responsible choices at the same price, or close to the same price, of non-green items they would usually choose. My goal is to make the entire inventory at Eco Boutique as affordable as possible.”

We wish you the very best Antonio! We are proud to have you as part of our family at Raging Stallion Studios.

Eco Boutique
4035 18th St San Francisco, CA 94114
www.shopecoboutique.com