BijouBlog

By Will Seagers

Hi folks, Will here! Since a very early age, I have had some very hot sexual encounters... in the woods! It's the perfect place (weather permitting) when you don't have a cozy indoor retreat! And, there's also that element of danger - of getting caught - that looms over you, as well.

I remember way back to the tender age of six or seven playing naked in the bushes with boys and even an occasional girl. At that point I hadn't made up my mind as to what turned me on the most! But, the key excitements were body contact and and the naughtiness of doing it out of doors. This took place in one of several beautiful suburban towns in northern New Jersey where I grew up. How we didn't get caught I'll never know. But, I thank the powers that be for that not happening. LOL.

Puberty hits. And, with all my hormones coursing through me, building tree forts and dragging the neighborhood boys into them became my modus operandi! "Swish Family Robinson" of sorts. LOL. At this point, my family was living just off the Jersey Shore in a new development. Formerly a woodsy area and full of scrap lumber, it was a tree fort builder's paradise. And, I took advantage of that several times. Some were even elaborate, like the one that I built over a stream with a fireplace. I never wanted "it's too cold" to be a possibility. This was all before I had any inkling about coming out or even being gay. It seemed late grammar school and early high school guys were all game to try it out.

Then, by the end of high school, details and sexual definitions started to fall into place. I knew who I was and what side of the fence was my preference. By 18, I was running into guys while just being out and about... chance encounters. Not having my own place yet, we would always opt for a secluded and undeveloped stretch of wooded areas to get it on. Ha, I remember ticks being the greatest problem of that day!

While living with my Aunt (yes, the Finnish one), I used to do my weight lifting in her garage that faced the street. One day, a handsome dark haired and nicely built guy walked by our driveway, paused, smiled and then was on his way. It was peculiar... but, very arousing! This happened again soon after. This time, I walked to the edge of the driveway and struck up a conversation. Well, after about the third one of these encounters, he asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. I knew what was up and I agreed. He was married and couldn't use his own place. So, off to a local patch of woods for some fun! His name was John. And, he was hung like a horse... much to my delight. Nothing serious ever came of it. But, it was sure fun while it lasted. He was one of several guys with whom I carried on in this outdoor fashion. It was fun and quirky.

Fast forward to my years on Fire Island - working and playing. Although I could hardly consider it work, in the movie Fire Island Fever, I had a J/O scene that actually took place in a tree (as part of one of the other porn star's fantasies). I don't know what came over me. But, I really got into this fantasy and shot about 15 feet from my arboreal perch! Along with myself, most of the crew was amazed and pleased.

Being a naughty boy at heart, I loved to wander in the infamous "meat rack" section of Fire Island that straddled between The Pines and Cherry Grove. All sorts of mayhem could be found there and at all hours of the day and night. This stretch of thick shrubbery allowed for some privacy when needed. But, it was more known for being more of an outdoor gang bang. And if my memory serves me, I remember being the meat in several sandwiches when the opportunity presented itself.

San Francisco also had several fun outdoor wooded areas of note. One of them was literally up the street from where I lived on Buena Vista Terrace. It was Buena Vista Park - which I nicknamed "pants down park!" So close to my home and yet I never took advantage of it. I guess I was too busy with indoor activities! The other spot where I do remember having a few hot sessions was Lands End at the end of Golden Gate Park. It could be brisk and windy at times being right at the Golden Gate and the Pacific Ocean. I remember having my mouth pleasantly occupied while hearing a symphony of fog horns nearby! You did have to be on your toes as the police regularly patrolled the area!

All very pleasant recollections. So far in my past, yet still so vivid in my memories. Just a couple of months back during my family reunion week in Pennsylvania, we had an outing in a heavily wooded area. It was a hike on a trail in a state park. Although ambling along with my siblings on this 10 mile course, I could feel my mind drifting back decades to memories of sex in the woods!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.
 

 

By Will Seagers

Hi folks! Will here. Today's excursion back into my past deals with a mishap that turned into a very fun experience. Getting to know Chicago!

The year was 1978 and it was my last of three consecutive years working for the world-famous model John Whyte and his Boatel in The Pines on Fire Island, N.Y.

