I would say that it's not a matter of cost (people have shown multiple times that you can do it on the cheap), but whether or not you would be ok with exploiting human weakness, and taking advantage of someone's desperate need for cash (be it for a serious drug habit with already established talent, or needing motel money after having been evicted with random talent off of Craigslist, etc).
Both of those instances would be moral no-no's, although 98% of the adult industry wouldn't have an issue with them because they need new content and new names, and they are not going to ask you whether or not you _really_ want to be there.
Question is, are you one of those people, or are you one of those other types of people, who would want to work with 100% sober and 100% willing talent?
Truth of the matter is that the aforementioned type is almost non-existent, and you will likely be dealing with talent that's in desperate need for cash. At least in the B/G world.
Other niches, and I won't say the word "classier", but the other niches that attract different type of talent will obviously be less problematic (in every sense, even your conscience).
If you're ok with that, then we are coming to the next, and the biggest issue at the moment.
Will you be ok with the fact that you will likely have to pull the scene down if the talent makes a request?
Chances are that there will be some regret, and the world is moving in the direction where any type of B/G (identifiable) scenes will have to be pulled down if the talent doesn't want them up, because they want to move on with their life as a civilian, and do not want the porn life to follow them.
You could obviously argue that you have lifetime rights to the scene, but in turn, they could argue that they have a right to their own life, one where they don't have to be followed with videos of gangbangs, and golden showers, and whether or not you would be ok with having your face full of cum plastered all over the Internet. Would your son have issues at his high school if someone plastered pictures of his mom being gangbanged?, or even, his father.
You could also say that they chose to shoot the scene, and that they were a willing participant, but this is 2022 and whether people see it as a good thing or not, every country will side with talent because it's the right thing to do.
If you're ok with the possibility that you might have to pull scenes down, then you have to think what you're going to do about the piracy. Will you use it as a tool to give even more exposure to your brand and your content, or will you try to protect the talent and your brand, and try to keep it locked up?
Truth is, you're going to have enormous issues keeping your content behind the paywall. I've yet to see a paysite able to deal with content leaks, with most of the adult industry having their entire paysite rips hosted for years on certain websites.
In any case, I didn't say any of this to dissuade you from following your dream. I merely said it because I wanted for you to put yourself in the talent's shoes, and see their perspective, and also be aware of the piracy issue.
P.S. My personal opinion is that you shouldn't focus on the technology as much as you should focus on the branding, and the content itself. For example, you can shoot content with any type of camera, even without the professional lighting, but if your content makes sense in your niche, then you will sell it even better if it doesn't look "too professional".
Whereas if you go for the 4K camera with professional lighting, professional makeup for the talent, you will be attempting to compete with the big dogs who have amazing sets, and really good makeup artists, too. I don't think it's worth it.
So, I'm going to give you a free suggestion... Do with it as you please, but for example, you can go for something like "10kgirls.com" (domain available) with a backstory, e.g: "My wife left me, and I promised her that I'm going to fuck 10,000 girls before I die. Follow me on my journey!".
He can be an average guy who just wants to fuck 10,000 girls before he dies. Simple enough, right? The apartment (bachelor pad) should ideally always be the same and the only thing that should change is the girl. She should ideally have very little makeup, and should be dressed in normal every-day clothes so that the surfers can liken them to the girls next door.
The scenes should start with the door opening and Joe is already making out with the girl. Next, it should cut straight to the bedroom where you can use a GoPro and a few other cameras scattered around the bedroom so you have some additional footage for the editor.
This would be the typical vanilla type of porn without any roughness, degradation, etc. just plain ole sex that could be marketed to both men and women, which also means less billing issues, and less reputational issues (if it's just vanilla sex, more talent will be willing to work with you, obviously).
P.P.S. Talent cost, be it male or female, will entirely depend on who you're dealing with (established talent, hot newcomers, etc) and how much they would be ok with for a B/G scene... there are no actual guidelines so to speak when working with civilians (who have not worked in porn before) and you might have to simply agree to whatever they're looking for, or simply not shoot at all.
P.P.P.S. I do believe that your budget is fine for something amateur related.
Anyway, have a good one.
