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Roger T. Pipe How did this happen?
Mr Vegas I approached Extreme about a month ago with the idea of changing my image. I told them I was willing to handle other projects as well as directing. They have me doing PR for the Armageddon line and I'll be taking that over soon.
Roger T. Pipe Taking over the line?
Mr Vegas That's right, I've already got plans to force Tom Byron out and take over Armageddon.
Roger T. Pipe What movies are you going to shoot?
Mr Vegas I'm going to start out with some of the Extreme Teen series and some big titty stuff. I might be taking over the Fossil Fuckers as well, but we're still talking about that. I start shooting my first movie, as Mr. Vegas next week sometime.
Roger T. Pipe Did you quit Legend or you were fired?
Mr Vegas I quit Legend Video.
Roger T. Pipe Why?
Mr Vegas The pay was too low, they wouldn't let me be involved in my own projects. I wasn't allowed to sit in on any of the editing. All of the notes I ever wrote were trashed. I would take abuse from one of the upper management guys, Jack in front of women I brought in for interviews. They didn't offer me a position like I have here. That company isn't going anywhere. They got rid of Max Hardcore, they got rid of Bill Whitrock and I figured I was probably next. They were putting me off on projects and dropping my budget with each title. I was expected to do all the advertising and promotion for my titles, so I decided to look for something better.
Roger T. Pipe Did you go to other companies?
Mr Vegas I approached a few companies, but Extreme was the best of the lot. I really enjoy working with Tom Byron and Rob Black. This is like a family. Legend was run like a business. All the money went to the top guys and the staff all got left out. They underpaid their staff. Jack used to yell at people in front of clients. This is a better environment, with people closer to my age. Besides, this company is growing rapidly and Legend is shrinking.
Roger T. Pipe How long did you make movies for Legend?
Mr Vegas Two and a half years.
Roger T. Pipe Did you work for anyone before Legend?
Mr Vegas I performed in a lot of movies. That's how I got started. Jim Powers got me started in this business.
Roger T. Pipe How?
Mr Vegas I grew up with Jim. He's an old punk rock buddy of mine.
Roger T. Pipe How many movies have you made?
Mr Vegas I have short around sixteen. I did a couple of Private features that were never completed, I did one gonzo for Cream, but they lost the video. There were a number of individual projects as well.
Roger T. Pipe Most people know you from the Kid Vegas movies.
Mr Vegas Yeah, most people know that image.
Roger T. Pipe You won an XRCO award for Worst Video of the Year. Was that the only time you won that award?
Mr Vegas No, I have two previous awards for the same thing.
Roger T. Pipe Do you think you deserved those awards?
Mr Vegas I think I deserved them because the videos were bad. I think they were funnier and better than some of the others in the same category. If you put my videos up against the nineties and over videos, mine has more value. I still think that because of the editing, it fit into the category just fine.
Roger T. Pipe How much of Kid Vegas was you and how much was a goof?
Mr Vegas In the beginning, 98% of it was a good and 2% was me. At some point, that switched over. After about six months, I started losing the idea that I was playing the character.
Roger T. Pipe What caused that?
Mr Vegas The drug use mostly. Hanging out with Johnny Toxic didn’t help either. I became a full time Kid Vegas instead of my normal self. Depending on what I was doing, I might be fifty-fifty. I blew a lot of money at first because I just saw it coming in. I was out passing out videos to help promote them and was passing them out at clubs.
Roger T. Pipe Handing out videos?
Mr Vegas Legend wouldn't do any promotion, but they gave me videos, so I went around and passed them out at clubs I have a strong advertising background so I went out to promote.
Roger T. Pipe Could that have been a successful campaign?
Mr Vegas Not with that company. It helped sales, so I guess it helped them. It put money in their pockets.
Roger T. Pipe How many Kid Vegas movies did you make for them?
Mr Vegas Somewhere between nine and twelve.
Roger T. Pipe Of those, are there any that you thought were really good?
Mr Vegas I thought that Spring Break 2000 was very good, but it needed to be edited differently. Fear and Loathing with Kid Vegas should have edited differently as well. That was supposed to be like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. We filmed a lot of stuff that they could have put in there to make it more interesting. Hooked on X came out pretty well, but again, the editing could have been better.
Roger T. Pipe Which ones won for worst video of the year?
Mr Vegas Whoremiester and Watch me Camp, Bitch.
Roger T. Pipe Now that you're with Extreme will you have enough money in the budget for lights?
Mr Vegas Yes.
Roger T. Pipe You said you're going to change this Kid Vegas image. What are you going to focus on now?
Mr Vegas There is still going to be funny stuff, but the camera and lighting will be a hundred times better. I will have an extra camera man and money in the budget to light things correctly. At Legend I had to do everything, pre-production, post-production and pay for it all out of one lump sum. Now I have a company backing me and taking care of all that.
Roger T. Pipe Now that you can be more focused, what are you going to hone in on.
Mr Vegas Mostly directing and setting up the scenarios. I will shoot some camera, but mostly I'll be directing and keeping control of my sets.
Roger T. Pipe Are you still doing a lot of drugs?
Mr Vegas No. I don't do drugs now. I rarely smoke cigarettes. I do drink, but maybe once a week and I don't get drunk.
Roger T. Pipe Has that changed you personally and professionally.
Mr Vegas Yes it has, for the better.
Roger T. Pipe Are you still going to be performing?
Mr Vegas No, I don't do that any more.
Roger T. Pipe Did you like performing?
Mr Vegas It was fun at first, but then it became a nuisance as far as STDs and what not.
Roger T. Pipe Any girls stand out in your mind?
Mr Vegas I really liked that girl April because she's really cute.
Roger T. Pipe Do you have a web site?
Mr Vegas The Armageddon web site will be up soon and I'll be working on that.
Roger T. Pipe Anything else you want to add?
Mr Vegas Look out for my new movies.
Roger T. Pipe Thanks and we look forward to the new, Mr. Vegas.
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