 

For all three years, I drove cross country from San Francisco to Bayville, Long Island, N.Y. where I parked my vehicles in the Fire Island Pines Ferry parking lot. As most of you know there are no personal vehicles on most of Fire Island.

I loved the long drives. Once I passed Grass Valley, Ca. on my east bound I-80 trek, I entered a zone." The whole driving experience became more relaxed and my mind drifted into many exotic places. I usually allowed about three days for the trip. Meals and rest stops were a must in order to keep it from being too laborious.

This last trip, I drove a recently acquired Peugeot 504. To tell the truth, I don't remember the exact year. Although it was lacking in power with its very modest four cylinder, it made up for it with a spectacularly smooth ride! Going through the Continental Divide was a bit challenging. But, when I hit the flat and extensive plains, it was smooth sailing. True to plans, I arrived in N.Y. in just over three days. I was excited to be back on "The Island!"

John Whyte had surprised me with a call early in 1978 and asked me if I had a lifeguard's license. I didn't. But I quickly acquired one at a San Francisco YMCA. That set the stage for a very different summer working on The Island. Along with watching over the safety of the Boatel guests at the pool, I had a new and very cute bar to tend. Piña Coladas and daiquiris of all flavors were to be made by yours truly! But, that wasn't all. Adjacent to the pool was the "Cultured Elephant," one of John Whyte's restaurants just down from the Boatel. The rear of this restaurant opened to my pool area. So, slinging drinks as well as food was once again part of my job description. Now, add just one more thing. A gym! It seemed that someone had given Mr. Whyte a huge assortment of free weights and left them under the tent that connected the Cultured Elephant to the pool. I really loved setting up Will's Gym! I think between lifting and swimming, I was in the best shape of my life! And, I loved hosting the boys who came to work out, as well!

Getting to the point (or should I say title). One of my pool/gym guests was a very well built and handsome gent from Chicago named Bob. He was dark and swarthy. And, judging by his last name... Italian! We played around several times and I was extended an invitation to visit him in Chicago on my drive home at the end of the season. Yippie! He was so hot and I had never been to Chicago.

Well, the season had been pretty eventful with all of my work duties. But, I was also invited to take part in the yearly Fire Island Pines Fashion Show, which was held poolside... my poolside! I was pleased and proud to be a part of it. I modeled swimwear. I was naughty and did not follow the script. At the end of my walk down the runway (which was artfully suspended above the pool), I shed my bathing suit and gracefully dived into the pool. Gasps and squeals of laughter followed... except for Mr. Whyte... he was pissed! Oh well, I was just putting my best foot forward!

Late in the season during the Full Moon in August was my "swan song" with working on Fire Island. Fire Island was frequented by straights from local towns in Long Island, especially on the weekends. They could be rowdy and sometime altercations happened. It was after my work was over and I was having some tequila with co-workers at the bar of The Cultured Elephant. Out of nowhere, a fight broke out and one of my friends was being attacked. I am not normally a fighter. But with my friend and the restaurant in danger, I jumped right in the middle of it, and to my surprise I bodily threw out the culprits. Moments later, Mr. Whyte showed up to see what had happened. For some reason, he tried to pin the ruckus on me... I guess my tequila was showing. I became incensed and said, "Did you know that I just saved your restaurant and staff member from injury?" After which I expelled, "Son of a Bitch!" (This was just my anger and it was not directed at him.) However, he arose and commanded me, "Leave my premises!"

The next day, I returned to the pool (with a bit of a hangover!). The fellow who ran The Cultured Elephant came to me and asked, "Didn't you know that you got fired last night?" I was flummoxed. I didn't remember that happening. Balls to the walls, I walked right down to Mr. Whyte's palatial beach house and requested to speak with him. At first, he wouldn't. Then I asked him why he fired me. He told me that I called him a Son of a Bitch. I quickly told him that I did not aim that at him but at the situation at hand. After a moment, he relented and said I could finish the season (two more weeks). 1979 came around and I did not offer my services nor did he invite me back. End of an era!

One of the things that I did during the summer was to have the engine rebuilt in my Peugeot... BAD IDEA! I had nothing but problems with the car afterwards. It stalled in the Mid-Town Tunnel (Manhattan). And, on my way to see my folks on the Jersey Shore, it broke down once again. I was scared to death about taking it back cross country!

