BijouBlog

By Will Seagers

Hi Folks, Will here. As usual, I have yet another strange title for you! The name of this multi-faceted adventure won't be significant until we get to the end of the blog. Like the house that landed in Oz, this story will go through lots of turbulence before getting there. But, with the help of of my friends, it turned out quite well.

In the summer of 1975 in The Pines on Fire Island, a seed was planted by my beau of the time, Roger. He told me that he was moving to San Francisco in the fall. I was taken aback by this as Roger was a quintessential New Yorker, never having lived anywhere else in his thirty-four years. He was born in the Bronx, lived in the West Village, and was also a teacher in the NYC school system. To me, he seemed happily entrenched in his metro lifestyle. But, San Francisco bound, he was.

After an intense but brief affair, our relationship morphed into a really solid friendship. Soon, the idea (adventure) of moving to San Francisco grew on me, as well. Ultimately, this would be a move that I would make on my own. Even though I had never been there before, I was not daunted. And, it was not the first nor last time I would made that kind of move. But first, a rather eventful year would transpire before getting there.

Denis, my brilliant and zany former roommate from San Juan (Eastern Airlines days) had won a scholarship to Arizona State University and needed a "companion." Truth be told, it was really his parents' idea, as they were scared to death of him living alone and so far from their New Jersey home. Although Denis was quite book smart (Fulbright Scholar and MENSA member), his street smarts were lacking. Not having a formal plan nor date for my move to the West Coast, I agreed to be his chaperone and roommate for this truly hysterical adventure!

His parents gave him a car. After loading it to the hilt, we left NJ on Route 80 for the trek to Tempe, AZ. I only wish that we had a video camera to record our antics en route. I don't think I have ever laughed as much in my life! Between our two unconventional outlooks on life, there was never a dull moment. I do remember nearly running the car off various interstates in fits of laughter on several occasions! We arrived in Tempe and took up lodgings at an apartment complex complete with pool!

He went to school and I went to work as a bartender... something I had never done before. I relied heavily on my appearance to keep these gigs afloat! A bartender I am not! I also had some small legit modeling jobs at a local agency. I did manage to land a cattle call and get a small part in a crowd scene in the Barbra Streisand remake of A Star is Born. I was within arm's reach of Kristopherson - not so much Ms. Streisand!

As Denis finished up his school year, I was contacted by a dear friend, Lou Thomas, of Target Studios. I had done some print work for him in NY and in Arizona. Lou asked me if I would be interested in working for John Whyte at the Boatel in Fire Island Pines. I jumped at the opportunity (as I had nothing planned for after Arizona). So, back across the country I zoomed!

My summer of 1976 at the Boatel deserves and will get its own chapter in my upcoming autobiography. Suffice it to say that it was a vivid and fabulous experience that I repeated again in the summers of 1977 and 1978! But, the most important events to happen during that first summer were meeting Chuck Holmes (of Falcon fame) and becoming "family" with my Boatel co-workers. Chuck Holmes offered me a job at his SF restaurant, Trinity Place, as well as modeling work with his studios. And, my Boatel co-workers all wanted to move to SF at the close of the season on the Island. Synchronicity, eh?

So, Denis popped up again. He requested the pleasure of my joining him on a trip to Mazatlan, Mexico as soon as I finished up with my Fire Island duties. Naturally, I joined him... but not before seeing "Irma" in Huachuga City, AZ. I told him about SF. But, he said it would only be a week at Mazatlan's beautiful beaches. After he picked me up at Tucson airport, he drove me to see "Irma," the tiny trailer where he lived in Huachuga City. BTW, this was the rather hilly and very green section of Arizona where the high speed driving scenes were filmed towards the end of A Star Is Born. More synchronicity?

We left for Mazatlan from Nogales, AZ on an ancient but beautifully preserved train - a la Orient Express! It was mid-October... and guess what? That's the height of Mexico's hurricane season. So, we had no sun for that week! This made me even more anxious to set sail for San Francisco! After getting back to the U.S. and to Tucson Airport, I finally departed for the "City by the Bay" with only the clothes on my back and a small duffel to stow overhead.

