Los Angeles has been known as the nation's porn capital for years, but according to recent film-permit records, less than three adult movies a month are being made in Los Angeles County this year, The Associated Press reports.
But, where are those instant download Internet films coming from?
According to Industry officials, many of them are still coming from the City of Angels, though they acknowledge a November 2012 ordinance requiring actors to use condoms caused a few filmmakers to go underground, AP reported.
While some porn producers require their actors use condoms, a majority do not, saying fans have made it clear they don't want to see them.
AP states other filmmakers have traveled outside of Los Angeles County, whether it be to neighboring counties, or sometimes even out of the state. Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech coalition, an industry advocacy group, said she knows a handful that have moved to Las Vegas, who'd rather not be mentioned by name for fear of condom activists going after them.
"A lot are simply in out-of-the-way places where they won't be caught," Mark Kernes, senior editor at Adult Video News, told AP. "Normally it's in people's homes who are willing to rent them out for a day. Sometimes it's out in the woods. There are vacation cabins far away from anything that you can shoot a movie at."
This is coming at a time when L.A.'s workforce has been hammered by one of the state's highest unemployment rates, The Los Angeles Times reported. They claim the entertainment industry has also been hurt by mainstream movies and television shows moving to other cities and states that offer tax breaks and rebates.
Paul Audley, president of Film L.A., the company that issues permits, said, "It's not helpful to have another segment of the industry leave the region," the LA Times reports.
According to Film L.A., only 20 filmmakers have applied for permits this year, which is a decline from the 40 permits last year, and an even steeper decline than the 485 permits issued in 2012, the last year before the ordinance took effect, AP reported.
A decade ago, economists estimated that the porn industry in San Fernando Valley, where much of the multi-billion dollar industry is concentrated, generated 10,000 to 20,000 jobs annually and had $4 billion in sales, the LA Times reported.
Vivid Entertainment Group, one of the largest in the industry, said they are staying put- for now. Steven Hirsch, chief executive and co-founder, said that could change quickly, though, if the industry loses an appeal to overturn the county ordinance, or if the state Legislature passes a similar condom requirement it is considering, AP reported.
"There are several places we're looking into," Hirch told AP Wednesday. "Some people are already shooting in Nevada, and that's something that's certainly on our radar."
Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, introduced the similar condom requirement that passed the chamber earlier this year. It could come before the senate for a vote later this summer, AP states.
Hirsch said his company would prefer to stay in the city it was founded in 30 years ago, saying that LA's skies and iconic landscape even give porn films a classic look that's hard to duplicate, AP states. But in the meantime, Vivid has closed its Los Angeles film set and is instead making movies outside LA County.
Hall and other condom activists said their intentions are to protect the industry's workers from sexually transmitted diseases, not kick adult filmmakers and their $7 billion-a-year industry out of town.
But industry officials say there is no need for such a measure since they require working actors to be tested for STDs every two weeks.
Duke told AP, "There hasn't been an HIV transmission on set since 2004."
