Payday

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Reno, Nevada's original Sin City.

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Once a boomtown of gambling, sex and quickie divorces,

its fortunes faced a slow decline.

These four people staked out ground in Reno,

each hoping to carve out a living

in a resurgent frontier town.

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In capitalism, you either work your ass off and

get treated like crap, or you die.

Like that's pretty much the way it works.

Spending my hard-earned money on having fun

is what gets me through the month.

You want something so bad that you're going

to do whatever it takes to get there.

That's just me, I guess.

Make America great again.

If the caucus is a shit show, that's my face

at the front line. I'm getting torn down.

One city, four people,

and where they live is a key part of who they are.

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Like Las Vegas, Reno was built in part

by mob money, drawn to Nevada s lawlessness.

But Vegas took off, and Reno didn t.

It became a worn-down gambling town,

with two casinos and a slot machine company

standing as three of the city s top 10 employers.

And during the recession, unemployment was

the highest in the country at 14.5%.

Fewer cities needed a second chance as much as Reno.

In response, they introduced

low taxes and loose regulations

to help the city get on the rebound,

attracting big technology companies and

young entrepreneurs looking to get rich on their own terms.

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Valet Alex Ficco is hoping to make rapping

his full-time career.

Did you need valet, sir? - Yeah, no, I already got it.

Oh, you did? - They got my keys.

Thanks, bro.

I work on music everyday, but for my day job

I do valet at one of the casinos here.

Alright, you guys are all set? Thank you.

Thank you. - Have a good one.

You too.

The job has definitely served me well.

With tips, we make like 40,000 a year,

which is pretty minimal compared to what

I have my mind set on.

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It's motivating when you see guys come in,

especially young guys that have like,

nice stuff like this.

It's like okay, I gotta do something

so I can get one of my own.

How to get there is the question.

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Watch your step; it's kinda tight through there.

2011, I decided I wanted to start doing music.

* I've been planning a packed show *

* like three up in a single cab *

* Oh there's the throne, but I don't wanna be *

* the king of rap

* I only said that type of shit to make you bitches mad *

* And quietly slide away while I *

* get the shit you wish you had *

I was scared in like the hip hop world

that I'm not going to be accepted or liked.

And then one day I was like Fuck it,

I want a mullet 'cause I never had one.

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As soon as I stopped giving a fuck,

I started getting more views.

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It took me 4 years to get 5,000 fans

and then that one little video went viral

and it's taken me one year to get 100,000 more.

Right now it has almost 8 million views.

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In two weeks, Feeki will post a video he hopes will

put him on the path to making music full-time.

I think I m pretty close.

A little bit of money is starting to come in,

but it's just not there yet.

Reno traditionally votes Democrat.

The man who wants to change that is an American born

son of a Pakistani immigrant.

God, Marco Rubio is going to be speaking in about 15 minutes,

so we're heading out at lunch.

I'm gonna be late!

I wanted time to talk to people before!

My name is Adam Khan, and I'm a high school math teacher,

and I'm also the chairman of the

Washoe County Republican Party.

Adam is the youngest GOP chairman in the US.

His job is to increase Republican registration,

and ensure that voting at the Presidential caucus

runs smoothly.

And though it s a volunteer job, it could jump start

a paying career in politics.

Hey Nick, good to see you! - Good to see you!

What's up, Eric? How you doing?

People are excited about the election.

Our job is to make sure that when these candidates

come out of rallies, we hold an effective caucus.

Because if they come and get thousands of people ready,

and then they get to a caucus that doesn't,

you know, it has long lines and is disorganized,

then we've let the candidates down,

we've let down the voters of Nevada.

All going well?

I'll be on Anderson Cooper tonight talking about

how this is going to the best caucus ever,

how organized we are.

Good for you. I'll watch. - So it's, it's...

Yeah, 6:00pm.

It's a big deal.

I get a lot of political capital out of it,

and it's going to help me if I decide to pursue any

other career in politics, and I will be getting paid for it.

Adam has to make time to connect with every Republican

presidential nominee that comes to town.

Marco! Marco! Marco!

We are blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation in the

history of all mankind, where what your parents did for a

living doesn't determine how far you get to go.

It's difficult to be a Republican and

have the last name Khan.

It'd be much easier for me to, you know,

become a democrat.

I love gay people, I think drugs should be legalized,

I'm very pro-immigration. But...

I'm Republican because when you work hard,

you want to keep your money.

Since the 1850 s, Nevada has pushed the limits

of the sex industry.

Espi has found her own way to make money in that line of work.

So today my makeup is green because I'm going

into the forest as an elf.

So camera, tripod.

I would describe myself as a very introverted person,

very shy, very geeky,

but when I come out on camera,

I'm more alive and outgoing.

Can you put this in there for me, please?

I get to be the pack mule.

Ever since big tech companies have opened offices in Reno,

rent has increased much faster than the National average.

Espi and her boyfriend Anthony struggle to keep up,

and owning a car is out of the question.

It s a long trek to the woods to shoot Espi s fantasy porn.

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I need you to watch the... hiking trail.

I know; I m going to try to block off some paths.

What do you mean? - Move some sticks around.

I ve been doing internet porn since I was 18.

Well my favourite part about the job is like,

I get to dress up in costumes, I get to take pretty pictures,

which is something I ve always wanted to do.

Cause I ve wanted to be a model since I was a kid.

But I have a lot of tattoos and stuff and I never thought

I d be able to do like mainstream modeling.

I would say it s sort of a niche market,

you know there s the blonde bombshell,

there s the redheaded girl, there s the alternative girls

with tattoos like me.

People come to me because they like the geeky girl in the

costume from the video game they like.

My job is basically lookout and body guard.

I just shot like this 10 picture photo set,

threw it up on Tumblr and said, "Does anyone want to buy this?"

And then a lot of people wanted to buy it,

and were really interested in it.

Started masturbating, and that was what really

got people interested in me.

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Porn cam sites generate an estimated 1 billion dollars

a year in America.

Espi wants a piece of that and is planning to host

a live webcam session for the first time.

It's only two weeks away.

I ve been thinking about doing webcams for like a year now.

And the reason I haven t is, you know,

that social anxiety I have.

I hear voices!

Yeah? - Hey, guys.

How's it going? - Hi!

We're kind of shooting a film over here.

We'll go this way. - I appreciate that.

Yeah, please don't!

Being in front of people live, I feel like will be

a lot different than just selling my, you know,

videos online.