Cams ‘Porn Valley’ became the adult entertainment capital of the world

 

A makeup artist gets adult actress Nicole Aniston ready for a film shoot in San Fernando Valley, widely considered the porn capital of the world.

 

Melia Robinson/Business Insider

In the 1950s, Hugh Hefner spun an idea for a risqué men’s magazine into a multimedia empire. The Playboy founder died this week at the age of 91, leaving behind an iconic brand worth a reported $500 million.

The globally known Playboy brand has close ties to San Fernando Valley, a sun-drenched suburb of Los Angeles that often goes by another name: Porn Valley.

Playboy Enterprises has always based its operations out of nearby Los Angeles, but the sheer size of the adult entertainment industry to the north allowed the magazine to thrive during the sexual revolution.

Since the 1970s, the hills above Hollywood have played host to a booming pornography industry. A majority of American sex films are shot there in warehouses and private homes, helping the San Fernando Valley rake in $4 billion in annual sales in its ’90s heyday.