From N.J., I headed straight to Chicago to visit my Italo-Stallion, Bob. The drive there was deceptively uneventful... just the way I wanted it. I got into town and met up with Bob. The sparks flew and we both had a good time. He showed me around town for my (intended) weekend stay. At the end of this fun-packed weekend, I headed west bound out of town on the interstate. It was only 60 miles outside of Chicago when I saw smoke coming out of the back of the car and the engine seized! I freaked out. It took a while to get a service truck out there. I was more anxious when they looked at my car and said, "Oh, we can get this 'Porsche' running in no time!” My heart sank as I told them it was a Peugeot, not a Porsche! This part of the country didn't get to see many Peugeots I guess. When the repair truck people realized what it was, they decided to bring it back to Chicago to a dealer that was more familiar with the vehicle.

Meanwhile, I phoned Bob and told him what had happened. He welcomed me back to his place where I could launch some kind of rescue plan. But, it was then that he told me he had a relationship and he spent most of his nights with his other half. I said that I would be as unobtrusive as possible. The next day was Monday and I needed to contact local mechanics to see what I could do. That turned into a multi-day task.

Fate struck in two favorable ways. One, I got to meet Bob's other half. When I met him, I instantly recognized him. We had met several years ago in Phoenix. He was a very good looking guy, too! Although we had never had the chance to "get together," we certainly made up for it in Chicago. Bob was a teacher and was already back to work by the time I visited. His other half was a concert pianist and had a totally different schedule. We took advantage of this schedule several times that week. I don't think Bob picked up on what was going on (even though I was walking a little funny! Lol.)

Fate struck the second time. Not wanting to crowd anyone's lifestyle, I went on my own to explore what Northhalstead - otherwise known as "Boystown," the gay village of Chicago - had to offer. Right away, I met a very handsome doctor who lived in a beautiful brownstone in that area. I wound up spending most of the rest of the week there. Although great hosts, Bob (and his partner) seemed to be relieved at my transition. My doctor friend was into some of the kinkiest sex that I have ever had!

So, toward the end of the week I got a dreadful call from the mechanics telling me that the engine had to be replaced. Not only would that have taken more than a week, I didn't want to spend the money. I called United Airlines and made reservations to come home to San Francisco. This was was more inconvenient than just writing off a car... I had the car packed to the hilt with all sorts of stuff that I had acquired from Fire Island and NYC. I based the booking of my flight on the extra day it would take to box up all of this stuff.

Being 45 years ago, I am a little fuzzy about who picked me up at the San Francisco Airport and with what kind of large vehicle for all of my treasures. I was grateful for the ride but devastated when I discovered most of the terra cotta plant pottery from the flower shop in The Pines was shattered during the flight. Nonetheless, I was finally home and grateful to be there. No more of the glamorous bi-coastal living for me! End of an Era!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.
 

 

By Josh Eliot

In the spirit of All Hallows Eve month, I thought it might be appropriate to write about a very sinister sounding fellow. The sheer mention of his name draws fear and anticipation of an upcoming doom. This guy will cut you if given a chance, and trust me you’ll be in stitches. Okay, enough of this dramatized text. The haunting character I am referring to is none other than YouTube sensation Captain Psychopath.

 

Born, raised and currently living in West Norway, the Captain’s real name is Didrik. His initial YouTube channel featured gaming videos, but was quickly deleted because Didrik was unhappy with the videos he was posting. He decided to start a new channel in which he would post video reviews and critiques of other channels' gaming videos. He fully intended his reviews to be hard hitting and edgy, so he chose a name that reflected the critic’s attributes, Captain Psychopath. He found some success amongst the gaming crowd, but things took a more focused direction when he came across the “PG” version of a little movie posted on the Catalina Collection NEO YouTube Channel which I affectionately call Boy Band.