Arriving in San Francisco but not knowing the workings of the BART system, I paid the hefty cab fare to my Castro and 19th St. destination. Although I was offered only the floor of one of my co-worker's tiny flat... this was my liaison in SF! I wasn't concerned about my accommodations - I was finally here! After a few hugs and putting away my duffel bag, I ventured out.

As I eased my way down the steep slope of Castro Street towards 18th and Castro (the gay crossroads of the world), I felt like Dorothy swinging open the door to her house that had just crash landed in Oz. Gazing around at all of the men and the "gaiety" that blanketed the area, I could only think: Nope... This Sure Ain't Kansas!

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.

Will Seagers, recent photo

By Josh Eliot

In 1987, before opening the San Francisco studio and hiring me to work for Catalina Video, Scott Masters and editor Chet Thomas had stopped productions for Nova Studios and started working for William Higgins. William Higgins was getting ready to hightail it out of the country for Amsterdam and was prepping Scott Masters to become producer for Catalina Video. Scott Masters also signed on to direct movies produced by Higgins until his departure. Scott’s initial movie for Catalina was called Down For The Count. On paper, it was going to be a star-studded sure-fire hit and, despite itself, it was. The cast included European import Sven Ericson, Chad Johnson, Kurt Bauer, Danny Russo, Kyle McGyver, Dave Phillips (actually: Jon Vincent), Joe Fuller, Matt Forrest, David Dabello, Tyler Jensen and Ricky Rhodes. The lead, however, was a tall, handsome, blue-eyed boy named Eric Manchester.

Born August 26th, 1964, Eric Manchester appeared in over a dozen movies released between the years 1987-1989. Such hits like Spokes 2 (1988) and Touch Me: It’s Hot, It’s Tender (1988) for director Steven Scarborough, as well as In Your Wildest Dreams (1989) for director Matt Sterling, working alongside Tom Brock, Justin Cade, Chad Douglas, Leigh Erickson, and Kevin Williams. Movies released through Catalina Video included Down For The Count (1987), Innocence Lost (1987), They Grow ‘Em Big (1988), Head Of The Class (1988) and his very last movie, Powerline (1989).

Down For The Count had everything going for it - until the make-up man sabotaged the entire project. I remember hearing about this movie on the set, long before ever seeing it on VHS. Hearing Chet Thomas and John Travis laughing about the in your face make-up didn’t really prepare me fully for when I first viewed it and then again some 34 years later, as I revisited the movie. The over use of the make-up and eye liner pencils didn’t go over well in the eyes of William Higgins. I’m just imagining that maybe Scott Masters was heavy handed in the make-up department, like he was in the wardrobe department, and just didn’t realize that shooting on video was less forgiving than shooting on film? But certainly he would have questioned the make-up when shooting the close-up face shots, since he could see them in color on the studio monitors? In any case, the movie is plagued with hot models looking very RuPaul’s Drag Race, especially in the close-ups. I’m sure Sven Ericson was a tall hot stud, but you just can’t get past the eyes. It had some naturally good looking guys in it, like Kurt Bauer and Chad Johnson, but it’s hard to look past what was done to them. Seriously, how do you do that to Chad Johnson (Bijou Video’s Perfect 10) and get away with it!? Despite the make-up (and some questionable costume choices - example: men’s sports bra-like tops), Eric Manchester was the true lead of this movie and does a great job playing the oversexed college wrestler who gets in hot water with the coach for banging every guy in latex who crosses his path. Even though Jon Vincent, Kurt Bauer and Danny Russo provide the standout three-way scene in the school shower, this is really Eric Manchester’s movie. I remember being impressed by this icon from the moment I saw him Matt Sterling’s In Your Wildest Dreams - he was totally dreamy!

