How to Become a Feature ??
Hey guys-
For everybody out there who is a feature (Cally, Ginger, etc) can you tell me how you got started with that? I have been dancing for (oh god) almost 7 years now, I'm 25, I have my BFA in dance so obviously, I'm talented that way and I feel like I would like to take a step forward with my career.
But I don't have any idea where to start. Any suggestions???
Thank you all so much!
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Its not worth it... trust me.
You shell out thousends(and I mean thousends) of dollars into costumes, promo, contests, classes... you travel around, you work 6 days a week... no excuse is good enough to not be on stage, your expected to stand there after each show signing promo and doing Polaroids and being all cute and social.... and the pay stinks(unless your a porn star).
There are three ways of getting started though...
One get into porn... thats the only way featuring is worth it IMO.
Two is do contests like Nudes A Poppin and Miss Nude whatever to build titles
Three is get into magazine work(recommended anyway) to get the credits.
Unless your a porn star don't expect much for show pay.
Expect to constantly deal with agent BS being told your too fat.. too ugly.. tits arnt big enough etc...
Sorry im probably the last person to talk to about this right now... im a bit burnt out from the industry(even though I just took a 3 week vacation).
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Callyish
Its not worth it... trust me.
You shell out thousends(and I mean thousends) of dollars into costumes, promo, contests, classes... you travel around, you work 6 days a week... no excuse is good enough to not be on stage, your expected to stand there after each show signing promo and doing Polaroids and being all cute and social.... and the pay stinks(unless your a porn star).
There are three ways of getting started though...
One get into porn... thats the only way featuring is worth it IMO.
Two is do contests like Nudes A Poppin and Miss Nude whatever to build titles
Three is get into magazine work(recommended anyway) to get the credits.
Unless your a porn star don't expect much for show pay.
Expect to constantly deal with agent BS being told your too fat.. too ugly.. tits arnt big enough etc...
Sorry im probably the last person to talk to about this right now... im a bit burnt out from the industry(even though I just took a 3 week vacation).
Cally, you're right, and you know it.
Honestly, unless you want to do porn (and lots of it) featuring is not a good paying gig. I am friends with girls that do awesome shows, have great costumes, etc. BUT they don't do porn (actual porn not just magazines). They get paid less than half of what a porn girl does. $75-100 a show (average for a non-porn girl) isn't enough money to deal with all the drama and BS that goes along with featuring IMO.
People are all out to screw you over, from the club owners, to the agents, to the costume people, all the way around. I've probably spent more than $75000 in the past year paying for things to do basic shows, and there is no guarantee you will make it back, so be ready to throw alot of money out the window.
I know we probably seem all doom and gloom, but featuring isn't always as fun and profitable as it seems. It's a constant headache.
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
I don't know about the US but I know in Canada you are expected to cover your own travel... the clubs will put you up in hotels, and take you back n forth from the club but everything else is on your expense.
You need to find a 'thing' that makes you known. My 'thing' is my little bo peep show and my shower shows.
You have to have a creative twist, you need to have something that makes the clubs want you back.
As Ginger said everyone is out to fuck you over. You deal with the cattyness of house girls... you deal with the DJs getting pissy if you don't tip enough, and they expect the feature to tip much more then the house girls because after all we're paid the big bucks ::)
You are expected to have new promo every two months or so. Promo is a pain in the ass to get done as well.
You need to constantly be adding to your themes. You need to constantly come up with new gimmicks, I mean you can't have the same show every time you return to a club, right?
You also need to be constantly doing stuff to add to your credit and title sheet... so when your not at the club you need to be doing promoting of yourself and stuff...
Also be prepared to have no life... your always on the road... your days are filled with promotions and your nights are at the club and your day off is spent traveling to the next gig...
If you do get into it find a home base. They may not pay you per show but they will give you a nice base pay, you do a few smaller shows and you can table dance between shows. Its a nice break from traveling.
Yea sometimes I really regret getting into it...
On a bright note it is fun... sometimes.... I mean I do enjoy it time to time... I love performing... but the mental tole its taking is killing me.
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Callyish
Also be prepared to have no life... your always on the road... your days are filled with promotions and your nights are at the club and your day off is spent traveling to the next gig...
Quoted for truth. I have no life outside of work. People ask me what I do all the time, and all I can tell them is that I work. I have no time to be social, or do 'couple/relationship' things. It sucks, but it's part of the gig. It's the life I chose though, so it's not like I can complain.
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
increasingly, feature girls who do not have (or do not want to obtain) mainstream XXX credentials run the risk of earning less money after the additional expenses than house girls in lucrative clubs. Arguably, the reason for this is that XXX feature girls have allowed the 'going rate' for feature fees to decline so far because they aren't actually depending on the feature fee for the majority of their incomes ... the real income stems from booking 'private sessions' with fans outside the club between / after their shows i.e. selling one hour up close and personal 'encounters' with a bona fide porn star.
In fact, the major remaining reason for XXX feature girls to accept club feature bookings is to 'legitimize' tax write offs for their travel and hotel expenses while 'touring' !
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
^^^The extras girls at it again!!!
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Thankfully there are some non-porn features who still do well. Like, trashbags of tips well... or the feature circuit would be so dull IMHO.
Being a feature, from what I get told these days by folks, is not as hard as it used to be. You have more and more clubs who have a set bunch of routines that they want all features to do (ie: specific games, sets done in a specific order), so the brain work gets sucked out of "what do I do next?". The demand for specific designer's costumes is gone, so the $$$ needed for attire has dropped.
