BijouBlog

By M. Webster

This photo from Arch Brown's 1973 production The Night Before captures a seemingly ordinary convergence on a film set. But the collection of individuals present together in the frame illustrates the intimate, intertwined, collaborative community who helped develop, then redefine East Coast gay porn film/video during the industry's first two decades. Captured during the second year of operation of influential studio Hand in Hand Films, this image depicts the initial connection point of three individuals whose mutually influential careers would continue crossing and joining paths, culminating years later at one of their own studios: legendary fetish video artist Christopher Rage, groundbreaking ultra-early gay porn filmmaker Arch Brown, and man of many hats of the classic gay porn world Frank Ross. The lineage they and their many other collaborators represent spans multiple critical periods and changes, which are reflected in their work: the beginning of the hardcore porn film industry, the socio-political shift from early LGBTQ liberation days to the AIDS crisis, and the technological shift from theatrically distributed film to home video.

Arch Brown was "one of the first above-ground underground filmmakers" according to Christopher Rage (aka Tray Christopher). His erotic filmmaking predated the birth of the hardcore porn film industry; he directed loops for venues like the Eros Theatre starting around 1968, before the shift to hardcore had truly (openly) begun. His movies stood out from the start because of their technical polish and inventiveness. He maintained a playful and trippy style throughout his porn film career, with a penchant for depicting everyday NYC encounters: average guys strolling and cruising on the streets and sites of New York, bumping into their next erotic adventure. 

As Rage described in one of his final interviews, he met Arch after hooking up with a guy who had starred in one of Arch's movies. At a cast screening, Rage (at the time working as an escort and erotic novelist) asked Arch about the logistics of making porn films ("I'm a natural producer type.") and was offered a role in Arch's next production, which he accepted. This was One and Two and... (aka Fantasy Island, circa 1972), Rage's entry into the motion picture porn world. Rage was mentored in filmmaking by Arch during this period of the emerging commercial scene, working with him on set on future productions. He studied his highly efficient, low-waste style: “I would shoot 5:1… I learned how to put together a movie fast."

It was through Arch that Rage met Jack Deveau and Bob Alvarez at Hand in Hand Films, one of the most important early NYC gay porn studios, whose experimental and narrative releases were particularly grand in scope for the ‘70s gay porn world. Arch’s only picture with Hand in Hand, The Night Before, was about to begin production, and Rage wound up choreographing a fantasy dance number for the film (pictured at the top). Jack and Rage hit it off immediately, becoming close friends. This also marked the start of Rage's long working relationship with the studio. He continued to do promotion for Hand in Hand, wrote copy for many of their ads, recorded voice-overs for several films, and - most substantially - co-wrote and starred in the studio's most ambitious project, 1974's Drive, playing, in drag, the lead character/anti-hero, Arachne.

The Night Before also served as Frank Ross’ debut working in adult cinema. Cast for his one and only performing role as one of the leads (credited as Michael Kade), this film was a broad connecting point for Ross, introducing him to both Brown and Rage, as well as to Hand in Hand. He became studio's still photographer and production assistant for most of their remaining movies (probably having taken a number of the photos in this blog and elsewhere on our site!). Ross described Hand in Hand as an excellent school for filmmaking: "Jack was a willing teacher if he thought you had a passion for filmmaking, and it was under his tutelage that I learned so much about the craft of filmmaking. Nobody on the crew had any one specific job. We all wore many hats, from general assistants to lighting, propping, set decoration, sound recording, and slating scenes. It was an excellent school for learning filmmaking from its ground up.” Ross also introduced the studio to his composer friend, David Earnest, who would go on to score many Hand in Hand productions; Earnest would also do soundtrack work well beyond with Arch Brown, further into Arch's career...

This early cinematic era of the 1970s captured the exuberance of the sexual liberation and LGBTQ liberation movements: freewheeling sexuality, cruising, and public landmarks of sex and gathering. Hand in Hand's output illustrates several threads common of East Coast work of the period: experimental film and theater roots, narrative emphasis and clever scripting, heavy focus on public/communal settings, rougher and more mature men than typical of the West Coast porn scene, and interest in the psychological dimensions of sexuality, rarely shying away from emotional complexity or kinky sexual material. This early period was one of experimentation, exploring the possibilities of the genre before its conventions crystalized. What could cinematic sex look like and be? And as Ross noted, the scenes on each coast , at that time, were distinct and tight-knit. "The New York gay porn community was very small and very loyal to each other,” with many points of overlap between the various studios, makers, and cast and crew members.

