You So RUSSO - and I Don’t Mean DONNIE

Now I know by the title of this blog, you are thinking: “Oh Sweet! Josh is writing a blog about Bijou Video’s Beat Cop Donnie Russo," and it would make sense to think that by the way I formed the title. The truth is, I’d love to write a blog, again, about Donnie Russo. Some of the most hysterical times on and off the set were with Donnie. When he pulled out his dick on the 10 freeway and raised his hips up so high that the truck drivers passing by could see his boner. That was on the way to a Palm Springs shoot. Or numerous other times we shot together, then would hang out in West Hollywood. Hey, there’s even the best story of all in my blog called “A Salty Fuck in Saugatuck,” starring Lord Russo, when we shot the movie Thrill Me! But I am writing about a different RUSSO. However, I did come across a great recent interview with Donnie Russo by Jim Jordan (thankfully not the douche bag Jordan you might be thinking of) from The Fire Island News. The below “after” photos are from that interview; it’s a great read.

The Russo I am writing this blog about is a bit of a mystery. I came home from a hard day’s work at Petco, yes Petco, sorry to destroy the illusion! My partner Tony and I are both around retirement age and we like to keep active, so we punish ourselves by doing a “Boot Camp” like workout unloading the Petco delivery truck at 4am every Tuesday and then over another couple of days we stock, restock and re-face the store. It’s exactly the job I want, no thinking, just doing… busy work. Those 40lb bags of dog food will keep you in shape! 20+ years of producing, directing and running a production department are behind me. As are the years after that working in customer service as a spa supervisor at the JW Marriott’s 35,000 square foot high end facility. I’m looking forward to retiring soon and winding down the work I do to have time for myself and hobbies that are key for me right now. One of my hobbies that I’ve written about before is re-watching some of the Catalina Video movies we made and cutting clips, trailers and “PG” full feature versions for my YouTube Channel.

I just worked on a movie I produced that was directed by my right hand man on the crew, Brad Austin. It was a movie we were so excited to be able to make. Once the actual sound stage “airplane set” was secured and the cost approved by the GM, it was on. The airplane set was actually used in the opening scene of the original Charlie’s Angels movie with Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu. The movie was Cockpit: Everybody’s Going Down! I used some cool new AI technology and stripped the original music from the background, leaving only the actors' dialogue. I reused two songs from the movie which were great, but honestly the other original “muzak” throughout was simply annoying, so I replaced it courtesy of my CANVA membership. All with the blessing of Brad Austin, of course. I then cut the sequel Cockpit: Survival of the Fittest onto the end of the first movie and made one big brand new 40 minute PG version called Cockpit: The Ultimate Edition. I did this because my dear friend Brad Austin really dreamed of having this done, and like I said, It’s my new hobby. It turned out great! (Click this link for the Cockpit trailer or click this link for Cockpit: The Ultimate Edition, the full movie.) I’m supposed to get Brad over here so we can record the director’s commentary version to put on my YouTube Channel this spring.

So anyway, I got home from Petco (where the pets go) today and I saw this really nice comment pop up on my tablet. The comment was attached to the full version of Cockpit from YouTuber @YouSoRusso. You know at first I thought the same things as you. Is that Donnie Russo’s handle? It’s not, but it’s funny how name recognition works. Here is the comment followed by my response:

@YouSoRusso (edited):
Josh, You really did make some special stuff. Like, you got a group of guys together on a shoestring budget and took us all on sexy gay adventures. In the skies, In Chicago, In Arizona, in Yosemite, In L.A., on a crash-landed island, even to the International Mr. Leather Competition. All in pursuit of making phenomenal stories. Stories that stand the test of time to the point that thousands of people will come and sit down and watch porn films with no porn 25 years after their releases. The vibes of guys just having a good time and some bros coming together having fun always comes through. Thank you for preserving these gems of a forgotten time and here’s to some more remasters!

@TheJoshEliot:
YouSoRusso, I just got home from work and saw your comment pop up. I have to say, your kind words really made an impact with me. Thank you very much. You described my crew and I to a T. Most of the movies were made with just enough money to pay the models, buy the still photographer his Fuji Film, cover our location fees and lunches, without leaving much at all for a prop. Dildo, model airplane, tie-die T-shirts for a certain Boy Band, or to get Steve Rambo a really fancy haircut. We all were in it for the stories we could tell and the love of movie-making. Much to the dismay of the GM at Catalina, we displayed “rebel-ish” behavior. Many times I told my producer I was making a themed movie he approved of and then completely changed what I shot. If I knew my producer, early on, would not approve an idea, I would simply show him one script and go and direct the real one I wanted to shoot. I would just deal with the wrath once he watched it for approval to release on VHS or DVD, and by that time he wouldn’t be so irate, hopefully.

I guess I’m referring to all of this because of what you mentioned. It truly does blow me away that our movies, which we always thought would have a very limited audience, are now seeing the light of day on social media and actually being enjoyed. I also love the fact that I get to tweak them when making their PG rated debuts. I might not feel “so great” if someone uninvolved with the production of them did the same, music changes, editing changes, etc., but I figured if I made them from scratch as writer, director or producer, it kind of entitles us to make a Director’s Cut, albeit 20 to 30 years later. The changes I make on them honestly are all things I would have done in the first place if we had access to things like: a music library, sound effects, color correction, buzz remove, goodness - even slow motion! Or fast motion! The fact is we had zero bells and whistles at our disposal when editing, so we always relied on our imaginations and shot the movies so they would work with our limited editing abilities. Thank you for getting all of this, as shown in your note to me, that means so much. I’ve written so much right now, and as I think about it, I have a blog due two weeks from Friday for BijouWorld.com. I’m going to use your comment as inspiration for that blog and include what we have both written. I’ll go one step further and say I’m titling the blog: “You So RUSSO”... (though I might add a subtitle).

Your comment really hit home with me… and I thank you. You can sign up to get the BijouWorld.com blogs emailed to you each week. I’m currently on my 51st and having a blast reminiscing about the golden days at Catalina Video. Take Care.

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.