Helix Studios
{{Short description|American gay pornographic film studio}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Helix Studios
| logo = Helixstudios logo.png
| logo_caption =
| logo_upright =
| logo_alt =
| type = Private
| industry = Gay pornography
| predecessor =
| founded = 2002 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
| founder = Keith Miller
| defunct =
| fate =
| successor =
| hq_location_city = Las Vegas, Nevada
| hq_location_country = U.S.
| area_served =
| key_people =
| products =
| owner =
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year =
| parent =
| website = {{URL|helixstudios.com}}
}}
Helix Studios is an American gay pornographic film studio. Founded in 2002 by Keith Miller and based in Las Vegas, Nevada, it primarily features twink performers. The company began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as a maker of niche spanking films before transitioning to mainstream hardcore pornography in 2004 and relocating to San Francisco, California in 2006. They have primarily operated on a subscription business model since their inception and have released also their films in various other formats, including on DVD, video on demand, a Roku channel, pay-per-view, and a website.
History
Helix Studios was founded in 2002 by Keith Miller, who had previously co-worked for the billing service iBill, which he co-founded, until it was bought out in 2000. Since starting and {{As of|lc=y|2022}}, they use a monthly subscription business model, which allows subscribers to download or stream the studio's films.{{cite web |last1=Hoffman |first1=Noel |title=Helix Rises |url=https://inmagazine.ca/2022/03/helix-rises/ |website=In |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=March 10, 2022}} The studio's first release, First Time Spankings, was a spanking movie released in 2002 under the name SpankThis.{{cite web |last1=Adams |first1=JC |title=Keith Miller Celebrates 15 Years of Helix Studios |url=https://www.xbiz.com/features/233826/keith-miller-celebrates-15-years-of-helix-studios |website=XBIZ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=March 1, 2018}} Helix partnered with distributor Marina Pacific in 2003 and transitioned from niche fetish content to hardcore pornography films in 2004. At the 2005 GayVN Awards, Helix was nominated for Best Specialty Release (18-23) for their movie Twinkalicious, winning the award at the following year's ceremony for Twink Juice. Helix Cash, their affiliate program, was launched in January 2006.{{cite web |title=Joshua Maxwell Hired as Affiliate Coordinator for Helix Cash |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/video/joshua-maxwell-hired-as-affiliate-coordinator-for-helix-cash-49806.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=June 21, 2006}} In September 2006, Helix Studios moved from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to San Diego, California. AVN called Helix "one of the leaders in its specialties" of twink-focused videos the following month, by which point they had the lines SpankThis, which focused on spanking films, and 8Teenboy, which had been purchased by Miller from a local photographer and focused on hardcore videos featuring "barely legal" twink performers.{{cite web |last1=Jansen |first1=Brady |title=Company Profile: Helix Studios |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/gay/company-profile-helix-studios-28709.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=October 18, 2006}} They opened an online store, Mankind Video, which contained their entire catalog, in September 2007.{{cite web |title=Helix Studios Launches New Online Store, Mankind Video |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/gay/helix-studios-launches-new-online-store-mankind-video-22891.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=September 15, 2007}} Helix Studios released a mobile version of their website using WebKit in 2010.{{cite web |title=Helix Studios Goes Mobile |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/gay/helix-studios-goes-mobile-417503.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 7, 2024 |location=San Diego |date=November 10, 2010}}
Helix released 8TeenBoy Boost, an herbal aphrodisiac, in March 2011.{{cite web |last1=Street |first1=Sharan |title=Helix Studios Releases 8teenboy-Branded Herbal Aphrodisiac |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/novelty/helix-studios-releases-8teenboy-branded-herbal-aphrodisiac-428878.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=March 10, 2011}} In June 2011, they partnered with AEBN to release over 200 of their films on video on demand, and launched a channel on Roku in August 2012. By then, in addition to SpankThis! and 8TeenBoy, they also had their HotStuds, Fratboy, Latin Studs, and Raw Lads lines, which were eventually all merged into Helix Studios as a result of the Great Recession.{{cite web |title=AEBN Partners with Helix Studios for Exclusive Deal AVN |url=https://avn.com/business/press-release/gay/aebn-partners-with-helix-studios-for-exclusive-deal-439489.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=June 27, 2011}}{{cite web |title=Helix Studios Launches Channel on Roku |url=https://avn.com/business/press-release/gay/helix-studios-launches-channel-on-roku-484571.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=August 3, 2012}} A parody of the music video for the Robin Thicke song "Blurred Lines" by Helix Studios was released in July 2013 and became popular online.