The technological rupture of the affordable home video camera fundamentally altered porn movie-making and the distribution model. In 1980, Rage borrowed an early video camera, and by 1981, he had debuted his first productions, Superstars 1 and Solojerk. Initially unsuccessful, he edited them together, the same year, into The Best of the Superstars for distribution via Joe Gage’s Gagetapes line with HIS Video. Best of… sold well and provided the funds for Rage to make further work, as well as to found his mail order business and production studio, Live Video Inc., making him one of the forerunners in the shot-on-video market. This quicker, cheaper format allowed for niche productions that the costly film theatrical model could not support, enabling Rage to exclusively self-distribute his more intense, transgressive, and fetishistic movies (including S/M, fisting, and watersports focuses) for a smaller, dedicated market.

The aesthetic Rage developed moved away from the cinematic tradition of Hand in Hand and '70s films and to a style very in sync with early video art: raw, gritty, intimate, and confessional. Shoots were simple and unpremeditated, often consisting only of Rage and the performer(s), plus maybe an assistant or two, and letting whatever the cast wanted to display reveal itself to the camera. The focus moved from public spaces and the gay community at large to private and interior. Rage summoned the subterranean desires and primal sexual compulsions of his performers, displaying them to the home viewer in candid direct address, disorienting montage, unusual and extreme bodily acts, and uneasy juxtaposition of image and sound (all was set to his own original musical compositions and haunting, layered soundscapes). Rage's darker, obsessive tone had been there from the start (clear in his Hand in Hand work on Drive), but deepened in his directorial pieces, driven by his need to make honest, personal, and provocative work. “I was always up to something. I wanted to corrupt society one way or another by saying, "Try this... Look at this... Did you ever consider this?... C'mon, don’t you want to see this... Aren't you amazed that people do this?... Maybe you don't want to do it yourself, but wouldn't you like to see it?”

Frank Ross, through the '70s onward, maintained a remarkably broad and sustained presence in the NYC gay porn sphere (also extending for a period into the West Coast) throughout his extremely lengthy career, moving beyond his work for Hand in Hand to serve in countless roles with a wide array of affiliates and studios. Ross seemingly worked with just about everybody in some capacity. If one were to map out the network of figures in vintage gay porn, Ross is certainly one of the nodes with the greatest number of connections; his list of associates is too vast to fully enumerate (encompassing figures including Steve Scott, Al Parker, Jack Wrangler, Toby Ross, and our own blog writer, Josh Eliot, to name just a few). 

The late '70s through the '80s saw a dense matrix of overlap among the trio and other key players. Rage's only shot-on-film directorial work, 1982's Sleaze, featured photography and editing by Arch Brown. This was one of Rage's handful of movies to be distributed by P.M. Productions, another prolific NYC studio in the '70s/'80s. P.M. also released a large number of Arch's films (including Pier Groups, Harley's Angels, Dynamite, Muscle Bound) - often with soundtracks by David Earnest, and occasionally with Rage's name popping up as photographer/editor. Ross directed extensively for the studio Satellite during the '80s, where he worked repeatedly with iconic performer Joe Simmons; Simmons' porn career began with Chris Rage (in They All Came, 1984, for P.M. Productions) and he remained a mainstay in Rage’s Live Video Inc productions. Arch and Rage collaborated frequently under the Live Video Inc. banner, with Arch doing additional photography for Rage's Wildside (1984), Tramps (1985), and more. J.D. Slater, another of Rage's most frequent stars, appeared in Brown's lone directorial piece for LVI, Rough Idea (1985), as well as in a second 1985 movie for Spike Video, Bring Your Own Man (stacked with a cast of Rage regulars). For both movies, David Earnest did music and Christopher Rage served in various behind the scenes roles. (A further extension: Hand in Hand's final film, the 1985's In Heat, features a performance by Slater.)

The AIDS crisis brought a new, heavier resonance to Rage’s work, which was always an emotionally honest reflection of what was going on in his life and mind - especially following his own 1987 HIV diagnosis. After learning this news and a taking short break from filmmaking, Rage returned but was having difficulty completing his movies. He brought his friend Frank Ross on board to help him finish his 1989 production Three Little Pigs. Ross: “I was to be assistant director, but was there were more for emotional support. Tray [Chris] wasn't feeling strong enough to get the project done and needed a collaborator.” From then onward, Ross’ presence at LVI increased in importance. The two worked together on a few more pieces as Rage’s health declined, and Rage asked Ross to begin directing for LVI, which he did beginning with Scum, released the same year as Rage’s death: 1991.