When he discovered the movie Boy Band and saw the viewers responding from around the world, he realized that its cheeky content united people from all different sexual orientations. The movie featured an all-male cast and the central character of Nance Freeley, music agent, played by Sharon Kane. The viewers really embraced the campiness of the movie, and started creating “memes” from assorted scenes. Keep in mind that the Captain is a straight, whiskey drinking guy who is comfortable with himself and has no judgment or negative connotations about watching and enjoying an all-male movie, albeit “PG.” We need more like him, and as the story goes on you’ll see that there are thousands just like him who appreciate and embrace the content of all-male action. The fact that these movies have made their way and flourished within the mainstream audiences of Instagram and YouTube is something I never expected when making them. It was always assumed that gay men and maybe gay women (I read that Rosie O’Donnell liked to watch all-male gay porn) were the only audience. A major percentage of the subscribers to the Captain Psychopath and Catalina Collection channels are straight and from all over the planet.

When the Captain discovered Boy Band, he thought to himself, “Hmm, no one’s done any videos reviewing gay pornos, maybe I should try.” What the Captain meant by reviewing gay pornos was not your typical review. The Captain uses humor and a little bit of sadistic ribbing to make his well-rounded videos so funny and watchable. Trust me, some of the reviews he did of my movies hurt in places, but he always had me laughing my ass off! They are so well done that I always feel the need to “share the link” with friends. Once deciding how to proceed with his channel, the Captain reached out to his friend at Hikikomori Media to collaborate with him to review Boy Band and other features from many adult gay studios. The guys' joint venture received 10x more views than anything else he uploaded in the past. He wants me to mention that he was “way too hard” on Sharon Kane in the Boy Band review. It was his first time seeing her, and because he associated her with her character Nance Freely – who, let’s face it, was a bit of a cunt - he went to town on her. Which he regrets to this day, as she’s really won him over, just like so many of us.

Even though he felt that he hadn’t quite nailed his style with the Boy Band review, he persisted. Realizing that there were a lot more movies out their like Boy Band, he got in touch with Kurt from Catalina Collection, who shared content with him to use for his cutting and humor filled reviews. I personally discovered the Catalina Collection and Captain Psychopath’s YouTube channels during the Covid-19 lockdown and I’m so glad I did. It actually flooded me with so many memories when watching these movies back after 20 some odd years! I hadn’t viewed most of them since I initially watched them for release on VHS. It lit a match under my ass to start editing again and start an Instagram and YouTube channel of my own. The Captain really inspired me with his tongue (get your mind out of the gutter) and cheek approach to re-embrace these little mini classics from the 1980’s and 1990’s and help re-introduce them to a new audience. In fact, we are teaming up in October for a joint release. I will be releasing the new, enhanced and updated 25th Anniversary Edition Director’s Cut of CatalinaVille (“PG” version) for my YouTube Channel, and the Captain’s channel will release the new movie with Director’s Commentary, as he questions and “ribs” me on the spot throughout the movie. I hope I’m not a big bore!

Instead of candy for this Halloween Season, I’ll give you some “Eye Candy.” Here are a number of links to some of the great content on Captain Psychopath’s YouTube channel:

 

With 28k views and counting: Pizza Boy 2 & 3
With 32k views and counting: Cockpit
With 68K views and counting: Voyager
And with 163K views and counting: Billy Herrington- Did You Know Gay Men? (A parody on “Did You Know Gaming?” which is a huge YouTube channel on gaming.)

The Captain forwarded me some pics he found from a magazine story on Voyager that I didn’t remember existed. Vincent Lambert was along on the cruise as a “press agent” and covered the whole sadistic affair - even photographing me having an interior breakdown when the ship fried one of our video decks. Since Voyager was really “Voyager of the Damned” (see previous blog), a fucking nightmare cruise straight to hell, I thought sharing the pictures here would be Halloween appropriate!

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

I didn’t give interviews often, back in the day. Not because I was opposed to them but because Mike, our general manager, started alienating the company from the competition. There was a time when he stopped running advertising campaigns, taking part in industry functions and even shunned the critics and award shows. It was like pulling teeth at one point to get him to submit screeners to the committees for award consideration. Luckily for us, Chi Chi was all up in the industry business and she would get whatever they needed from the warehouse and into their hands. We were all at a loss as to why he suddenly became Kim Jong-il and treated the company like South Korea, closing it off from the rest of the Industry. Only he knows why, and thank goodness he eventually pulled the hair that was stuck up his ass and started embracing the industry again. I was working at David Weiss’s House One duplicating facility, making titles for an upcoming movie. They had much superior editing equipment and if Tab Lloyd wasn’t using the equipment they’d let me go over and use it to create cool titles and effects. It was on that day that Ethan Clarke showed up to question me for All Man Magazine. If I had known he was going to take a picture of me that day, I wouldn’t have worn just a white t-shirt to work. Not the best look for a photo. But the cigarette, that was a staple - a bad habit that stuck with me from working on all those shoots with John Travis. Luckily, I quit that habit a few years later.

