Andy Lee, a straight porn performer who also caters to a gay audience, has opened what he refers to as a “porn star university” in the United Kingdom for those wishing to capitalize on the gay male porn-viewing audience.
The Irish-born Lee, known for amateur-style content that he films with his real-life straight friends, will teach aspiring adult performers how to market themselves, find their niche, and shoot better content. The university is open to both gay and straight men.
Lee’s university was profiled in a new mini-documentary from All Out podcast host Jon Dean, who traveled to Cambridgeshire to speak with some of Lee’s protégées.
Lee has built a number of different sets at the Cambridgeshire university that his students can use for free to film content.
One room, dubbed the “chav’s living room,” is a replica of the council estate flat where Lee lived growing up. Other sets include bedrooms, a gym, and even a Portaloo with no bottom where another actor can sit beneath the toilet seat.
He provides advice on the practical side of the business, looking at things like paying taxes, getting regular STI checks, setting up accounts to derive income from content, picking an audience, and promoting content.
Lee told Dean during a recent episode of All Out that men of all sexualities travel from all over the world to see if they’re interested in pursuing a career as an adult content creator.
“A lot of people think they know what to do,” Lee said of those who attend the university. “They think it’s taking feet pics and posting ’em online, but it’s not. To be successful, it’s not that, there’s a lot to it. Even learning how to use the tripod properly, learning how to film properly, use the camera, use editing, even the software, anything.
“And then there’s the legality side of doing social media and porn and everything. You need to have consent, you need to know about consent. You need to know about what people do and don’t want, your audience, what sort of porn you want to do.”
Lee ranks in the top 0.1% of OnlyFans creators. He entered the porn industry as a straight performer, and eventually quit the industry before returning as a gay-for-pay performer.
He credits the gay community with helping him financially survive after being fired from a job because of his adult film career, noting that the income helped sustain him during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“OnlyFans basically saved my life,” Lee says. “The audience, the fans who’s watching me saved my life. Gay people saved my life.”
Lee advises those seeking to enter the porn industry that they have to be comfortable with the public and their closest family and friends knowing about their involvement in the adult industry.
“I say, ‘Okay, John, have you ever done it before, any sort of work before?’ [He says] ‘No, I’ve never done it before.’ Okay. I say, ‘Have you really thought about this, John? Because as soon as it’s out there, you cannot take this back,'” Lee says. “‘Can you deal with all your family members seeing your porn? ‘Cuz if you can’t, then it’s not for you.’
“You cannot hide this stuff,” he adds. “People try to do this as a second job, and I really talk them against it. You really shouldn’t do this as a second job. If you want to be successful on OnlyFans, you have to give 100 percent.”
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.