The majority of the non-porn features I know/have known over the years say that they've been house dancers who tried out the Miss Nude ______ competitions, and/or sent in photos to nudie mags until they made a name for themselves. Credit stuffing (which is kinda like over exaggerating on your resume) is still in style, so even feature newbies can look like superstars.
And these days they have actual feature schools, which can be rather helpful.
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Well, that shocked the hell out of me!!
We don't have features where I live, not really sure why, but it's just not done in Vegas.
We do have feautres where I'm from back in Milwaukee, and it always seemed like it would be a fun way to travel and see the country.
I always assumed you got paid, like, thousands of dollars to be in a club, plus the opportunity to do lapdances/sell poloraoids etc.
If I were going to be making the same $ I make out here with umm, little to no responsobilities, I am not interested! Wow!
What an eye opener!!! I had no idea you were responsbile to pay for all that stuff!!!
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
One "feature" who came to our club now comes and works occasionally as a house dancer and massage girl. That tells me her illustrious career as a feature might not be going so well.
Lol, that sounded catty. I'm not one to criticize other girls or be bitchy like that, but this chick came in and rubbed me the wrong way instantly. And she acts all prissy whenever she's in the club, like she is doing us a favor by being there, rather than the reality that the club is doing her a favor by letting her be there. She also uses her feature name when she's a house dancer, instead of just using her first name like the rest of us do. It's just overkill, IMO. She really isn't anything special.
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Andygirl
She also uses her feature name when she's a house dancer, instead of just using her first name like the rest of us do. It's just overkill, IMO. She really isn't anything special.
I often use my full stage name when dancing....and one DJ I work with will talk up my film and mag credits when I'm on stage, and introduce me as "porn star Cameron Keys". I dont see a problem with it and nobody has voiced a complaint that I'm being unfair.
It's not that I think I'm "special" but i say use whatever you've got to make money and call customers attention to yourself(within the law and the clubs rules of course). Some custies will avoid me because of it if they want the young "fresh" girl next door types....so it doesnt always work in my favor. But I worked damn hard for those credits and to make a "name" for myself so I'm going to use it.
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cameron_keys
I often use my full stage name when dancing....and one DJ I work with will talk up my film and mag credits when I'm on stage, and introduce me as "porn star Cameron Keys". I dont see a problem with it and nobody has voiced a complaint that I'm being unfair.
It's not that I think I'm "special" but i say use whatever you've got to make money and call customers attention to yourself(within the law and the clubs rules of course). Some custies will avoid me because of it if they want the young "fresh" girl next door types....so it doesnt always work in my favor. But I worked damn hard for those credits and to make a "name" for myself so I'm going to use it.
Good point. I guess I just don't like her doing it because I think she's a bitch.}:D
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Andygirl
Good point. I guess I just don't like her doing it because I think she's a bitch.}:D
LOL! I just hope other girls dont think that way about me because of it.
Wait....I AM a bitch so they prob do anyway...so screw 'em, might as well do what I want!}:D
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Quote:
We don't have features where I live, not really sure why, but it's just not done in Vegas.
Actually, the reason that features aren't a big factor in SoCal and Vegas is that the vast majority of the XXX feature girls LIVE in SoCal and Vegas. This means that they can bypass the need for a feature appearance to justify travel and accomodation expenses and make 'direct connections' in the hotel rooms of visiting fans by simply driving across town ...
'available now' means they live in the area !
Quote:
I always assumed you got paid, like, thousands of dollars to be in a club, plus the opportunity to do lapdances/sell poloraoids etc.
This was true in the 90's. However, over the past few years, the 'going rate' for (and don't hold my nomenclature against me) second tier features has dropped to the $1000 a week ballpark ... NOT including travel and accomodation expenses. I say second tier features because there are a few feature girls who are first tier because of their outstanding credentials and/or notoriety (i.e. Jenna Jamison) who can command much higher prices. But short of being an ex-Playboy playmate or a major boxcover XXX porn star, you're usually talking about something in the $1000 a week ballpark these days. This is the reason that I retired, because the feature fees were dropping at the same time that the airfares and hotel bills were rising and I chose not to earn extra money outside the clubs, plus I got tired of driving hundreds and hundreds of miles instead of flying and staying in Red Roof Inns instead of Holiday Inns in order to 'break even' vs house dancing.
~
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Melonie
This was true in the 90's. However, over the past few years, the 'going rate' for (and don't hold my nomenclature against me) second tier features has dropped to the $1000 a week ballpark ... NOT including travel and accomodation expenses.
~
Yep, most girls are happy with around $1000 for a week in base pay. IMO that's shitty money, and I won't do it, but I know girls that will stab each other in the eye to do shows for that kind of money. It's sad, but true.
Re: How to Become a Feature ??
I feature dance with my boss Tera Patrick sometimes and she makes more money than anyone I have ever seen in my whole life.. )she deserves it though she is the a very hard worker) I find it easy in Aus to make money as a feature but there are not as many clubs as the US so its limited. Also I find you make a shit load if you do a feature show and stick around and do dances after and just charge more for the LD's.. I always use my titles etc. when I go on stage even if I am just doing house dancing because it makes me more money so I agree with cameron you work your ass off to get these titles its a waste if you don't use them at every opportunity.