In 1989, I worked with him on Powerline. From the moment he walked into the San Francisco studio with director John Travis, we were all smitten. Once again, it was a great surprise to see who John Travis would be bringing in to the shoot, as we never knew in advance. Eric’s scene was in a studio-designed dirt pit where they were going to be adding a power pole. I was going to actually be using the exact same set the following day in my debut movie Runaways. I remember being very envious that John Travis was the one who got to direct Eric Manchester, but you know what? I was just as happy to be the videographer for his scene, where I got to be right below him, shooting from underneath, while he got sucked off. I got the better end of the deal, I suppose. Out of the hundreds of models I’ve worked with over the years, Eric, in my mind, had that something extra making him much more attractive beyond his stunning good looks and breathtaking blue eyes. His time in the Navy, stationed in Washington, gave him a “straight, edgy” persona that was very attractive. In fact, years later when Chi Chi LaRue brought Joey Stefano to the set, for the very first time, to shoot the movie Billboard, I was jettisoned back to the set of Powerline in 1989. To me, they could have been brothers. Joey Stefano was a dead ringer, looks-wise anyway, for Eric Manchester.

After shooting the scenes for Powerline, John Travis and Eric Manchester couldn’t wait to “light up” a big boner Eric had with him. The only thing John Travis loved more than his Benson and Hedges 100’s was a good “bone.” I remember thinking that Eric Manchester was even cuter when he was stoned. His blue eyes all red and blood shot from smoking weed were even more sexy, if you can believe it! He was more relaxed and playful with the crew and a lot lighter on his feet. Back then I remember, at least I think I do, that he was definitely bisexual and had a girlfriend back home. He had the straight boy cool jock from high school feel to him, yet would suck, fuck, top, and bottom with gusto and passion. I truly believed he loved being on the set and enjoyed his uninhibited sexual encounters. I was 27 when we shot Powerline and I just assumed that he was older than me, but in fact he was 2 years younger. He carried himself with such confidence. I’m surprised he made a deliberate decision to get out of the business after completing work on this movie. For years, I couldn’t help but to be curious as to where he was and what he was doing, hoping he would someday surface and contact us for more video work. If I even had a hunch, during my years as producer, that I could have tracked him down, I would have moved heaven and earth to get him in front of the camera again. Decades went by with no word about him. As far as we knew, he cut all ties with the industry, and was untraceable. Where was he all these years? Chatter on the internet had him escorting in Seattle and San Francisco throughout the 1990’s. Escorting ads he placed in magazines and sightings on Polk Street from various sources attest to the fact.

When I went on the internet this week to find shots of Eric Manchester for a Down For The Count trailer I was cutting for my YouTube Channel, I was shocked to see a write up on IMDb about him. In 2023, while evidently visiting the city of San Francisco, Eric Manchester was discovered, by hotel staff, unresponsive in his room. He unfortunately passed away from a heroin overdose, and was laid to rest at the Wellston Cemetery in Oklahoma.

He passed away on March 12, 2023 and was 58 years old.

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 my very first blog for Bijou, “Coming Out of My Wet Shorts,” I wrote briefly about the Rustic Drive-In in North Smithfield Rhode Island, where I saw Sharon Kane for the first time in Alex DeRenzy’s Pretty Peaches. The drive-in, by the way, is now the Rustic Tri View Drive-In, which features three screens, all very family friendly, becoming successful again during the Covid-19 outbreak. The original and largest of the screens had its back to the main street, with two side wings so passers-by could not see what was projected on the screen. It was one of the only or very few drive-ins exclusively showing XXX movies back in the 1970’s.

