Raging Stallion Studios And Xx-factor.com

In Raging Stallion's highly anticipated Western cockbuster, To the Last Man, Scott Tanner and Damian Rios are enemies. Their respective cattleman clans (Tanner is a good guy and Rios is a bad guy) are locked in a deadly battle over water that won't end until there's only a single man left standing. And it won't be either one of them. But in real life, Damian and Scott are a couple.

They met in January 2006 - on Scott's birthday, actually - on the set of Unzipped Video's [2] of a Kind, a Doug Jeffries film. Tanner was a porn veteran by that time, with about six films to his credit, but this was Rios' first film.

In fact, Rios was in the Navy at the time, serving his sixth year of enlistment. He had been spotted by Chi Chi LaRue while moonlighting as a bartender at a club in Tampa, Fla. and LaRue set him up to do his first picture. It was a risky move. The U.S. Armed Services are hostile enough to their gay and lesbian service members, but Uncle Sam is downright vindictive when it comes to prosecuting active duty soldiers who perform in adult films. It's considered prostitution.

Tanner had made his first film in 2002. It was a Brad Austin film for Catalina Video called Sticky Situation. Tanner was in college at the time and had a photographer friend who called one day to inquire if Tanner would be interested in replacing a model who had dropped out of a film production at the last minute. Tanner didn't balk when he learned the details, and a career was born.

Tanner and Rios now both work for Raging Stallion Studios, Tanner as a full-time producer and model (who also performs for other studios) and Rios as an exclusive model. Rios' generous contract with Raging Stallion permits him to travel and do shows for other employers, and it allows him to have a second exclusive contract with online producer Cocky Boys.

Scott Tanner, who is from Harrisburg, Pa., has a degree in Marketing and Speech, but his chief side interest these days is in cooking. With the help of a friend, he is developing a cooking show he hopes to sell to a gay TV network. The show will feature celebrities from the world of adult entertainment, who will appear on the show to talk about the comfort foods of their childhood, and Scott will re-create updated, healthier versions of those dishes on the show.

Damian Rios, a Dallas, Tx. boy, ended his eight-year stint in the Navy this year. He had been serving as a Hospital corpsman, a job in which he worked as a medical specialist and caregiver for active duty personnel. Word of Damian's porn career had surfaced among some of his military peers, and a few concerned friends urged him to "out" himself as gay and seek an honorable discharge under "Don't Ask Don't Tell," rather than risk prosecution and a jail term by remaining in the service and having his porn career revealed. Which is exactly what he did. Damian got an Honorable Discharge in March 2008. He hopes to use the GI Bill to extend his training and education as a nurse, remaining in the profession in which he was trained by the Navy.

While on location for To the Last Man, Damian rendered plenty of professional and emotional TLC to models and staff alike, many of whom were physically unprepared for the high altitude and other rigors of such a remote location.

Damian set up the huge telescope for stargazing and to watch the annual Perseid meteor showers. The film location, being so remote, experiences no ambient light after dark and you can see the Milky Way with the naked eye. Damian was also interested in learning from me about the I Ching, the ancient book of prophecy and divination, and how to implement contemporary interpretations of its concepts and symbolism.

Onscreen, both men are versatile, although Tanner is more likely to be seen as a top and Rios as a bottom. Damian admits to being slightly jealous about sharing Scott with his onscreen partners. On the set of To the Last Man, neither of them displayed anything resembling a diva's temperament. Scott was as happy to talk about his interest in cooking as he was to make routine trips to the landfill or the supermarket (two hours, one-way), or the airport (just over three hours, one-way), while Damian never needed to be asked to pitch in after a meal and help clean up.

They were among the last to leave the ranch after filming was completed, anxious to return to civilization after 15 days in the wilderness. The costumes and props were packed away, the fake blood cleaned up, and the feud that resulted in their deaths now just the memory of another job well done.

To the Last Man will be released in November 2008.