ETHAN CLARKE: How long have you been working for Catalina Video?

JOSH ELIOT: I started working at Catalina in October 1987, so it’s been sixteen years. Due to some legal technicalities, at the time, they could not shoot gay adult videos in Los Angeles, so Catalina set up a studio in San Francisco, where I was living. I applied for a job as a still photographer because I was going to school studying film and video production. (laughs) Actually, I took some photos that a friend had taken to go along on the interview with Scott Masters and John Travis and presented them as my own, thus bullshitting my way into the job. I did later tell them all about it an we had a good laugh. I was interested in doing video camerawork and directing, but they were only looking to hire someone for still photography. So, I took the job that was offered, agreeing that eventually it would parlay into doing camerawork. The stills I took the first couple of times weren’t that great! But you know, timing is everything. The head of their production (Dan Allman / Cameron Leight) was getting ready to retire. They liked me and made me the second cameraman and hired a new still photographer. When Dan Allman retired about six months later, I was bumped up to head of production. I was totally trained by the best. John Travis or Scott Masters would tell me everything they needed for a shoot. We’d build the sets and one of them would fly up to San Francisco and we’d make a video. Eventually John Travis trained me to direct.

ETHAN: Well you learned from the best.

JOSH: Yes, I did! He’s great, a real sweetheart.

ETHAN: How long did you stay in San Francisco?

JOSH: Since Catalina’s main headquarters was in Los Angeles, when it was legal to shoot there again, I moved down to L.A. It was a major change to find a place to live and find a new crew. Photographer Jeff Burton was the first person I hired, and he stayed with us for about thirteen years. Scott Masters and John Travis moved on to found Studio 2000.

ETHAN: How long did it take you to get used to living in Los Angeles?

JOSH: You know, I came kicking and screaming, but it really didn’t take that long. It was really an easy transition, you can’t beat the weather, and I did live in the heart of west Hollywood. But it did take me a while to get used to the slower pace.

ETHAN: What was the first production you worked on for Catalina?

JOSH: I did stills for BULGE: Mass Appeal with Kevin Glover and Kurt Bauer. The first feature I directed is Runaways starring Jake Corbin and Danny wade. Scott Masters watched everything I did from a monitor in his office and gave me advice. He taught me a lot.

ETHAN: And what is your most recent video?

JOSH: His Terrible Twin, with Andy Hunter in a dual starring role. There are two versions - the two hour VHS and the DVD special director’s cut with a behind the scenes documentary and other bonuses. Last year my big movie was Boy Band; we included a music video in that one.

ETHAN: Who taught all those models their fancy footwork in their dance routines in Boy Band?

JOSH: (Laughs) Well, we taught them about three steps at a time and then would cut the camera, re-position the angle and start filming again, reminding them, “You ended up with your legs crossed. When the camera roll, uncross your legs, spin around and point to the stars.” Cut together, it looks great, as if they did the entire music video from beginning to end without stopping.

ETHAN: You also did the Rascal series.

JOSH: Yeah, we just finished the sixth and final episode, The Rascal’s Graduation Gang Bang, directed by Peter Romero. I directed the first four of the six and had enough! Catalina used to produce two videos a month, but with the emergence of DVDs we shoot one movie a month and re-release a remastered DVD version of an older movie with lots of bonus scenes and photo galleries. They look really good and they’re not just direct linear transfers. Viewers are getting their money’s worth.

ETHAN: Who are Catalina’s current exclusive models?

