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Flynt downplays porn prospects in Hawaii

BY MIKE GORDON / mgordon@staradvertiser.com

The thought of Hawaii becoming a popular location for adult film producers is alarming to those who cherish the state’s family-friendly atmosphere, but the man who started the conversation insists he isn’t going to give the islands an “XXX” rating any time soon.

Pornography giant Larry Flynt said he’s not interested in making adult films in Hawaii and his recent comments about moving production here in the wake of a new Los Angeles County, Calif., law requiring adult performers to wear condoms was blown out of proportion.

But Flynt, who runs his Hustler publishing and adult video empire from Beverly Hills, also claims to have used Hawaii as a backdrop for photo shoots for decades.

“Everybody jumped the gun and are unnecessarily panicked about the situation,” he said last week by telephone. “It’s like, ‘Oh my god, they are coming to shoot porn in the islands and they will never be the same.’ I have been shooting (photos) over there for 35 years. We don’t publicize it. We don’t make a fuss. We shoot in homes that are available for lease. We go about our business quietly and leave.”

Flynt was quoted last month by news outlets wanting to know how he would respond to Measure B, the condom initiative approved by Los Angeles County voters. Flynt told Bloomberg News Service that to avoid the restriction, he might move to the California desert, Mexico or Hawaii.

In a phone interview with the Star-Advertiser, however, Flynt said Hawaii was not really in the mix.

“It could be an option but that could raise a red flag that Hawaii would object to,” he said. “If you go there to shoot a film, you have to have a production crew and their presence will be much more obvious as to what is going on. That would probably cause concern.”

That’s an understatement. State Film Commissioner Donne Dawson said a local porn film industry wouldn’t be good for Hawaii’s reputation. In addition, Hawaii has laws against pornography in public places and the state film tax credit specifically excludes adult films, she said.

“The bottom line is that it’s not a type of production we want to encourage here,” said Dawson. “I don’t think the community would stand for it.”

Although film permits are required if state or county lands are used, Flynt would not need one to use private property, she said. He would instead have to work with the landowner.

“I would venture to say that the majority of our hotels would object to pornographic material being shot on their property,” Dawson said. “But that’s up to them to police.”

Adult films have been shot in Hawaii — at least two in the last decade, according to XBiz, an industry trade publication — but no one is keeping track of them. Most adult films are shot in California’s San Fernando Valley and an estimated economic impact of $1 billion on the state.

Flynt might have simply been floating the idea of Hawaii just to see what would happen. He’s no stranger to publicity or controversy. But even though filming in Hawaii would cost more — at least that’s what he said — the truth is, he could still do it behind closed doors.

“At the end of the day, you are not going to stop this type of pornography from taking place because we are not going to know about it and it is not going to happen on a large scale,” Dawson said.