Private Media Group
{{Short description|Swedish production and distribution company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Private Media Group
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = sv
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| logo = Private logo.svg
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| predecessor =
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| founder = Berth Milton Sr.
| defunct =
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| area_served = Worldwide
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| industry = Publishing
| genre = Adult online movies, DVDs, and magazines
| products = DVDs, magazines, licensing, online dating service, movies, sex toys
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| foundation = {{start date and age|1965}} (as Private Magazine)
Stockholm, Sweden
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| location_country = Ireland
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| website = {{URL|http://www.prvt.com/|prvt.com}}
{{URL|http://www.private.com/|private.com}}
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Private Media Group, Inc. is a Swedish production and distribution company that distributes adult entertainment via print publications, DVDs, and the Internet. It first published a magazine called Private in Stockholm in 1965.
Origins
{{main|Private (magazine)}}
Private magazine was established in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1965 as the world's first full-color hardcore magazine by Berth Milton Sr. In the early 1990s, his son Berth Milton Jr. took over and started to produce movies and internet content, taking Private public soon after.{{cite news|last1=Morais|first1=Richard|title=Porn goes public|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1999/0614/6312214a.html|access-date=8 November 2014|agency=Forbes|date=6 June 1999}}
Product lines
The firm provides content through DVD, Video on Demand (VOD), Internet Protocol television (IPTV), PSP, mobile and magazines. It supplies adult entertainment films to thousands of major hotels around the world through their Hotel Pay Per View services. The company also runs the adult channels Private TV (Europe) and Private Gold (Latin America)
In 1998 the company launched Private Circle,{{cite news|last1=Veash|first1=Nicola|title=Porn hits the high street as hardcore merchants challenge big-name fashion labels|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jul/25/theobserver.uknews3|access-date=8 November 2014|work=Guardian News|date=25 July 1999}} a designer clothing label, at the Cannes Film Festival.{{cite news|last1=Herman-Cohen|first1=Valli|title=For Clothing Line, Sex Doesn't Sell--but It Does Finance|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-09-cl-22972-story.html|access-date=8 November 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=9 February 2001}} The label would later be changed to Private Clothing and a boutique would be opened in Los Angeles.{{cite web|url=http://www.prvt.com/2002/03/prvt-private-clothing-opens-fashion-boutique-in-los-angeles/ |title=Private Clothing Opens Fashion Boutique in Los Angeles - PRIVATE MEDIA GROUP INC |publisher=PRVT |date=1999-02-22 |access-date=2014-04-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421064152/http://www.prvt.com/2002/03/prvt-private-clothing-opens-fashion-boutique-in-los-angeles/ |archive-date=21 April 2014 |df=dmy }}
In August 2008 Private Media Group announced it had established an alliance with Marc Dorcel to collaborate in the home video market. The collaboration started with a three-year DVD distribution agreement for France.
The firm's 2009 acquisitions of video on demand companies Gamelink LLC and Sureflix, and the ecommerce technology firm eLine LLC established it as a leading adult content and distribution company in the digital media sector.{{cite web|title=PRIVATE MEDIA GROUP COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF LEADING U.S. ONLINE DISTRIBUTION PLATFORM GAMELINK AND CREATES GLOBAL DIGITAL POWERHOUSE |url=http://www.prvt.com/2009/01/private-media-group-completes-acquisition-of-leading-u-s-online-distribution-platform-gamelink-and-creates-global-digital-powerhouse/ |website=Private Media Group Press Releases |access-date=8 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109035808/http://www.prvt.com/2009/01/private-media-group-completes-acquisition-of-leading-u-s-online-distribution-platform-gamelink-and-creates-global-digital-powerhouse/ |archive-date=9 November 2014 |df=dmy }}{{cite web|title=PRIVATE MEDIA GROUP Completes Acquisition Of Leading Online Distribution Platform SUREFLIX |url=http://www.prvt.com/2009/11/private-media-group-completes-acquisition-of-leading-online-distribution-platform-sureflix/ |website=Private Media Group Press Releases |access-date=8 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109040117/http://www.prvt.com/2009/11/private-media-group-completes-acquisition-of-leading-online-distribution-platform-sureflix/ |archive-date=9 November 2014 |df=dmy }}