Ross remained with Live Video Inc. after Rage's passing, directing more videos through them and becoming the studio’s vice-president for a period of time. After eventually leaving LVI, Ross founded his own studio, 3rd World Video, which operated from the mid/late ‘90s to 2020 (Ross passed away in 2021). Ross credits Rage with introducing him to transgressive, boundary-pushing fetish and S/M material, and Ross brought this to 3rd World Video, an explicit extension of the LVI ethos. Ross: “I tried to continue the legacy of Christopher Rage, who always attempted to break barriers sexually and bring to the screen the reality and popularity of extreme fetishes which no one else would consider or produce... I happily became a porn pariah and enjoyed shocking the world in any way I could.” 

The sustained connection between Brown, Rage, and Ross is one example of a powerful lineage of the kind you’ll find when sifting through the credits and histories of classic porn. Compared to today, the amount of people working in the industry in its initial decades was tiny, so the overlapping and interconnectedness was more apparent. Tracing this one thread: Brown was a foundational figure from the start of the industry and mentored Rage; Ross met Brown and Rage at Hand in Hand where Rage and Ross continued to learn their craft; their three careers intersected again over the years in various places and ways, and with other repeat collaborators; Rage established his own influential studio, where he worked with Brown and Ross; and Ross continued sustained Rage's studio after Rage's death, then continued that legacy at his own studio until just a few years ago. 

Bijou just remastered and re-released Christopher Rage's Tramps, which you can now find on DVD and Streaming! And keep an eye out in future months for Arch Brown's Rough Idea and other Live Video Inc. productions.

Sources:

-Manshots, April 1991 (Interview with Christopher Rage)

-Good Hot Stuff: The Life and Times of Gay Film Pioneer Jack Deveau (Interview with Frank Ross)

-Gay Erotic Video Index (filmographies; vintage ads)

By Josh Eliot

If there was ever a “wing man” for me, it was definitely director Brad Austin. As I’ve likely mentioned in the past, Brad was my lead cameraman as well as production supervisor for Catalina once I gave up that position to become producer. In addition to being a really great guy who would give you the shirt off his back, he also had the nerve to try things I was always hesitant to do. He wasn’t afraid to approach, what I considered, the unapproachable. For example, in a past blog I wrote about how Brad discovered Ray Harley during the International Mr. Leather Contest in Chicago by tracking him down in his hotel room. Brad saw him jacking off in his hotel window, counted the number of floors and windows and knocked on his door. That act of bravery gave us an exclusive multi-year contract with Ray! On one of Brad’s movie sets, he continued shooting sex for one of his scenes by a pool, even though the house next door had a rooftop full of workers watching the whole thing. I would have panicked and moved the entire scene indoors for privacy. If I wanted Brad to approach someone who I thought would be a hot model for movies, he was on it - instantly. I naturally gave him a $100 finder’s fee for anyone he approached that ended up working in a movie. 

The ultimate “wing man” operation took place again at the International Mr. Leather Contest in Chicago, while in our host hotel, the Ramada Congress. Catalina, and now renowned photographer Jeff Burton and I were at the bar inside the lobby of the Congress, decompressing after what was probably a long, grueling day of shooting sex. Suddenly, out of nowhere and very unexpectedly, we got a glimpse of Falcon exclusive Eric Stone entering the lobby. I was surprised to see him alone, as I had imagined John Rutherford would have been keeping very close tabs on him to make sure one of their top stars didn’t play around prior to shooting a scene. I mean, he must have been there to shoot a scene, right? Well, before Jeff and I could even react to seeing him, Brad Austin came running up to us at the bar to let us know he saw him too. He wanted to bring him over to meet me, but I was like, “No, he’s exclusive with Falcon.” Brad basically called me neurotic and ran over to fetch him as Burton and I were just dying inside. We were about to meet with the hottest star at the time.