{{cite web |last1=Lowder |first1=J. Bryan |title=This Is the 'Blurred Lines' Parody We Needed |url=https://slate.com/culture/2013/07/blurred-lines-gay-porn-version-this-is-the-robin-thicke-parody-we-needed.html |website=Slate |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=July 11, 2013}} Helix signed a licensing deal with the gay pornographic film studios BoyCrush and Staxus to release their films to subscribers in January 2015 and purchased the catalogs of gay pornographic film studios PZP Productions and Puppy Productions in March 2015.{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Bob |title=Helix Studios Adds Staxus, BoyCrush Content |url=https://www.xbiz.com/news/189726/helix-studios-adds-staxus-boycrush-content |website=XBIZ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=January 8, 2015}}{{cite web |last1=Sanford |first1=John |title=Helix Studios Acquires PZP, Puppy Production Catalogs |url=https://www.xbiz.com/news/192665/helix-studios-acquires-pzp-puppy-production-catalogs |website=XBIZ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=March 25, 2015}} Helix Studios was nominated for the XBIZ Award for Gay Studio of the Year in 2017.{{cite web |last1=Pardon |first1=Rhett |title=XBIZ Announces Finalist Nominees for 2017 XBIZ Awards |url=https://www.xbiz.com/news/214472/xbiz-announces-finalist-nominees-for-2017-xbiz-awards |website=XBIZ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=November 17, 2016}} In April 2017, Helix launched 8TeenBoy.com, a website for their 8TeenBoy line, which was headed by Max Carter, a former performer for Helix.{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Dan |title=Helix Studios Launches 8teenBoy.com |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/gay/helix-studios-launches-8teenboycom-725353.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=April 10, 2017}}{{cite web |last1=O'Keeffe |first1=Kevin |title=Making Life Sexy: How Helix Studios Is Pivoting From Fantasy to Reality |url=https://www.intomore.com/culture/Making-Life-Sexy-How-Helix-Studios-Is-Pivoting-From-Fantasy-to-Reality/2a50ed926c1b4785 |website=Into |access-date=January 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214040753/https://www.intomore.com/culture/Making-Life-Sexy-How-Helix-Studios-Is-Pivoting-From-Fantasy-to-Reality/2a50ed926c1b4785 |archive-date=February 14, 2018 |date=February 13, 2018}} Also in 2017, Helix relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada and closed its San Francisco studio in January 2018.
Las Vegas-based filmmaker Heidi Moore became an editor and writer for Helix Studios in 2018 and made the studio's films more narrative-based, with many of the films' nonsexual scenes being uploaded to Amazon Prime Video and their YouTube channel and earning them 150,000 subscribers on YouTube by 2022. By 2018, Helix Studios and its performers had devoted female followings on social media. 13 Red Media, an LGBT media company founded by Miller, began releasing the Rise Up series of young adult novels based on Helix Studios actors, including His Own Way Out, based on Blake Mitchell, Twink, based on Kyle Ross, and Electric Soul, based on Joey Mills.{{cite web |last1=Adams |first1=JC |title=Helix Studios: Gay Guys for Female Eyes |url=https://www.xbiz.com/features/238700/helix-studios-gay-guys-for-female-eyes |website=XBIZ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=September 21, 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Shea |first1=Ryan |title=Kyle Ross Chats About His Book 'Twink' |url=https://instinctmagazine.com/exclusive-helix-model-kyle-ross-talks-his-explosive-new-book-twink/ |website=Instinct |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=May 9, 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Blocks |first1=Iris |title=Helix Star Joey Mills Sets Out on Book Tour for 'Electric Soul' |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/gay/helix-star-joey-mills-sets-out-on-book-tour-for-electric-soul-821115.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=February 21, 2019}} Miller was inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame in 2019 for his work with Helix.{{cite web |last1=Street |first1=Sharan |title=A Salute to 2019 GayVN Hall of Fame Inductee Keith Miller AVN |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/gay/a-salute-to-2019-gayvn-hall-of-fame-inductee-keith-miller-812909.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=January 21, 2019}} In 2020, Helix Studios won the GayVN Award for Best Feature for their film Vegas Nights.{{cite web |last1=Street |first1=Mikelle |title=Here's Who Won the 'Oscars of Gay Porn' for 2020 |url=https://www.out.com/sex/2020/1/21/heres-who-won-oscars-gay-porn-gayvns-2020 |website=Out |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=January 21, 2020}} Helix Studios Latin America was created in 2021, and, in 2022, Helix launched Helix Studios Europe as well as a pay-per-view service, which allowed non-subscribers to purchase individual films. {{As of|2022}}, Helix Studios is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.{{cite web |last1=Abraham |first1=Amelia |title=The porn industry is calling for a shut down amid coronavirus |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/48401/1/the-adult-industry-is-calling-for-a-porn-shut-down-due-to-coronavirus |website=Dazed |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=March 18, 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Bell |first1=Josh |title=Porno Goes Emo |url=https://knpr.org/magazine-desert-companion/2022-07-28/porno-goes-emo |publisher=KNPR |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=July 29, 2022}}
