Johan Paulik, Manshots, June 1999

by Jerry Douglas
Interview appeared in Manshots, June 1999.

Manshots: Tell us a little bit about how you acquired English.
Paulik: Well, as I told you in the car, I'm trying to learn English but I'm not going to school for any lessons.

Manshots: Did you study English at any time during your schooling?
Paulik: I was learning English during my high school education for three years, but it was not enough, because, you know, you must be with people who are speaking English.

Manshots: You have come in contact with a lot of people speaking English.
Paulik: Yes, exactly. If you are meeting people and you have to speak with them, you must learn.

Manshots: One of the places you've learned some English is Great Britain.
Paulik: In Great Britain, yes. Also between shootings in Portugal. Also, I was twice in the United States, so...

Manshots: We are going to talk about all those trips, but let's start with England. I want to talk about your films for Pride Video. The first was â?oChain Reaction.â??
Paulik: The first one was â?oChain Reaction,â?? yes. But I must tell you that right now I am quite upset because I think Pride Video has been very unfair with me in the last few years.

Manshots: How so?
Paulik: As you know, I am employed full time with Bel Ami and have an exclusive contract to make videos only with Bel Ami. Well, in 1996, Pride made an arrangement with George Duroy to lend me to them for two new Pride videos. One we filmed in Bratislava and England, the other we did in Portugal. And everything was just fine. During our stay in Portugal, Pride asked if they could film an interview with me and said that it would be only for the purpose of promoting the videos. I was very surprised to learn some time later that they took that interview, along with unused footage from the two videos, and created a third video, â?oMoments With Johan.â?? I was never consulted about this video, and I wasn't paid anything either. And then I just heard that another new video has a plot centered around my "disappearance."

Manshots: Do you appear in it?
Paulik: No, but they speak about me. And there's more: I just read on Pride's website that I will be starring in another video for them, a sequel to â?oChain Reaction.â?? They say that I will be "featured." Well this is news to me. They never contacted me or asked my permission, although they are using my photograph, taken almost three years ago, as promotion for this new project. If they are re-using footage they shot years ago. I hope they will make it clear to my fans that it is not new.

Manshots: I'm very surprised to hear this.
Paulik: So was I. I am very sad that they have exploited me in this way. Mike Esser said in an interview in your magazine how many thousands of videos they can sell if my picture is on the cover. If they are making so much money on my name and face, then I should at least get some of it. I hope now you understand that I have no problem to answer your questions about the soft-core films, just that I am not too happy to do it.

Manshots: Of course, I understand. So let's begin by talking about the traveling. Had you been to England before the filming?
Paulik: Yeah, of course. I was a dancer, so I was there a lot. There is one city in England called Blackpool, and there is a very big dance festival every year. So we went to that many times.

Manshots: Then traveling through Great Britain was not an unusual experience for you. Had you been to London before?
Paulik: Uh huh.

Erik Kovac, Manshots, May 1999

by Lucas Kazan
Interview appeared in Manshots, April 1999.

Bratislava, October 29, 1997. Director George Duroy and I savor the exquisite Turkish coffee that Erik Kovac has just made. Though his English is fluent enoughâ??and, oh, so butchâ??Kovac has asked Duroy to translate his answers from Slovak. When we're done, Erik treats me to dinner at a fancy restaurant downtown. I feel like a sixteen year-old on a dream-date.

Manshots: Let's start from the beginning. How did you become involved in this business?
Kovac: Well, I was working as a bartender in a big disco. A friend of George Duroy's thought I had a big dick and brought me in for an interview.

Manshots: What did you know of Bel Ami Photo & Video?
Kovac: I knew it had a good reputation. At the time, there were quite a few people shooting porn for smaller German companies and nobody trusted them.

Manshots: Describe your first meeting with George Duroy.
Kovac: We met in a coffeehouse. George was about to leave for the United States, so we met again at the Bel Ami headquarters about three months later.
Duroy: The truth is I wasn't in a hurry. He wasn't in particularly good shape. I think he was more than twenty pounds heavier. Yes, he had a big dick, but I wasn't as thrilled about the rest.

Manshots: What did you expect when you first met with Duroy?
Kovac: I wasn't afraid or anything like that. Shortly after the interview, we shot my first episode for â?oBlue Danube.â?? It went well; if anything, it was more difficult for the other guy.

Manshots: Tell us about your background.
Kovac: My family is very well off, by Slovak standards. My father was a professional sports trainer and got paid very well. But I wanted to be independent. I started working as a bartender when I was sixteen and moved out the day I turned eighteenâ??which doesn't mean I am no longer in contact with my family.