Over the many visits my friends and I would make to the drive-in, we saw such classics as Eruption with John Holmes and The Opening of Misty Beethoven. Constance Money was the lead, working alongside porn staples Jamie Gillis, Georgina Spelvin and, surprisingly, Casey Donovan (who would have thought?!). But aside from those big name cast members, Gloria Leonard was also prominently featured in the movie. Any baby boomer connoisseur of adult films knows of her or has seen her in movies. She also had an amazing run as the publisher of High Society Magazine starting in 1977, holding that position for fourteen years. Gloria was a board member of the Adult Video Association and its successor, the Free Speech Coalition. She was an outspoken advocate for the adult film industry and free speech rights.

In the 1960’s Gloria, was a Wall Street commodities trader and later worked in public relations for Elektra records. She began her hardcore pornography career in 1974 and worked in roughly 40 film projects including Maraschino Cherry (1977), MisBehavin (1978) and Roommates (1982) before retiring from performing in 1984. She remained close to the industry in the role of director for VCA Pictures, Adam & Eve and Vivid Entertainment. While working in her role as publisher of High Society, Gloria is credited with being one of the first people to use “976 numbers” for promotional purposes, and as a revenue stream. She convinced the magazine owner to purchase more “976 numbers,” which helped to start the boom of the phone sex industry. Calvin Klein, at the Video Review Magazine Awards where Gloria was a presenter, was quoted as saying, “For fifteen years, I walked to school with this woman and I saw more of her in three minutes of Misty Beethoven than I saw in all of those fifteen years.” In 1984, she had a role in the mainstream television show Simon & Simon, playing a salesperson. During that period, she also made guest appearances on the Oprah, Geraldo, Maury Povich, Larry King and Morton Downey Jr. shows. Gloria won the Best Actress Award for Taboo: American Style from the Adult Film Association of America.

In 1993, Gloria Leonard won another award for Best Actress in a Non-Sexual Role at the Gay Erotic Video Awards. The award was for her outstanding role as Lana Dawson in Valley of the Bi-Dolls. It was literally a miracle that Sharon Kane, who was cast as the lead in Dolls, was able to persuade Gloria Leonard to step in front of the camera again. She was going to be in town for a short period of time, so I made the schedule to accommodate her. Nearly a decade after retiring from adult films, she agreed to take part in my little movie. Believe me, the movie instantly felt much bigger and more important for me to get right once she agreed to sign on. The fact that it was a bisexual movie in a time when the straight industry didn’t necessarily approve with open arms was a testament to her courage. A big name like that taking on this role was not really heard of. Gloria played the Helen Lawson role for this parody of Valley of the Dolls, based on Susan Hayward’s character Helen Lawson. All the juicy scenes from the original were included in the script, like the famous scene where Ceily pulls off Lana’s wig in the nightclub bathroom. I was never one who wanted to be in front of the camera, but this was my one shot to document myself working with this industry icon. I added a scene where I played a paparazzi photographer who Leonard’s character hires to follow her boyfriend. Of course, I shot some photos of him in another man’s arms and brought them straight back to her. She improvised beautifully, which was so impressive to me, especially when she was dismissing me from her presence by hitting me in the chest with the file, then ordering me to get them published in the local rag. We shot a shit load of dialogue all in one day and I was nervous the whole time that she would say “enough is enough” and try to rush me along. But no way, she was so gracious and into the project, as well as giving tips along the way, which I took gratefully.

The movie was a big hit and, in addition to Gloria’s award, it won Best Screenplay, Best Video and Best Director. I was thrilled, because it was my “baby” and the sequel was “green-lit” almost instantly by the Catalina GM. In 1994, we shot Revenge of the Bi-Dolls, which starts literally right where Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls ends. I had Gloria’s number, because I lifted it off the acting application after shooting Valley. When I called her, she absolutely agreed to reprise her role of Lana. She told me a time period when she would be traveling to L.A. from her residence in Hawaii and we scheduled the shoot the day that she was free during her trip. This time, instead of her character being the mean terrorizer, she was the one who got tormented by her nemesis, Ceily Fontana (Sharon Kane). Everything from the original script, to all the standout performances, made Revenge my best reviewed movie ever, getting a rare five stars in AVN magazine. It went on to win Best Picture, Director, Non-Sexual for Chi Chi LaRue and Best Music for Sharon Kane. I was going to end it there, because all the main characters died in the finale, but the Catalina GM wanted a third installment. What do you do when you kill off all the main characters and need to shoot another installment? See for yourself! I cut all three movies together for the PG version on my YouTube channel and called it: Far Beyond The Valley.