When Eric Stone came onto the scene, he made a very big splash on the industry - a tsunami, as Parker Posey would say. Eric Stone was born November 6th, 1959 and raised in Peekskill, New York in the Hudson River Valley. He was active in the industry from 1992 through 1996, but prior to working in Adult Gay Cinema, he held the position of a New York State Trooper. In addition to his Falcon movies, he also worked minimally for Pleasure Productions, HIS, Stallion, Galaxy and All Worlds Video. Some of his widely known titles are Ripe For Harvest (1996), Other Side of Aspen 4 (1995) and A Hidden Man (1993). His nostalgic image on magazines guaranteed strong sales and I remember always, since his first movie, wanting to cast him in one of our productions, but I never had access to him. Unfortunately, at age 37, Eric Stone passed away in his upstate New York home on December 24th, 1996. Two movies shot in 1996 were released in 1997, posthumously: Manhandlers (Falcon) and Ranger in the Wild, a movie I directed for Catalina Video, when I finally got Eric Stone on a Catalina set.

Eric came over with Brad Austin and we all sat down and chatted. Surprisingly, my nerves disappeared almost instantly, as this hot stud we’d seen in print over many years was a warm, sweet, down-to-earth guy with a New York accent that I could immediately relate to. It’s true, Eric was under a current contract with Falcon, but it was coming to an end, so we exchanged numbers and I told him we wanted to plan a movie around him and would match his scene fee with that of Falcon's. I’m pretty sure I tripled Brad's finder’s fee for that one. A number of months later, Brad Austin, Jeff Burton, Eric Stone and I found ourselves on the road together to a lake east of Santa Barbara. I vacationed at Zaca Lake in 1995 with my then partner, Mark Rutter, and when we were there I knew I had to come back and shoot a movie one day. The property was thirty miles into the forest from the main road and was small and intimate, with only four lakefront cabins and a small shop and restaurant that only opened for breakfast and lunch. Back in those days, I thought I would use the location for an adult movie based on Friday the 13th, as it looked very Camp Crystal Lake, but ended up coming to my senses and using it for Ranger in the Wild.

Eric looked so damned handsome in his rented Ranger outfit, and it fit him like a glove. It was rare to travel with only one model and half a crew, but we wanted to fill the movie with great outdoor footage to set up all the scenes, and all we needed was Eric for those. We couldn’t exactly shoot a full-on sex scene on this property, but we did get great exterior footage and we were able to capture his J/O in front of a fireplace in Eric’s cabin (that he shared with Brad). I also spotted two dilapidated pink trailers while walking around the lake shooting some shots - those made it into a movie as well. One was Chi Chi LaRue’s trailer and the other Sharon Kane’s in The Hills Have Bi’s. Just having the footage of those two trailers actually helped me come up with the idea for Hills. In the movie, Eric plays a ranger working in the Grand Canyon, speaking to some tourists when he notices Tony Cummings in the crowd videotaping his crotch. In the final scene of the movie, the ranger is relaxing at his lakefront home when he sees Tony Cummings walking on a log, then falling into the lake. The ranger rescues Tony and carries him out of the water, laying him down onto a chaise lounge. Because Tony Cummings was not with us at Zaca Lake, Jeff Burton played his role, falling into the water and being picked up and carried out of the water. I can tell you, Jeff was over the moon in Eric’s arms! Eric even wore Jeff’s swimsuit in the scene, which I’m sure Jeff sniffed once he got home.

The movie has a very strong cast, with Kyle McKenna, Tony Cameron, Jake Taylor, Kristian White, Drew Andrews, Kent Burk, Daryl Brock, Matthew Easton, Cody Whiler, Max Grand and Steve Rambo. Working with Eric was everything we had hoped it would be: a multi-year wish come to fruition. He could not have been nicer and always a real pro who didn’t hesitate to apologize when things didn’t run as smoothly as he would have wanted. We took our time, never rushed things, and let him work at his pace, which I know he appreciated. It was very sad to hear the news shortly into the new year of his passing, and I had really mixed emotions when the movie was released. I wish he could have seen the finished product, as his moments on screen reinforced to all of his fans that his handsome face and persona was that of a legend.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

