Brand profile

Girls Do Porn — Read This Before You Sign

Note: Before Your Scene is the editorial arm of My First Scene, our DFW production studio. We write about the industry — including us.

Before you sign any release, read this. If you’ve been offered a “modeling” or “amateur” job that promises the content won’t appear online, or will only go to “private collectors overseas,” that’s the pitch Girls Do Porn used on hundreds of young women. Its owner, Michael Pratt, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for sex trafficking in September 2025. What looks like a real production can be this.

Last reviewed: April 23, 2026
At a glance
Type
Brand
Based in
San Diego, CA
Founded
2009
Parent
Owned by Michael James Pratt (convicted)
Known for
Federal sex-trafficking case — the defining industry cautionary tale
Status
Defunct (2019). Federal convictions 2023–2025. Owner serving 27 years.

What it is

Girls Do Porn (GDP) was a pornographic website and production operation based in San Diego, California. It ran from roughly 2009 until it was shut down in 2019 following federal charges. The brand built its identity on “amateur first-timer” framing — ordinary young women supposedly filmed for the first time.

Behind the brand, federal investigators and a civil trial established a coordinated scheme of fraud and coercion. Victims were lured with false modeling-job advertising, flown to San Diego, and pressured into signing releases under conditions that made meaningful consent impossible.

Michael James Pratt, the owner, was eventually placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list after fleeing US jurisdiction. He was arrested in Spain in late 2022, extradited, pled guilty in June 2025, and sentenced to 27 years in federal prison in September 2025.

How it operates

The recruiting mechanism is important to understand because similar pitches still circulate. Recruiters posted modeling-work ads on Craigslist and similar classifieds, targeting young women — frequently college students — with promises of paid modeling work.

Once a woman responded, she was told the content was bound for “private collectors overseas” or a niche market that would not appear on public porn sites. She was flown to San Diego, put in a hotel, and met the production crew. Pressure to sign the release and perform escalated through the travel and on-set phases. Women who tried to back out reported being told they would be stuck with travel costs, or worse.

Content was then published on major porn tube sites — the exact opposite of what was promised — tagged with the women’s real names, hometowns, and in many cases their university or workplace.

Publicly documented issues
  • 2019 · Federal indictment of Michael Pratt, Matthew Wolfe, Ruben Garcia, and Theodore Gyi for sex trafficking, conspiracy, and related offenses in connection with GirlsDoPorn.com. US Dept. of Justice
  • January 2020 · Civil verdict: $12.775 million in damages awarded to 22 plaintiffs. Court granted plaintiffs ownership of the videos in which they appeared. Vice
  • December 2022 · Michael Pratt arrested in Spain after more than three years on the run, including a stint on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Vice
  • June 2025 · Michael Pratt pled guilty in federal court to Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking and Committing Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion. Los Angeles Magazine
  • September 2025 · Pratt sentenced to 27 years in federal prison, exceeding prosecutors' 22-year request due to "the sheer scope and magnitude of this offense." Co-defendants: Garcia (20 years), Wolfe (14 years), Gyi (4 years). More than 40 victims spoke at sentencing. CBS News
  • Ongoing · Victims of GDP have reported job losses, family estrangement, harassment campaigns, doxing, and severe mental-health consequences. At least one victim died by suicide. Wikipedia

Rate structure

Public pay figures vary by account. Women were typically offered a few thousand dollars for a single shoot — payment that was, in practice, the bait for the scheme. The financial offer was not the problem; the fraud about distribution was.

Civil trial records show GDP’s revenue from the scheme totaled roughly $17 million across hundreds of victims. In January 2020, a civil court awarded 22 plaintiffs a $12.775 million judgment and granted them ownership of the content they appeared in.

Contract patterns

The model releases at the center of the case were, on paper, standard adult-industry releases. The fraud was in the verbal representations made outside the document — representations that directly contradicted what the signed release permitted, made under pressure during travel, and relied on women who did not have legal counsel or time to read carefully.

The prosecution’s core theory, which juries and the court accepted, was that no signed release can override coercion and fraud. The criminal case established that this brand’s consent process was not consent — it was trafficking.

Before signing, verify
  • Any recruiting pitch that says content will only go to 'private collectors,' 'overseas buyers,' or 'a members-only site' — this is the exact GDP pitch and it is the defining red flag
  • Whether the contract you'll sign matches what the recruiter has told you verbally — if not, walk
  • Whether you have counsel or time to read the release before signing — reputable productions send contracts in advance
  • Whether you're being pressured to fly to the shoot before seeing the final contract — reputable productions don't do this
  • Whether the producer will give you their full legal name, company name, and business address on request — refusals are disqualifying
  • Independent search on the production name and the producer — this page exists because nobody searched 'Michael Pratt' or 'GirlsDoPorn' before signing
How we do it differently
The GDP case is the reason every sentence of the My First Scene booking process exists. Every step below is a direct response to how the women at GDP were defrauded.
  • No “private collectors” fiction. Distribution is named in the release: the specific paysite and platforms, full stop. If we can’t name it, it’s not happening.
  • Contract sent in advance. You have the release in full, with time to read it, before you book travel. No signing under pressure in a hotel.
  • Full identity disclosed upfront. Legal name, company, business address, references. Refusals to identify are the most basic disqualifier.
  • You can walk at any point, including after travel. Travel is a production cost, covered by us. No performer is ever told they owe money if they back out.
  • Counsel on request. If you want a lawyer to review the release, we’ll wait. Reputable productions should.
Apply with us
Disclosure
Before Your Scene is the editorial arm of My First Scene, our DFW production studio. We write about the industry — including us — so performers know what to expect before they shoot with anyone.
Sources
  1. DOJ: GirlsDoPorn Owner Michael Pratt Sentenced to 27 Years for Sex Trafficking Hundreds of Women · US Dept. of Justice · Sep 2025
  2. Porn Empire Owner Michael Pratt Sentenced to 27 Years After Victims Confront Him in Court · CBS News · Sep 2025
  3. GirlsDoPorn Owner Michael Pratt Pleads Guilty to Sprawling $17M Sex Trafficking Operation · Los Angeles Magazine · Jun 2025
  4. GirlsDoPorn Founder and FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested in Spain · Vice · Dec 2022
  5. Girls Do Porn Goes to Trial Over Allegations Women Were Tricked Into Videos · Vice · 2019
  6. Ahead of Sentencing, GirlsDoPorn Ringleader Michael Pratt Attempts to Seem Reformed · 404 Media · 2025
  7. Pratt's guilty plea fails to heal victims · CBS 8 San Diego · Jun 2025
  8. GirlsDoPorn — Wikipedia · Wikipedia (compiled record)
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