Kink.com founder decries the ongoing anti-adult “climate” in California, with mandatory condom bill AB 1576 likely being “the final nail in the coffin”

LAS VEGAS — San Francisco based Kink.com announced today that it had leased production and office space in Las Vegas, and has already wrapped production on its first two movies. Kink founder Peter Acworth says the crew encountered no issues, paving the way for the world’s largest fetish entertainment company to move additional production out of its San Francisco Armory headquarters, should the controversial AB 1576 condom bill pass the California state Senate next month.

“Vegas is looking more and more attractive as time goes by,” said Acworth. “The cost of doing business out there is lower. The resources are slowly moving there. It’s becoming easier and easier to do business … I think that a lot of companies are doing what we’re doing. They’re setting up satellite offices and getting their feet wet with Vegas as a potential place to shoot.”

Nearly a dozen companies, including big names like Brazzers and Bluebird Films have a firmly established presence in Vegas. Others, including many in Los Angeles County, have been shooting in Vegas temporarily in the wake of 2012’s Measure B condom law.

Kink’s move comes as AB 1576, a bill that would make it a crime to shoot adult film without a condom, advances in the California legislature. While Nevada requires condoms for prostitution, because of contact with the untested general public, it has no such requirements for adult film, where all participants are regularly tested for STIs.

AB 1576 has been vehemently opposed by both producers and performers, who complain that the bill strips them of important health protections, and will ultimately drive production underground, resulting in less safe working conditions. Performers have repeatedly asked the bill’s proponents to meet with them to craft worker-supported legislation, but have been denied.

“We don’t want to move out of California,” says Acworth, “but we will if we have to. This bill not only denies performers’ choice, it would effectively render most existing adult film production illegal.”

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Founded in 1997, Kink.com’s mission is to create the most authentic experiences, foster community and empower people to explore their sexuality.