Performers
- Kyle Ross became a popular pornographic actor for Helix Studios after signing with them in 2012. He became an administrator for Helix and got engaged to fellow former Helix actor Max Carter in December 2017; the couple were called the "First Couple of Helix Studios" by Kevin O'Keeffe of Into for being "the longest-lasting, most visible faces" of the Helix brand. Ross died in a car crash in Florida in May 2023 at 29 years old.{{cite web |last1=Weston |first1=Shawn |title=Kyle 2.0 |url=https://dallasvoice.com/kyle-2-0/ |website=Dallas Voice |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=June 28, 2019}}{{cite web |title=Adult film star Kyle Ross killed in a Florida car crash |url=https://www.outinperth.com/adult-film-star-kyle-ross-killed-in-a-florida-car-crash/ |website=OutInPerth |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=May 2, 2023}} His identical twin brother, Kris Ross, had signed with Helix after him in 2012.{{cite web |title=Helix Studios Welcomes Ross Twins |url=https://avn.com/business/press-release/gay/helix-studios-welcomes-ross-twins-466334.html |website=AVN |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=February 28, 2012}}File:DdZart3W0AAVut4.jpg team meeting Max Carter (rightmost) and Kyle Ross (2nd from left) in London for Prowlers European Gay Porn Awards 2018]]
- The Vine star Bryan Silva, who went viral on the platform in 2014, had worked for Helix Studios.{{cite web |title=Vine Sensation 'Not With That Fufu Lame Shit' Is Actually A Gay Porn Model |url=https://www.queerty.com/vine-sensation-not-with-that-fufu-lame-shit-is-actually-a-gay-porn-model-20140416 |website=Queerty |access-date=January 7, 2014 |date=April 16, 2014}}
- Zac Stevens, a gay pornographic actor who worked with Helix, died in November 2015 at age 25.{{cite web |date=November 20, 2015 |title=Gay Adult Film Performer Zac Stevens Dead At 25 |url=https://www.queerty.com/gay-adult-film-performer-zac-stevens-dead-at-25-20151120 |access-date=January 7, 2024 |website=Queerty}}
- The 2017 short film Flower, directed by Matt Lambert, starred Joey Mills, Sean Ford, Blake Mitchell, Landon Vega, and Corbin Colby, five gay pornographic actors from Helix.{{cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=Chris |title=Matt Lambert's Short Film 'Flower' Film Finds Intimacy in Sex & Friendship |url=https://www.out.com/out-exclusives/2017/7/12/matt-lamberts-short-film-flower-film-finds-intimacy-sex-friendship |website=Out |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=July 12, 2017}}
- Helix Studios actor Shane Cook announced in 2018 that he had been diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma.{{cite web |last1=Grant |first1=David |title=Helix Studios stud Shane Cook announces he has cancer |url=https://www.queerty.com/helix-studios-stud-shane-cook-announces-cancer-20180829 |website=Queerty |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=August 29, 2018}}
- A video featuring Justin O'Brien, who had previously performed for Helix Studios under the name Dustin Gold, shouting racial slurs at a Black sanitation worker from his car and arguing with a pedestrian in New York City went viral in July 2020.{{cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=Shibu |title=Pornstar's Racism & Assault Caught On Camera |url=https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/pornstars-racism-assault-caught-on-camera/196860 |website=Star Observer |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=July 22, 2020}} Helix Studios responded on Twitter, writing that he had been fired and had not worked for the company since 2014 but would not be employed by them going forward.{{cite web |last1=Towle |first1=Andy |title=Helix Studios Says NYC Racist 'Dustin Gold' Has Been Fired, Though He Hasn't Worked In 6 Years |url=https://www.towleroad.com/2020/07/helix-studios-dustin-gold/ |website=Towleroad |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=July 22, 2020}}
- Alex Riley began working exclusively with Helix Studios in 2019 and won the GayVN Award for Best Newcomer in 2020; the following year Helix Studios announced that Riley died at age 22.{{cite web |last1=Baska |first1=Maggie |title=Gay porn star tragically dies aged 22: 'We are heartbroken' |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/05/14/gay-porn-star-alex-riley-dies-22-helix-studios/ |website=PinkNews |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=May 14, 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Tabberer |first1=Jamie |title=Gay porn star Alex Riley dead at 22: 'We love you, rest in peace' |url=https://www.attitude.co.uk/news/world/gay-porn-star-alex-riley-dead-at-22-we-love-you-rest-in-peace-302908/ |website=Attitude |access-date=January 7, 2024 |date=May 17, 2021}}
- Casey Tanner, who had been a popular actor for Helix Studios in the mid-2010s before retiring in 2017, died at age 28 in April 2023.{{cite web |title=Retired Performer Casey Tanner Passes Away |url=https://www.xbiz.com/news/273014/retired-performer-casey-tanner-passes-away |website=XBIZ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |date=April 15, 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Gay male pornographic film studios}}
{{American pornographic film studios|state=collapsed}}
Category:American gay pornographic film studios
Category:Pornography in San Francisco
Category:Pornography in Florida
Category:Entertainment companies based in California
Category:Gay male pornography websites
Category:2002 establishments in Florida