HONORING A FLAVA WORKS ANGEL

BY Ra SHAWN CHISOLM

On July 14, Dekenric Daniel Wiley, former porn star and office manager of Flava Works productions had passed away from pneumonia, and like many who knew him, I was shocked and sadden by his untimely passing. I gotten to know Devin as he was known by family, friends and fans while requesting to conduct interviews with cast of Flava Works and Coco Dorm for an article I was writing for an online magazine that has yet to be published, and when he contacted me, he also asked if he could be interviewed, and I accepted his request. Before, during and after the interview, I got to know Devin, and I saw that he was a cool, professional, down to earth person with a great heart and sense of humor, which made the interview fun and smooth.
Born and raised in Texas, Wiley a who originally worked in real estate, became involved with the company by starring in the films Dorm Life 7 and 9 and Chino’s Dorm, which received an nomination for an Adult Industry Award. Wanting to have a post porn career, Devin became the office manager of the company where he worked on promotions, licensing and grooming the models on professionalism, which made the companies and models very popular and though he’s no longer here in the flesh, his legacy will continue to live in the hearts and memories of those he’s touched and since he was gracious enough to participate in the interview, I decided to published it to show my gratitude and to keep his memory alive. This interview was conducted via telephone in April 2007 shortly after he returned from a promotion tour in Atlanta and before heading back to Texas to attend his family reunion.

Q: How did you become involved in the porn industry?
A: Perhaps by accident. I had a web cam at home and I would be on cam any way with other guys doing whatever it is that we were doing and I decided that if a lot of people were logging on to see me do whatever for free that I can get paid for it.

Q: How did you become involved with Flava Works?
A: I was contacted. A friend suggested I apply with them and I was contacted by Lucas and they flew me down to Chicago. I didn’t actually apply. A friend applied for me.

Q: What was it like filming for the first time?
A: It’s a blur. My first scene was a group scene. When I made it to Chicago, I unpacked, took a shower and I prepared for my first scene. It happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to think about anything. The thing that was disturbing was the fact the lights were so hot that I was sweating like a pig in an electric chair.

Q: Now you’re working behind the scenes. What made you decide work away from the camera?
A: I was a bit older than a lot of the guys coming in the dorm. (I think that) my mind set was (much) different. Most guys coming in they want the glitz and glam sometimes and they don’t think about the future. I was thinking about making more money within the industry cause this industry has so much to offer. You have to get what you can when you can.

Q: What are you duties as office manager?
A: Running operations for Flava Works. Pretty much everything. I went from modeling, to filming to promoting the magazine when Flava Men magazine was being developed. I traveled to promote the magazine. All the licensing agreements. This all I had to learn and now we’re self distributing.

Q: Do you miss being in front of the camera?
A: No, not really. There are times when I be like ‘it’s time for me to come out of retirement’ because they’re be a model who I would be attracted to (both laugh). Anyone who knows me in the company pretty much knows that it wasn’t really about being in front of the camera.

Q: You brought up an interesting point about having a plan after porn. How important is it for those entering the industry to have a back-up plan?
A: It’s extremely important because in porn, you’re as good as your performance and if your performance starts to falter, then of course your popularity starts to falter. If you’re making five grand a month for doing scenes, then the next month you can make a thousand dollars because no one’s going to work with you if you’re not pulling the performances.

Q: You mentioned another interesting topic about the number of models being younger entering the industry. Why do you think that there are more models under the age of 21 entering the industry?
A: I think that the new guys are freakier than we were back in the days. At that age, we weren’t thinking about doing porn. We were thinking about sneaking and buying some (both laugh). There days, these boys are coming out the wood works.

Q: From you perspective, what makes the models and company so popular with consumers?
A: To tell the truth, I couldn’t tell you. Coco Dorm appeals to the voyisem in people. Just like seeing reality. That’s why reality TV is so popular. People like seeing things when they happen.
I know in the years I've been here, it's gone from a steady pace to overwhelming and it's because of the demand.

Q: What plans do you have in the future?
A: I really have not idea. Before starting here, I was working in real estate, and I thought that was something I would be doing forever and forever, but I have this fluctuating taste in life and once I started working in porn, I was like ‘I’m not doing real estate anymore’ I could always go back and get recertified. My focus right now is to help build up Flava Works to the point where someone else can run it.

Q: What advice would you give to those wanting to pursue a career in this industry?
A: Make sure it’s something you can handle. Not everybody has the will strong enough to handle whenever you’re put on display like that. People have to realize that even though people are looking at you crazy and calling you different names, they’re still purchasing you.


Devin was creamted and a public memorial was held in Miami on August 3, 2007