ERIC STONE: New York State Trooper to On-Screen Ranger in the Wild

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.