Most topics I will cover here are important, but nothing is more important than the topic of testing.

STD Testing is mandatory. I don’t care if a production company tells you that “It’s OK, the guy we use is totally clean”, or “I’m the one you’ll be doing the scene with and I am totally a-ok” – NEVER EVER EVER do a scene with talent that is not tested. EVER. EVER EVER EVER.

I hope I’ve made myself clear about that.

Now that we’ve gotten that part out of the way – and trust me, I will be reminding you regularly about this – the next step is WHERE to get tested.

County tests are great for married couples, for frat boys and sorority sisters, and any other regular-life people who don’t have sex on a regular basis, much less do it for a living. Luckily a lot of production companies and directors (Chi Chi LaRue being the foremost proponent) are starting to insist on condom shoots, but a majority of what sells as far as amateur and semi-pro content is concerned is still non-condom.

County tests (the $30 ones you get from your regular doctor or the free clinic or Planned Parenthood) is not good enough for most production companies, and you should adhere to those standards as well. The HIV Elisa test looks for the person’s antibody response to the HIV virus. This test will detect HIV between 6 weeks and 6 months of exposure. Unless you (or the person you’re performing with) has a series of county tests from the past 6 months, I wouldn’t touch them. It just isn’t safe, and it isn’t worth the rate that you’re getting paid for the one scene that you’re doing if you catch something from talent that only used a county test that didn’t detect the virus in that one particular month.

AIM (Adult Industry Medical) is the preferred clinic of adult industry companies and talent. Not only is it owned by Dr. Sharon Mitchell, “a legendary porn star who has appeared in over 2,000 films, and who has won every award that the adult entertainment industry offers” (courtesy: AIM), but the testing that AIM uses is just more thorough. The HIV/PCR DNA qualitative test will detect early HIV infection by looking for the inhibitory substance of the HIV virus itself. This test typically will find HIV between 10 and 14 days after exposure. For that reason alone, monthly testing by AIM is the industry standard. You can find them at www.aim-med.org as far as locations are concerned. Their two main clinics are in Los Angeles, but there are “draw stations” in other states that use AIM as their testing service.

TTS (Talent Testing Services) is a new company that is a little more accessible to those actors and actresses coming from out of town that might not have the time to get tested while in LA for a shoot (or those who are shooting outside the state of California). You can find them at www.talenttestingservice.com. Their site currently does not specify that they singularily use the PCR test.

In either case, show up to all shoots with a copy of your test. A production company or a director can look up the results online, but having a copy makes everyone’s job a little easier, which will make things go smoother on set.

I can’t repeat this enough – if the talent that you are working with does NOT have their test with them, and you can’t get them to get it for you online, or if your test has expired (even for one day) – DO NOT perform the scene! Trust me – you do NOT want to risk getting any sort of infection or disease just because you crossed your fingers and hoped that either you or your performing partner hadn’t contracted anything. Reschedule the shoot.

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