By Josh Eliot

In 2008, magazine empire owner Bentley Morris put his 50+ year old company on the market. There were no takers, and what was once called “One of the industry’s leading trade publications” by the Associated Press closed its doors forever. When I was working in the gay adult industry from 1987 to 2006, anyone and everyone in the gay industry read The Adam Film World Guide and its gay spin offs: The Adam Gay Video XXX Showcase, Adam Gay Video Erotica, Adam Gay Video Pictorial and The Adam Gay Video Directory. I’m sure it was the same for the straight industry with all of Adam's straight spin offs: Adam Directory of Adult Films, Adam Black Video Illustrated, Cinema X, Porn Star Annual and others. The magazine empire had a humble beginning as simply “Adam” in 1956, an attempt to tap into Playboy’s market by also covering mainstream films and stars. In 1966, It became The Adam Film Quarterly, then Adam Film World, with monthly publications, and finally the Adam Film World Guide. The publication started the very first adult movie awards with the X-Caliber Awards in 1975, renaming the award ceremony to The Adam Film World Guide Awards in 1981.

The models pleaded to be on its cover and studios opened every outlet when Adam came a-calling. The XXX Showcase spinoff would focus on a movie of the month; they would promote with the magazine cover, center layout and accompanying story. The very best movie stills were always reserved for the publication over all others and it was always a challenge to rip Catalina’s complimentary monthly copy out of any given co-workers hands in order to get a peek at the reviews and layouts. The Adam Gay Video Directory had the most prestige of the spin offs. It was a really big deal for the models and the companies to get the cover of the directory, which was released once a year.

From 1991-1993, John Rowberry was the editor of the gay directory, followed in 1995 and 1996 by Dave Kinnick and Wilder Guyjoy and finally Doug Lawrence, who took over as editor and held the role until at least 2005. Doug Lawrence took control of another series under his watch called The Adam Gay Video Erotica Magazine. The publication chose either a director or studio and featured their movies exclusively. All the top brass were chosen, like Kristen Bjorn, William Higgins, Dirk Yates, Jet Set Productions, George Duroy, John Travis, Gino Colbert, Jerry Douglas, John Rutherford, Chi Chi LaRue and even little ‘ol me.

The Films of Josh Eliot: The Catalina Collection was one of Adam Gay Video’s Erotica series of magazines. I remember when editor Doug Lawrence was putting the issue together, he came by the Catalina offices to pick out chromes from some of my favorite productions. In addition. we sat down with his audio recorder while I gave insights to an array of different movies and models. I wish I had some input into the title, because I would have asked him to cut the word “Films” and replace it with either “Movies” or “Videos.” But I never knew of the title until the copies of the magazine arrived. Doug was a real sweetheart, always very pleasant when he would come by the offices, so I was at ease sitting down with him. He allowed me to pick the movies and models I wanted to comment on, here’s a small sampling of some of the movies and models we discussed.

You’ll notice I included a few pics and comments on Catalina exclusive Matt Powers. Maybe because he has been on my mind lately since he actually just reached out to me last week! Keep in mind, we have not seen nor heard from each other since we worked on Lifeguard on Duty in 1991. He responded to my YouTube trailer postings of Lunch Hour and The Main Attraction. He thanked me for doing such a great job (his words) when I directed him in Lunch Hour. He also said he was very proud of the work he did for Catalina. He lives a very different life in Massachusetts, but it’s great to see that he embraced his career as much as his fans embraced him. Currently in the modern day adult industry, Adult Video News is the top trade magazine and has been going strong since 1983. AVN and its division GayVN host the best award shows, hands down, for both straight and gay XXX entertainment. The ADAM publications, though now obsolete, will always hold a place in history as one of the pioneers and success stories in adult film history.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

By M. Webster

Looking through our archive the other day, I came across some treasures - photocopies of collaged pages full of newspaper clippings, photos, flyers, event invitations, interviews, articles write-ups, and more presumably from the personal files of visual artist, gay porn director, and NY Jacks member/resident artist, Michael Goodwin.

These materials include:

-Invitations to art shows, Jacks events, and a Goodjac event at NYC nightclub The Saint

-A 'thank you' note from 1986 Pride march organizers Heritage of Pride

-An announcement of an Independent Filmmaker of 1988 award that Goodwin received 

-Reviews of Goodwin's movies 

-An entry pass from his appearance on the Gay Cable Network's Men & Films TV show (which also profiled Rod Phillips, Casey Donovan and Daniel Holt, as seen in our recent re-release) 

-Interviews with Goodwin, as well as interviews he conducted, via Stallion magazine, with Joe Gage, Wakefield Poole, Tom of Finland, playwright Robert Chesley, and others

-Letters to Goodwin from fellow legendary gay porn directors Christopher Rage and Joe Gage 

Relevant to multiple upcoming Bijou Video releases (hint!) are the notes to Goodwin from Rage and Gage - a cool peek at correspondence between some of the figures behind major works of the early years of gay porn filmmaking and their respect for each other's work. The output of Goodwin and Rage - while of entirely different natures emotionally and tonally - has clear connection as some of the most artistically innovative and experimental 1980s gay porn.

