Blind Item #13 - Direct To Video Part 2 - A Reader Blind

No one successfully guessed the characters of my previous blind. Let me open up the story and give you a better understanding of the network.

As a director of low-budget slashers, LP works with a lot of amateur, non-union talent and crew. One of his former casting directors was a key figure in the network. Let's call him MR.

In the mid-2000s, MR, a 40-something tradesman started a small photography business taking professional photos of amateur child athletes at county sports events and meets. Quickly, he developed a following from parents, and soon grew the business to include portraiture and portfolios, often renting out a nearby hotel meeting room as a studio.

Like so many predatory photographers, MR disarmed parents, built their trust, and developed close relationships with the models. As the relationships built, so too would the lewdness of the photos. As a ploy to have models shirtless or in minimal clothing, he would repeatedly claim that he had potential contracts with swimsuit company or underwear companies, and needed to shoot the models accordingly. When the occasional parent or model would grow suspicious of the photo shoots, including the risky poses and MR’s strict ownership rights to the photos, he would promise opportunities of even bigger contracts and networking opportunities.

The auditions never came, the gigs never arrived. Sure, every now and again he would find a small part for a model, including local commercials or independent films from the likes of LP, but they were few and far between. However, his prices were reasonable, and he would even eat the sitting fees for parents who didn’t have the means.

MR recouped the costs by secretly selling the photos to a devoted audience of perverts. Even more lucrative were his workshops where select customers were invited to predatory week-long summer camps under the guise of “amateur photography workshops.” Photographers from across the globe would fly to MR’s workshops to partake in group and one-on-one photo sessions with his roster of underage models. In many cases, students of MR would fly back to their communities and establish businesses similar to MR’s, under the guise of a sports photography or model agency business.

One student was FH, a respected, suburban professional from a Great Lakes state. He was a frequent attendee and emulated MR’s model to a t, establishing a successful sports photography and portraits business in his midwest suburb.

Another student was EG, an attendee from a southern coastal state. On return from his first workshop, EG established a model agency, which included acting as a middle-man for MR in the hopes of finding new talent. MR made numerous trips to the state to photograph the new acquisitions.

Little did he know, but EG was being monitored by the authorities. He was arrested for luring and taking lewd photos of minors. Not long after, MR went down too.

The events garnered a few tepid media pieces from their respective local media, and minimal national coverage.

Not long after the arrests, FH abruptly deleted his social media accounts and shut down his photography business and website. He now maintains a low profile in his sleepy suburb.

LP also remains free. This year alone he produced three films.