In June 2014 the firm announced the released of its full archive of images and (film and video) scenes dating back to the 1960s when Private magazine launched in Sweden. The material is available via a website, PrivateClassics.com.{{cite web|last1=Smithberg|first1=Allen|title=Private Releases Full Media Archive on PrivateClassics.com|url=http://business.avn.com/articles/technology/Private-Releases-Full-Media-Archive-on-PrivateClassics-com-563865.html|website=AVN.com|publisher=Adult Video News|access-date=9 June 2014}}
Movies
Private is known for high-budget, adult movies, such as the two-part series Millionaire, directed by Alessandro del Mar, with a reported budget of $1.9 million.[http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectID=ED9FB4FF-1372-4B41-C4B8EB7005383685&slid=130577 Private U.S.A. Sets Release Date For Multimillion-Dollar Feature, Millionaire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201191955/http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectID=ED9FB4FF-1372-4B41-C4B8EB7005383685&slid=130577 |date=1 December 2007 }}, AVN Media Network, 3 September 2004 In the last few decades, Private has earned more than 130 adult industry awards.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} The film Millionaire alone earned 16 Venus Award nominations in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://business.avn.com/articles/Jesse-Jane-Named-Best-Actress-USA-at-Venus-Awards-40820.html |title=AVN - Jesse Jane Named Best Actress USA at Venus Awards |publisher=Business.avn.com |date=2004-10-21 |access-date=2014-05-30}} Best-selling releases include the Private Gladiator series, Cleopatra, Millionaire and Chateau.
In 1999, Private released The Uranus Experiment, a three-part pornographic science fiction video that is notable for part of it having been shot in microgravity during a parabolic flight, representing the first time a sex act had been carried out in zero-g conditions.{{Cite web |last=Brooke |first=Michael |date=February 27, 1999 |title=The Uranus Experiment Review |url=https://www.thedigitalfix.com/film/dvd_review/the-uranus-experiment/ |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.thedigitalfix.com}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60192494 |title=Zero gravity Невесомость : a cultural user's guide |date=2005 |publisher=Arts Catalyst |others=Nicola Triscott, Rob La Frenais, Arts Catalyst |isbn=0-9534546-4-9 |location=[London, Eng.] |pages=42 |oclc=60192494}}
=Awards=
The following is a selection of some of the major awards Private films have won:
- 1994 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (Private Video Magazine 1){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 1995 AVN Award – Best Counting Video Series (Private Video Magazine){{cite magazine|url=http://www.avnawards.com/index.php?content=pastwinners |title=AVN Awards Past Winners |magazine=AVN |access-date=13 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312060026/http://www.avnawards.com/index.php?content=pastwinners |archive-date=12 March 2009 }}
- 1995 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (Virgin Treasures 1 & 2){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 1996 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (The Tower, Parts 1, 2 & 3){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 1996 AVN Award – Most Outrageous Sex Scene (Private Video Magazine 20){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 1997 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (The Pyramid, Parts 1, 2 & 3){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 1998 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (The Fugitive 1 & 2){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 1999 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (Tatiana 1, 2 & 3){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 2000 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (Amanda's Diary 2){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 2001 AVN Award – Best Foreign Vignette Series (Private XXX){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 2003 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (Private Gladiator){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 2004 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (The Scottish Loveknot){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 2006 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 2007 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (Porn Wars: Episode 1){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 2007 Eroticline Award - Best European Film (The Sexual Adventures of Little Red){{citation needed|date=December 2014}}
- 2009 AVN Award – Best BDSM Release (House of Sex and Domination){{cite magazine|url=http://www.avnawards.com/index.php?content=winners09 |title=THE 2009 AVN AWARDS WINNERS |magazine=AVN |access-date=7 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305071639/http://www.avnawards.com/index.php?content=winners09 |archive-date=5 March 2009 }}
- 2009 AVN Award – Best Foreign Feature (Jason Colt, Mystery of the Sexy Diamonds){{dead link|date=December 2014}}
- 2017 VENUS Award – Best International Label{{Cite web|url=https://www.private.com/scene/best-international-label-at-venus-berlin-2017/25286|title=Best International Label at Venus Awards 2017 HD Videos & Porn Photos - Private Porn Sex Videos|website=www.private.com|access-date=2019-04-25}}
References
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