JOSH: Steve Rambo, Ray Harley and Maxime Cannon who can be seen in our newest release, Super Sized! And he is, with a 12” dick. He’s the epitome of what you want in a performer. The dick goes up, stays up and fucks like nobodies business. He lives in Canada, but I told him if he moved here he would be in every single movie we shoot! Ray Harley’s new movie with Anthony Holloway is Junior’s Nude Cleaning Service from our new Generation Gap Series. Besides those guys and Rambo, we had Chris Champion, Hank Sterling, Ty Fox (for a five picture deal) and Matt Powers. I just talked to Matt the other day. He’s on the East Coast now, teaching martial arts.

ETHAN: What do you think about the new influx of talent coming into the gay adult industry compared to guys fifteen years ago?

JOSH: We used to shoot a lot of straight guys in the beginning. It was often like pulling teeth to get what we needed. There weren’t that many guys doing video work then and many of the models were “gay for pay.” I’m very happy with the selection now. The sex is more aggressive and the models all know what to do! It wasn’t like working with the straight guys who had to be told how to proceed move by move. I love the new breed of models like Jesse Cooper, Tommy Saxx, Jack van Dean, Brad McGuire, Blake Harper and Jason Branch. Blake was going to play the lead in His Terrible Twin but got a mainstream gig.

ETHAN: How much fun was it shooting Pillage and Plunder on a ship? As well as Cockpit 1 & 2 involving airplanes?

JOSH: The ship we shot Pillage and Plunder on was older than the S.S. Poseidon. It was a good video, but you can be sure as shit that I will never set foot on that boat again! The Cockpit videos directed by Brad Austin were great fun. The highlight of the first one was the plane crash, the debris and all that jazz. Cockpit 2 was shot mostly in Yosemite, California. We had a wonderful and secure shooting location on a huge ranch.

ETHAN: What was your all-time favorite movie you directed?

JOSH: Definitely it would be a tie between Revenge of the Bi Dolls and Score.

ETHAN: I’m sure your fans will be anticipating all of Catalina Video’s releases and particularly a reunion of Chi Chi LaRue and Sharon Kane in an upcoming project. Some other of Josh’s movies are: CatalinaVille, Cat Men Do!, Easy Riders, Getting Off in Palm Springs, Jawbreaker and Thrill Me!

It’s funny. Now, re-reading this interview after all these years, I see quite a few subjects mentioned that I recently wrote blogs about. It’s good to see that the details and specifics match and my memories are holding up to the test of time.

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. 

 

The movie Undercover, directed by John Travis, won Best Picture and Best Director at the 1989 Adult Video News Awards. The year prior he also won for Powertool, which starred his discovery, Jeff Stryker. To put things in perspective, 1989 was the same year that I directed my very first movie called Runaways. We shared a few of the same cast members including Danny Wade and Jake Corbin. Recently I cut a trailer for Undercover, which I posted on my YouTube channel as part of a tribute for John Travis, Scott Masters, Chet Thomas and Cameron Leight. The four of them really influenced me with their talents, all in different ways, and they really all were the pioneers at Catalina Video, so I thought that since they are no longer with us it would be special to add clips and trailers from their movies to keep their legacy alive. When viewing the footage from Undercover, I was surprised to see how young Jake Corbin looked. It made me remember that we were about the same age when we shot the movie. I was 27 and he was 26 and we both shared the common bond of being born and raised in the state of Rhode Island. When I met Jake Corbin, I remember thinking that he was very sexy and I was impressed by elements of his personality. He was very East Providence, as we would have said about a street-wise guy back in Little Rhody. He was like that hot guy in high school who could easily have been a bully, but the fact that he was gay and not “gay for pay” made him even more attractive. His accent was much thicker than mine, as I moved to San Francisco at age 17 and he still lived back east in Rhode Island. When I discovered that he had passed away at the young age of 29, on September 27th, 1992, I was in a state of shock. Just three years after shooting Undercover and Runaways. Scott Masters broke the news to me and we were both very upset and saddened.

