Working hard for his money.
When and why did you become interested in doing pornography?
That is a hard question to answer because I really don't know how to answer it. One day I woke up and thought, “I really want to become porno star for a living.” On the other side, it is not a mainstream job. How do you tell people that you want to do pornography as a career? At least in my day this was not done, so I fought it for a long time.
How long have you been doing pornography?
At the time to date (2005) I think on and off for over 7 years
How many videos have you appeared in since you started?
I don't know many. I don't watch my films. Not that I think I am doing anything wrong but it is too hard for me to watch myself. I have been offered tons of movies to do so and I have turned it down flat with no second thought. And also now days I realize that what some companies do are sell parts of a scene to other companies so you get an unclear and unrealistic number of the total films I’ve appeared in vs the films I’ve contracted to do.
Tell me a little bit about Tyson Can Holdings, Inc.
I created Tyson Cane Holdings, Inc. in 1998, as my parent company under which I own a few diverse companies. There is Tyson & Vega Videos, which produced "Manhattan Fantasies" and "Freak Factor"; both movies are received extraordinarily good reviews and sold very well.
I also own Tyson Cane Videos, which produced the critically acclaimed "Tyson's Big Dream" and "Rentboy.com" and My latest project, "Ohboyescorts.com - Paranoid", scheduled to be released March 9th in stores but I am doing a pre release on February 20th on my website or by phone at 1.877.677.7799, which features a league of NYC’s hottest new Black and Latin stars. The action/sex is non-stop.
I’m also in pre-production of my underwear line it is called Tyson Cane Body Wear. Available online at: www.donaldphoenix.com and is scheduled to be ready Summer of 2005.
What were your goals in starting your own production company?
My goal is a simple: to produce and create hard-core adult erotic videos with style, heart and soul, and great music. My companies Tyson Cane Videos especially places an emphasis on showcasing minority actors who are very often overlooked by the larger and more established gay adult studios and the general media. I am engaged in all aspects of the day-to-day operations as well as post-production. I want to make the kind of videos we like to watch, but I also want to create a look that represents what REAL ETHIC Americas looks like. It's not just white; it's brown, it's black, and it’s multi-cultural. My plan is to keep on making quality videos that blend art and erotic elements.
How would you describe yourself as a person?
Honestly I am pretty simple but very difficult at the same time. I am pretty straightforward person. I can't stand stupid people. I like originality. I am very quiet, I am a homebody person I would prefer a day at home verses a night in a club. People who know me have said that I am extremely shy. Its funny: people think I am because of the industry I’m in. I don't think I am any more different then any one else.
What are/were your other career choices?
This is such a loaded question. I live my life under a very strict idea that everything happens for a reason, no matter what has happened. There have been times that I have physically lost and or dropped a lot of money over the years. Most people start looking for the money; I don't. I honestly believe that if I have lost it that means that someone else needed the money much more then me. That said, I believe that I only had one career choice, which is what I am doing now because some of my other jobs have prepared me for what I am doing now. I use to work for Prince in one of his clubs, GLAM SLAM, as a set designer. I’ve been a graphic designer, website creator, production assistant, just to name a few. Every job including my stint in the military prepared me for today. How? From the military I learned my work ethic. I can work from 8am to 5am the next morning without blinking. If it weren’t for my friends and my help I would work without stopping.
Tell me something that no one knows about you?
I am extremely superstitious.
When people recognize you what is their general response?
Aren't you that guy? Aren't you Tyson Cane? Do you know you look a lot like Tyson Cane? Things like that.
Do you like being recognized?
It’s a love/hate relationship. I don't know what to say to people when they come up to me. Most people feel that they know me because they saw me in a film. Generally I don’t know who they are, so it is hard and on top of everything I am very shy. If someone comes up to me who is shy or nervous or anything like that, then I tend to be polite and say hello and walk away. I like it when people treat me normal.
Is it hard for someone in your position to date?
I use to think that it was hard to date, but I realized that it is no harder to date if you are in this business or another business, to a certain degree. The hardest part I would say is that I had to create a fast image of who and what I am, and when I started in this business to now I have changed. People assume I am one way when I may not be. I don't know if you understand what I am saying, but I have learned in the past few years that being in films often gives the public the impression that they know who you are. They don’t.
Thursday, February 17, 2005 @ 09:02 AMI do get a sense of sadness more than anything else from this set of pictures. Perhaps for two reasons: 1) the disillusion that usually comes when pornstars talk about who they are in real life and 2) the lack of vision and/or hope in Tyson's answers. He seems like an ordinary Joe on the street trying to make his hustle work, but I have more of an expectation of vision and innovation when I hear the word 'art' ... and some of that could work in porn, too.
Posted by Donald / on Feb 20 @ 7:21 AMTroy, all of your comments suggest there is something wrong with sex, sexuality, homosexuality, expression of sexual desire, "adult" entertainment and other things related to a grown man contolling the use and exhibition of his own body. They read more like your issues than his.
Posted by Bernie / on Feb 18 @ 12:34 PMThe other question I must ask; What were we supposed to get from this article; The commodity our bodies could be if we sold it to the highest bidder? Is this the person to follow career wise if I want to be a star on film and in print? Doing porn promotes what aspect of being male, of color and an adult?? Nahh, I think I'll keep my day job. At least there I can somewhat control my own sleeze release.
Hate? No not all, his story is too tragic to even begin to hate.
I'm not hating on him at all and any amount of money he gets off his body is the same as selling his soul.
There's nothing prudish, hypocritical or different from what he's doing, in fact it's so done before the words sleezy and low don't even fit anymore. But as I said his pictures in this story tell more than any words ever could.
But in fact Troy you are hating on him for what he does for a living. Equating this with slavery? That's a bit much.
First off, he's not a porn actor. He's a porn producer. To be a creater and thus the one who gets to keep the lion's share of the income, is the desired position in any industry.
And let's be candid. Adult entertainment wouldn't be a $12 billion a year industry if there weren't an awful lot of US buying it. Let's stop being hypocritical and prudish about sex and sexuality.
Posted by Bernie / on Feb 17 @ 10:57 PMSad. The black male as object and a cash and carry one at that. Is there any difference between what he is doing and slavery?
Joe Simmons another huge popular Porn Star, even photographed and lionized by the so called great photographer Robert Mapplethorpe still has his pictures all over the net and everywhere else yet Joe has been dead for years and died of AIDS. I wonder if his estate or family gets anything from his image being used and sold all over the place?
But meanwhile look at the photos in Steven's article on Tyson Cane. The photos sure are a lot different from the ones that first came out about him and are alot more telling. No amount of dollars or popularity can save the soul from itself.
And no, I'm not hating on him or what his way of making a living.