Around the World in 80 Gays

    I was sitting at a coffee house, on a sunny afternoon, feeling a bit nervous. Why? Because I was waiting for Collin O’Neal to arrive. Meeting porn stars is always a little nerve-wracking. For starters, I always worry that I won’t recognize them with their clothes on. Luckily for me, Collin entered with an air of purpose – and he was sporting the distinctive Mohawk I’d seen in photos on his blog. After exchanging pleasantries and grabbing some coffee, we sat down and began chatting.
    “Arpad Miklos got me into it,” he expained, when asked about how he’d gotten into the porn industry. “I didn’t want to get involved in it. I was very conservative.” Later, he told me that his website was later born because he needed creative control. “I wanted to have full control over my image. I was just joking with my best friend and I asked him, ‘Why don’t we start our own porn company?’” This is the way things often go with Collin. He may hesitate initially, but the next thing you know he’s pitching a series to the Here! TV Network – but we’ll get to that later.
    I was curious to learn how his idea for the World of Men series had come about. He said he’d moved to the UK in order to work with a retailer. Once he’d gotten settled in, he suddenly realized, “I was in London and I hadn’t used one English guy in my films. There were Brazilians, Italians… but none of them were British. So that’s when I started thinking about my whole World of Men project.” Although this makes perfect sense, it’s also important to note that travel had already influenced his life early on. The summer he turned thirteen, he visited his grandfather in Belgium. Recognizing that Collin was an adventurer, his grandafther encouraged him to see the world. Collin soon found himself in farflung places such as the former USSR, Spain, and Switzerland. He even went on a month-long camping trip through Egypt. Twenty years later, after exploring the world, he now finds himself sitting on top of it.
    Of course, he needed a little help in the beginning – and Chris Ward from Raging Stallion was one of the first to get really enthusiastic about Collin’s work. Who wouldn’t be, though, after seeing him alongside François Sagat in Humping Iron? Collin is all energy and good vibes as he explains, “The Scene with François Sagat is just amazing. Personally, I think it’s one of the most amazing scenes ever filmed – but I don’t like to say that too much because I like my own work. It’s a little known movie, but the whole time we did whatever we wanted.” This is probably the reason Collin was so adamant about casting Sagat in his first World of Men film Lebanon. Despite scheduling conflicts and a one-month project window, Collin not only completed the film, but also snagged some awards along the way – including a Grabby Award for Best Videography and a GayVN Award for Best Pro/Am Release.
    Having established himself in the industry with films like World of Men: São Paulo, Serbia and Spain, this talented do-it-all director (literally a one-man production team on East Berlin) set his sights on creating a travel-based reality show. It’s not really all that surprising when you stop to consider that Collin is the man who Chi Chi LaRue calls when she needs travel advice. The project is currently being developed for the Here! Network.
    In addition to the new series, Collin also made a documentary while in the Dominican Republic. It’s been edited down to a G-rated version and should be making the rounds at this year’s LGBT film festivals. Collin pointed out we’d be seeing a whole new side of him. “My business partner and I are seen yelling and bitching at each other. It’s a total reality show. Mr. Pam picked up the fucking camera and we didn’t even know it. I was like, you got that on camera? I also hit one of my models – and she got that on tape. I took these big Dominican coins [They’re quite heavy. Think doubloons] and I had a big stack of them – and I just pelted him.” He points out that when taken out of context, it might sound worrisome – but part of the documentary’s main appeal will be the way that it shows all the drama that happens behind the scenes. When I tease him about being “the Naomi Campbell of porn” I get a little afraid that he might hit me, too! But he has a great sense of humor about the whole thing. “I really want this documentary to show that we were doing something truly interesting.”
    After all his filming and traveling around the globe, I was curious to hear this jet setter’s take on which of the world’s men make the best lovers. “Most Latinos are way more sensual,” he offered, but then quickly interrupted himself to clarify. “Not Dominicans. But Brazilians and Argentineans. Dominicans have big issues with being gay…” Well, at least now we know why he hit one of them.

    Contact Danny Valle at: [email protected]