On a positive note, when revisiting Undercover’s footage for the trailer, I was pleasantly surprised by the fabulous sets that Dan Allman (aka Cameron Leight) and I built for the movie. Shortly after building the sets, Dan Allman broke the news that he was leaving the company. I was suddenly the studio manager and their only videographer. The pressure was on. Thrown onto main camera for this big budget movie was terrifying, but luckily those cool sets gave me a lot of ideas visually, assisting me on finding the best angles. These sets were the bomb, and in addition to building life sized sets I had to build a miniature set of the apartment complex. The miniature set blows up at the end of the movie, which was fun to shoot! The life sized sets included: a fire escape where Butch Taylor lays out overnight on a mattress to beat the summer heat, but once asleep, a hooded leatherman (played by George Madera) climbs up and over him; a rooftop set where undercover cop Brad Phillips busts Paul Coder for rolling a joint, then proceeds to bust his ass; and an alleyway set between buildings where Jake Corbin and Danny Wade chase down, tackle and attack sweet young twink Danny Bliss. All these locations are watched over by Tom Steele and Doug Niles from their stakeout apartment set on a high floor overlooking the complex. Rear Window at its finest, emphasis on “rear.” Detective Tom Steele gets hornier and hornier watching all the action around the complex, causing him to give up his “straightness” to detective Doug Niles, shoving his oversized cock right up the keister. The final set we built was an exterior apartment, viewed through a picture window that housed Michael Britten, who was hosting a play date with Rick Stryker. Rick Stryker, the real life brother of Jeff Stryker, made his debut in Undercover, and the crew was very excited to be a part of what we thought was going to be very important porn history. “Stryker’s brother?…OMG I can’t wait!”

 

Jake Corbin Rick, Stryker and Tom Steele

 

Well, the hype kind of fizzled while shooting the scene, so a stunt dick was brought in to handle all of the fucking. But not just any stunt dick – one who could match the length of Stryker and was a “true closer” to get in, get busy and make some magic. The stunt dick called to service was none other than David Ashfield (Surge's Therapy and Strange Places, Strange Things), already an icon in the industry. It was surprising how quickly Scott Masters could get stunt dicks to the set, almost like he had them on standby. This was my one and only time meeting and working with David, so I don’t have a vivid memory of things, but I do remember his rock hard piece going to town on cute Michael Britten, and he was also very friendly and personable.

 

David Ashfield in Therapy and Strange Place, Strange Things

 

Tom Steele was introduced to our team by John Travis when he directed the movie Powerline a month or two earlier. The first time I met him was at SFO Airport when he arrived on the “Midnight Flyer.” Scott Masters and John Travis were arriving from L.A. the next day, so I had to chaperon him for the night at the condo Catalina rented for cast members and out of town crew. It was a great two bedroom apartment, far away from the Castro and Polk Street districts to keep the models in check. One room had two queen beds for the models and the other bedroom had a king sized bed with a $1000 Airflex mattress that Masters splurged on for himself, pissing off GM Chris Mann. These days those mattresses start at around $4000. It was really comfy, but became much more so when during the night Tom Steele poked his head in and asked if he could sleep with me because the queen beds were as hard as a rock. Of course they were – Masters only let me spend like $200 on each of them. This was Tom Steele and I was 27 so let’s face it, I was hit with some major temptation. Right from the start when I picked him up at the airport I was comfortable around him. He is exactly like the character from all his movies that you see on the screen. Not too much of an actor, just him reading the lines. For such a handsome super hung stud, his personality is really sweet and down to earth, no hang ups and no attitude ever. I tried my best to be professional by offering to just switch beds with him, but he insisted on sharing the luxurious king size. King sized was right! But I did feel guilty when I saw Travis and Masters the next morning.

 

Powerline promo shot and box cover featuring Tom Steele

 

Getting back on subject, Undercover, in my book, was one of John Travis’ crowning moments. Just being on the set of this movie put him in a good mood. We experimented with the dolly tracks to get some cool shots. We lit the shit out of the sets with color gels and Travis taught me the importance of backlighting the models. At one point, midway through a scene, Travis said: “You know this is all going to look like mud once it gets down to VHS.” Going from 3/4 inch source material tape down to 1/2 inch VHS really took away so much quality. Thanks to modern technology, quality loss is a thing of the past. The cast and crew all felt like we were making something very special, so we tried everything in our power to make it look sensational. John Travis’ ultra-specific direction on framing each shot, lighting each shot and directing each shot was priceless to me. When you learn from the very best, all you can hope is that you can emulate their style and somehow make it your own. I was so honored to have worked on Undercover, and am so grateful to my mentor and idol, John Travis.

 

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.