The porn man with a van

JIM admitted that being a getaway driver for bank robbers in Scotland was easier than working in the adult film industry. He certainly encountered his fair share of problems in this documentary, The Money Shot, and most of them concerned his would-be star Violet.

Producer-director Saul Dibb probably thought his film would be fairly straightforward examination of the British porn world. But he'd reckoned without the volatile relationship of Jim and Violet.

Jim's better known to watchers of hard core porn movies as Phil McCavity, who drives around the country in a camper van looking for women to have sex with him. The glamour of the sex film industry was illustrated as we saw a couple at it in the back of a van in a car park.

There appears to be no shortage of volunteers. Like Autumn, whose aim is to become a major UK porn star. Fame rather than fortune is what spurred her on, she told us. This became apparent as she was paid just £100 to perform in the back of the van.

Violet lives with Jim in Brighton and is clearly troubled. She hasn't made any new products for a year and, at 30, her age is against her in the sex industry. She's certainly not getting rich. She gets a roof over her head, food and her bills paid but no wage. The "eleven quid something" she produced from her jeans pocket was all the money she had in the world, the result of keeping the change after Jim gave her a £20 note to buy some milk.

Violet wasn't even proud of her past film work, saying: "I would have liked this to have been a pretty little picture for my family."

The emotional as well as economic relationship between the two led to stormy exchanges. At one point Jim asked the film crew to stay away for a week.

Violet admitted to feelings of paranoia and anxiety. "You start thinking you are just a business commodity. It's not just about wanting to get screwed on film and getting some money at the end of it. It's all about life," she said - a comment which the off-screen interviewer found a "strange definition" of her work.

A photo shoot for a men's magazine seemed to go okay (apart from Violet worrying about the ripple effect on the silicone in her breasts), then the couple suffered another crisis while visiting the Venus Festival of Erotica in Berlin. Violet stormed out during a dancing session for fans.

One month later, the film crew discovered that Violet had gone from Jim's home. He was upset, but had no doubts about earning money in the way he does.

A postscript told us that, a week later, Violet was back and they were starting relationship counselling. I'd like to think a happy ending was in sight, but on the evidence of the Easy Money film, I doubt it.