Manshots: Do you have any siblings?
Kovac: Two sisters. One's younger, the other's older.

Manshots: How old are you?
Kovac: I'm twenty-one.

Manshots: How long have you worked for George Duroy?
Kovac: Since I was eighteen and a half.

Manshots: When did you do your second movie?
Kovac: The winter of 1995, shortly after â?oBlue Danube.â?? It was â?oSiberian Heat.â??

Manshots: And the third one?
Kovac: Hmm ... I don't remember. A soft-core film called â?oCollege Boys.â??

Manshots: Have you done any other soft-core movies?
Kovac: I'm in â?oChain Reaction.â?o

Manshots: And how do they differ from hard-core productions?
Kovac: Soft-core is more boring. Nothing's really happening, you know.

Manshots: But it is much easier on the actors, isn't it?
Kovac: Oh, yes. But I'm not fond of it. I'd rather have real sex.

Manshots: Let's go back to your hard-core titles then.
Kovac: I did the orgy in â?oLukas' Story 2,â?? I did â?oFrisky Summer 2 and 3,â?? â?oNighthawken,â?? [and] â?oSouvenirs.â?? The truth is I don't know which episode went where. â?oSouvenirsâ?? was my first cover.

Manshots: When did you start working full-time for Bel Ami?
Kovac: After finishing school. About two years ago, in the summer of 1995.

Manshots: So, how's Duroy as an employer?
Duroy: I'll leave now, I think I'd be upset ... (Pointing at Erik) He blushed; he doesn't want to lie and doesn't want to offend

Kristian Jensen, Manshots, March 1999

by Jerry Douglas
Interview appeared in Manshots, March 1999.

Once again, we settle into the comfortable upstairs library-office of George Duroy's home in Bratislava on June 13, 1998. Kristian Jensen, dressed in sneakers, trendy jeans, and a baggy sweatshirt, flops down on the couch next to George Duroy, who will translate his answers, since Jensen's English is negligible. Jensen is much taller than he appears on the screen, and from a distance, one would immediately think of him as a basketball player. But once he sits down and begins to talk at close range, my focus is riveted to his exquisitely beautiful, effortlessly animated face. He is every bit as gorgeous as he appears onscreen. I pose questions and listen to the answers, but my focus remains on the sparkling eyes, the rosebud lips, and the easy laughter.

Manshots: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Jensen: I wanted to be a truck driver.

Manshots: Why? Is there something special about truck driving?
Jensen: I thought these are people who travel all over the world.

Manshots: Would you like to travel all over the world? How much traveling have you done?
Jensen: Not too much. Only in Europe.

Manshots: Where have you been?
Jensen: To all German-speaking countriesâ??which is Austria, Germany, Switzerland. Also, France, Italy, Russia, Poland.

Manshots: Tell us about your childhood. How big is your family?
Jensen: There were my mother and father, and my sister and me.

Manshots: You were the baby of the family?
Jensen: Yes.

Manshots: Were you spoiled?
Jensen: Yes. I was unbearable as a child. (Laughter)

Manshots: Can you tell us what your childhood was like?
Jensen: I think we were an absolutely regular family. There were the usual conflicts between the children and the parents or the wife and the husband. My mother is an assistant in a chemical laboratory, and my father works for hospitals installing medical equipment. Also, he specialized in all kinds of physical therapy.

Manshots: Since both your parents were interested in scientific and medical fields, did you have any interest in going in that direction?
Jensen: No, I don't think I was so influenced by circumstances, but I was always interested in mechanical things. I worked in a printing company.

Manshots: Do you think you will continue with that profession as you go through life?
Jensen: It's an interesting profession, and I might like to do it in the future, but my main fascination is carsâ??especially old cars. Actually, I'm preparing all the cars for our film, Lucky Lukas, now. I won't be in this filmâ??I am just working behind the scenes. In the film, Lukas gets a Mini Cooper car, and takes Ion Davidov on a test drive, and that's how their adventures begin. I can't tell you the secrets of the film, but just wait till you see the final scene!

Manshots: I'll bet you're very excited.
Jensen: Yes, but I would prefer, as a career, to have my own garage. I'm not as much interested in repairing new cars as in restoring classic old cars. I'm also very fond of many race carsâ??small, English cars, particularly, from the Sixtiesâ??such as Mr. Bean has.

Manshots: Do you remember the first time you drove a car?
Jensen: It was when I was about twelve years old, and I was returning home from the cinema. It was a Skoda carâ??it was an independent car maker, but now it's part of Volkswagen. I saw the car on the street and thought it was some neighbor's, but when I