FHM Magazine
"Mr. Girls Gone Wild"
July 20, 2002, 10:55 AM ET

Flying in a private jet somewhere high above Texas, FHM is seated with the crew of Girls Gone Wild…on the way to Florida State University for a party that Francis is throwing at an off-campus bar. It’s part of a series called Girls Gone Wild On Campus. The idea is simple: “I have a fraternity throw a party, I pay for it, they invite all their girlfriends and I film them getting naked,” he says...“They already know who we are, so we get exactly what we want.”

The plane, a Falcon 20, is all sober wood-panel trim and leather seats. Dick Cheney should be sitting in here, not this gang. In the bathroom, Francis has wash towels with his monogram laid out in fine gold embroidery. A TV ejects from the wall like something out of a James Bond film. It shows nothing but breasts from hours of Girls Gone Wild DVDs.

Francis is clearly pleased with himself, but he still can’t believe he’s done as well as he has. According to a top GGW staffer, “We gross millions for every video we make and we’ve made several.” Not bad for a 29-year-old who upon graduating from the University of Southern California “had a vague idea about going into TV.” After doing some boring production assistant work, Francis came up with the idea for Banned From Television, the

gross-out series in which people are shown being run over, shot in the head and decapitated. It made millions. “All for an investment that I made with cash advances on my credit cards.” With that money, Francis did what he wanted with all the footage of naked people that had been sent in to the show. He edited it together, bought some ad time on E! and called it Girls Gone Wild.

Four years later, the register continues to ring with no sign of slowing. In fact, the Falcon 20, which he considers his “starter plane,” is soon to be replaced by a decidedly larger Boeing 727. But first, the Falcon has to land...and Girls Gone Wild sets down in the Florida darkness.

How do you get girls to go wild?
It might seem as if all it takes is a handful of beads and a camcorder, and you’re in business. However, people try to copy us all the time and they fail. What they don’t realize is it’s not the breasts that make it fun, it’s the give and take. People get bored if it’s just tit after tit. When you show the girl next door lifting up her skirt, it’s amazing!

Have girls ever gone too wild?
I don’t think that’s possible, but it came pretty close at Florida State. When the girls walked into the bar, they looked all preppy. Next thing I knew, 40 of them were all making out and rubbing each other’s breasts on a stage in front of the guys. By the end of the night, I don’t think there was one girl with her clothes on. They were begging

for the cameras. One girl even locked herself in our van and sat there with her breasts pressed against the window. She wouldn’t get out until we agreed to film her…

How can an FHM reader get a GGW job?
They couldn’t hack it. People think this job is easy, but those cameramen work hard. Sure, they get to stare at breasts all day, but they’re out there for 10 or 12 hours, getting beer thrown all over them, being hassled by guys and breaking up fights. It takes stamina and the ability to film the party and not just join it. Plus, they have to be able to get nice girls to take their clothes off.

Do the cameramen ever get their asses handed to them by angry boyfriends?
Surprisingly, very few. The guys usually offer up their girlfriends for the cameras. It’s a badge of honor for these guys to have their women on TV. It’s the…best girlfriend you have to watch out for. We were in Panama City once and this girl was giving us a good show – totally naked, bending over – when four of her sorority sisters came running over to put a stop to it. They…just attacked our cameraman. They slapped the camera out of his hand and it smashed on the ground. He got knocked over and kicked in the gut and in the face repeatedly. The poor guy came back to the hotel with a broken Sony and a smashed nose.

Aren’t you being sued by a girl who had gone wild but is now pissed off?

I can’t really talk about it, because we’re in court right now. Two years ago when that was taped, the issue wasn’t that she didn’t want to be on. Now, when she thinks she can make a quick buck, she doesn’t want to be on it. Suspicious.

Do you get sued all the time?
Actually, no, it almost never happens. The girls who are on camera want to be on camera. A lot of them even call the office to find out when they’re going to be on TV. Girls run up to our cameramen all day and ask, “Are you guys Girls Gone Wild? Can we be on Girls Gone Wild?”…

What’s your greatest Gone Wild moment?
Snoop Dogg in Mardi Gras. He was like a God. We arrived at our balcony with a full police motorcade…When he stepped out, the crowd swarmed him, screaming, “Snoop! Snoop! Snoop!” He turned to me and said, “Man, I ain’t ever seen anything like this – I feel like the president.”…

Considering you’ve studied so many women in their wild habitat, what conclusions have you drawn?
Girls are 10 times wilder than guys. They just need to be prodded a bit. You provide them a chance to be naughty, and they’ll surprise the hell out of you. What guy is going to get naked in front of 100 people? But a chick – if you make it OK… – will always get naked. And when her friends join in, there’s no stopping. It’s like a trigger has been set off. That’s what Girls Gone Wild is. We bottle that

energy and give you a taste, but there’s nothing quite like the real thing.

GIRLS GONE WILD: Jesus and education are just two of the things that spoil the fun
Sharon Mitchell
Mitchell debuted in adult films at age 17. “I saw my genitalia high on the screen and thought, ‘This is great!’ “ It took 20 years for the thrill to wear off. She then left the industry, went to a community college and found God. She now runs a clinic in Sherman Oaks, CA, that services porn stars. “What my plan was and what God’s plan was were apparently different things,” she says. “Here, my life makes sense.”

Norma Hotaling
After spending 20 years as a hooker and druggie in San Francisco, Hotaling went back to school, graduating magna cum laude. She then started the program SAGE (Standing Against Global Exploitation), which offers job training and drug treatment to San Francisco’s prostitutes. Harvard recently recognized SAGE with a $100,000 grant.

Morganna the Kissing Bandit
Armed with 60-23-36 measurements, Morganna spent more than two decades running onto big league ball fields to kiss unsuspecting players. She eventually “got sick of always being the center of attention,” she admits. “I quit being the Kissing Bandit on Jan. 1, 2000.” Now 48, she lives in Ohio with her husband and three dogs.

Mary Magdalene
The Bible’s “woman of the city” knelt in front of Jesus and washed his feet with her hair in order to obtain forgiveness. Mary then stayed to witness the crucifixion, Jesus’ burial and the site of the empty tomb. Arguably the most successful former hooker in the history of the world, she would go on to achieve lofty status as a Christian saint.