Mantra Films Inc., or Mantra Entertainment, was an American

softcore pornography Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. So ...

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, a ...

created by

Joe Francis Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American entrepreneur, film producer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the syndicated program '' Real TV'' before rel ...

, chiefly for the production and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

-based '' Girls Gone Wild'' and ''

Guys Gone Wild Girls Gone Wild (GGW) is an adult entertainment franchise created by Joe Francis in 1997, who occasionally appears as the host of the videos. Girls Gone Wild was known for its early use of direct-response marketing techniques, including its la ...

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program ...

History and organization

The company was previously known as ''Fall Line Entertainment''. In addition to Girls Gone Wild, the company also produced the '' Banned from Television'' series in 1998, featuring raw, uncensored and graphic scenes of violence caught on camera. The company also produces "Uncensored" versions of

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

dating shows such as ''

Blind Date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...

'' and ''

The Fifth Wheel ''The 5th Wheel'' was an American dating reality series that aired in syndication from 2001 to 2004. The show was initially hosted by comedian Aisha Tyler, but when Tyler left after completing the first season, the remaining two seasons were host ...

'', which feature extensive (mostly female)

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and sexual content that cannot be shown on mainstream television. The company is based on a business model of getting young women to bare their breasts on camera in exchange for a

t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are genera ...

, then selling the resulting videos directly to the consumer. In the early days of his company, Francis obtained this footage third-party, and some cameramen who sold Francis footage did not obtain releases from those being filmed. This resulted in lawsuits, one of which was settled for $10,000. Today the videos, which sell for as little as $9.99 apiece, contribute to a total sales figure of $40 million a year for Mantra Films, Inc.

Legal issues

In January 2001, Francis was found liable by a Los Angeles jury for misappropriating the idea for '' Banned from Television'', a series of extreme videotapes that preceded '' Girls Gone Wild'' and were distributed by Mantra. The jury awarded producer Les Haber a total of $3.5 million on his claims against Francis. A 2003 complaint against Mantra Films, Inc. resulted in a $1.1 million payout by the company. The complaint stemmed from Mantra's practice of enrolling customers in continuity programs without their consent. The penalty was partially to redress the customers who were harmed and also a civil penalty. On September 12, 2006 Francis entered a

plea agreement A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defenda ...

in a

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

court for failing to properly document the ages of models depicted in certain episodes, and for failing to label the DVDs with information regarding where such records are kept, as required by federal law. Following prosecution by the

Obscenity Prosecution Task Force The Obscenity Prosecution Task Force (OPTF) was an organization created in 2005 by the United States Department of Justice. The OPTF's job was to investigate and prosecute producers and distributors of hardcore pornography that meets the legal test ...

and the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (in case citations, N.D. Fla.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

, Francis agreed to pay $2.1 million in fines. The law in question is designed to protect minors from sexual exploitation. In 2009 Mantra Films was reported to be delinquent in paying over $651,000 to the

California Franchise Tax Board The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) administers and collects state personal income tax and corporate franchise and income tax of California. It is part of the California Government Operations Agency. The board is composed of the Californ ...

References

External links

* {{American pornographic film studios Mass media companies established in 1998 American pornographic film studios Film production companies of the United States Pornography in California