Text of Rage's note (November 9, 1983): "Dear Michael, I wanted to make sure you know how much I appreciated my visit with you - most especially the drawings you gave me. Of course, it's always nice to hear compliments about one's work... but to hear them from someone who is so talented is extraordinarily welcome. I trust you will be able to make it back to the city at the beginning of the year and that we'll be able to spend some time together then. As I mentioned, if there's anyone I can help put you in touch with, please let me know. Again, thank you for the samples of your work. They are inspiring. Best wishes, Tray Christopher Rage"

Text of Gage's note (circa 1982): "Michael, many thanks for the prints - they are beautiful. The shooting went well - I made two films back-to-back: 'Closed Set II' on video and a film called '501.' As you can imagine, I'm up to my ass editing all this, and will be for a while. It all looks good. See you this winter. Cheers! Joe"

Also tucked into the files is this bio of Goodwin (text below): 

"Michael is the resident artist of the New York Jacks and is planning to tour his tapes throughout the U.S. visiting Jacks organizations and  doing fund raising J.O. benefits for various AIDS research groups. Eventually he plans to visit the newly founded Jacks groups throughout Europe, starting with the Amsterdam Jacks. Goodjac feels in this time of confused sexuality and  the lack of spirituality and  sensualness in our lives that his efforts are necessary and  will go unwasted in helping to re-unite our beliefs in ourselves and  one another. 'There is an important message in my tapes,' he says. 'Besides, it gives me a great thrill to know I have planted some new seeds of imagination and  brotherhood within my viewers.'"

Bijou currently carries Goodwin's The Goodjac Chronicles (1986), Goodjac Too (1987), and Crazy Horny Nutz (1988) from on DVD and Streaming - and stay tuned for Goodjac 4: Hot Sunday - coming over the next few months! 

By Josh Eliot

Back in 1989, the San Fernando Valley was the hot spot for all things porn, gay or straight. Specifically Chatsworth, CA, where adult film production houses migrated because of low rent and access to the mainstream movie business. Located thirty miles north of Los Angeles, it allowed access to Hollywood directors, as well as talent and crew who moonlighted for some extra income or chose a different career path due to declining productions within L.A. County. Since the 1970s, homes in the Hollywood Hills played host to a majority of the West Coast XXX-rated film productions. A rush of warehouses opened up in the valley, retrofitted as studios, so they could reap their share of the nearly four billion dollars in sales that the San Fernando Valley took in annually. Specifically for gay porn studios in the valley, when I was first working in the industry, there was mainly (VCA) HIS Video, InHand and Vivid Man as our competition.

With all the hardcore content flooding the video stores back in the late 80s and 1990s, it’s no surprise that several movies were made, both mainstream and adult, featuring the story of a small town boy or virginal girl dreaming of going to Hollywood - a story told brilliantly by director Paul Thomas Anderson in Boogie Nights (1997) featuring Mark Wahlberg as adult film sensation Dirk Diggler. Seven years prior to the premiere of Boogie Nights, a newcomer to the industry, Ryan Yeager, played a similar role as a cornfed country boy rising to fame in the adult industry in a movie called The Rise (1990). Iconic director Chi Chi LaRue wrote and directed The Rise as a way to promote what he, himself, calls his first true discovery. Back in 1989, Chi Chi was working for InHand Video gaining experience as a new director, when Vivid Man persuaded him to start working for them in promotions with the opportunity to also direct. Chi Chi was a bit frustrated with InHand at the time because there was a lot of internal drama within the company, so it was an easy yes. Prior to leaving InHand, a potential new star came across Chi Chi’s desk - it was Ryan Yeager. Chi Chi debuted Ryan in Screwing Screw Ups and Flex 2: Pumping Up, which Chi Chi directed prior to jumping ship. In 1989, Chi Chi brought Ryan to Vivid Man, maybe as a bargaining tool, and was allowed to direct him in Buddy System. He was also loaned out to another Vivid director, Patrick Dennis, who starred him in Air Male and Davey and the Cruisers. Patrick Dennis was a pseudonym for adult star and director Jim Steel, who had a tenured history with Vivid Man. Jim Steel and I stood side by side along with John Rutherford and Steven Scarborough when the four of us were inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 1990, Chi Chi was invited back to Catalina Video to start directing features, and Ryan was with him all the way! Our first time working together was for The Rise, and the crew and I quickly learned that Ryan had absolutely no problem ejaculating twice for a scene. We made the best use of that by having him cum after oral and then again after anal, and each load looked like a full one! My very first acting performance was in The Rise as the driver of the van that picks Ryan up in the sticks and drives him to Hollywood Blvd. Chi Chi and I were both super pissed when Scott Masters made the editor cut my scene before release because he didn’t think it was wise for the production head to be on camera. The finished version only shows Ryan in the van talking to my voice, but none of the lead up alongside the road where we met. But I am, despite Scott Masters, in a wide shot on the movie set, holding a 16mm camera during the montage. Additionally, my patched up favorite jean jacket is worn by Vic Youngblood in the full scene he has with Scott Bond, because the shirt he was wearing when he showed up to set was too flashy and Studio 54-looking.

In the movie, Ryan gets discovered by Chi Chi in an adult cinema and enters the porn world while, coincidently, his longtime lover from his his home town ends up taking the same path and, in the end, they meet up on a XXX movie set. Ryan could not have been more perfectly cast, all the way down to his natural pubic hair that he didn’t “groom” for set. Total all-American boy to the core, which felt very rare to us. The movie won Best Erotic Scene and, for the very first time, Chi Chi LaRue took home the award for Best Director.

That same year, we also had the pleasure of working with Ryan in Enemies and Lovers (1990). This was our first trip up the mountains for an extended stay with Chi Chi and her brood of boys. Taking Chi Chi up those swirling mountainous roads to Arrowhead Lake was a hoot, as his stomach couldn’t handle it very well. Everyone was a joy to be around – well, maybe except for model Matt Gunther, who was very well known to be a twat on the set. I’ll blog about that movie down the road - I think our trauma deserves its own piece.

In 1991, Chi Chi directed a star vehicle movie for Ryan called Jumper for (VCA) HIS Video, written by Stan Ward. This was Ryan’s moment for sure, and Chi Chi’s as well, because Jumper won Best Picture, Best Actor (Ryan Yeager) and Best Newcomer (Danny Sommers) at the 1992 AVN Awards. It also won Best Screenplay at the Gay Erotic Video Awards and the Grabby Awards. In addition to making Ryan a household name, it projected Chi Chi LaRue’s career as director into the stratosphere. Even though Ryan was super angelic in real life, he did stretch his acting abilities to play an actual angel in Jumper. His role was that of a soldier in the Revolutionary War who is killed at Yorktown and becomes an angel. Angels have missions in Jumper, and Ryan’s is to influence the lives of men in, of all places, West Hollywood. When the movie was released, critic Dave Kinnick called it “VCA’s strongest gay title in years.”

At Catalina Video in 1991, we shot Ryan in King of the Mountain, Powertool 2, Head Struck and In Your Face. After that, we never saw Ryan on our schedule again, even though he continued working. Ryan Yeager had a short but impressive career, when he suddenly made a quick exit after he met and fell in love with a mystery man outside of the industry. In the late 1990s, Sabin, the producer of the Gay Erotic Video Awards, reached out to Ryan asking him to be a presenter at an upcoming awards show. Ryan made it very clear that his time in the industry was in the past and he had no desire be connected to it any further. Regardless his legacy speaks for itself, and I have to add that while he was working with us, I was impressed with how incredibly down to earth and non-pretentious he was. There is very little content online, so I was able to gather a lot of my information about Ryan Yeager from Chi Chi LaRue’s excellent book, Making It Big, Sex Stars, Porn Films and Me. 

The industry itself has changed over the years. Gone are the valley studios in Chatsworth for gay porn, and it seems that the newest semi-capital of gay porn is San Francisco, with most of the top companies residing there: Colt Studios (founded 1967), Falcon (founded 1971), Hot House (founded 1993), Titan Men (founded 1995), Treasure Island (founded 1998) and Raging Stallion (founded 1998), all of which contain outstanding libraries of content, making them modern day powerhouses.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.