Gloria Leonard did not come back for the third installment, as the storyline took a drastic left turn and her character was not part of the progress. But hands down, just being able to spend some time with this icon was something I will never forget and always cherish! It was such an honor to have met this amazing woman, who has so much rich and genuine history in the adult film industry. It’s hard to believe one person had such a broad and expansive career, bringing a lot of good and fun along the way.

On January 31st, 2014 at her home in Waimea, Hawaii, Gloria suffered a massive stroke. As a result of the stroke, she suffered from brain damage and passed away on February 3rd, 2014, at the age of 73. Her history in this industry and beyond speaks for itself. It’s hard to imagine anyone accomplishing as much in life as Gloria Leonard did.

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 Will Seagers

Hi folks, Will here. And, here I go again starting off with another obscure blog title. The I.M.H.O is of course "In my humble opinion." I have always liked that phrase because it allows the delivery of a potentially heavy message but buffers it by categorizing it as an opinion and not necessarily a fact. The real meat of this blog is what's sexy and what is not. And, of course what floats one boat does not necessarily float another's!

To be blunt, I have always been a devotee of porn. No... not just because I participated in it. But, from an early age (somewhere in my early adolescence), I have always enjoyed some good dick pics. And, the ones that I have found most stimulating are basic ones. With my age at 73 and the fact that I started to seek out these cheap magazine thrills, we are talking about stuff that was from 60 years ago and then some!

I remember seeing the very first nude body pic even before that. My uncle had a stash of softcore porn under his bed. My first exposure was the famous first Playboy issue with the spread of Marilyn Monroe. I found it both shocking and intriguing in that I had never seen a nude before - male nor female - and I didn't really get the physical reaction that I expected. That was when I became aware that I might be a little different.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I loved hanging out with the boys for a circle jerk throughout my teens. Most of them considered it a "phase" and simply outgrew it. But, that wasn't the case for me! During this time I found it very difficult to come by any naked male porn. And, what did come my way was very primitive. Let me explain. Most pics were B&W cut outs from porn mags. And, some of the pics were actual photos taken by various people. This was where I got my taste for straight-forward porn - no acting, fancy sets, or enhanced facial expressions – unadulterated.

From this, I tried to develop a "practice what you preach" concept when in front of a camera. I tried a minimalist approach to participating in these films and print works in terms of "fluffing up" the sexuality in these adventures. Some good examples of this were the first shots taken and published by Man's Image on the Christopher Street pier back in the mid 70s. Nothing was put on... I just stood there being myself. I will have to admit, I was coaxed - or should I say directed - into creating a rather ridiculous, so called "sexy looking" face for the centerfold of a the first Playguy Magazine. I still blush every time I see it! To me it was too contrived.

Anyway, back to "Matters at Hand." My current tastes haven't changed that much over the years. I love the simple straight-forward approach of straight looking guys being filmed or photographed in a J/O scene - no frills. Consider this: the studios that collected these successful gay models over the years did so because their sexuality was naturally projected - nothing was put on. And please, no plucked eyebrows, totally shaved bodies and heads rolling back with mouths agape expressing gratuitous (and obviously not real) sexual ecstasy. I will go as far to admit that still two of my favorite studios are Old Reliable - talk about raw and unedited - and my home base, Bijou World.

Well, I did name this article "Taxing I.M.H.O." You've read my opinions. The Taxing part of it is the work I go through to find the quintessentially simple sex in the smorgasbord of gay sex porn that is out there. For those like me that don't need a plot, stage setting or anything else theatrical to glom up the fantasy of that hunky guy, who is really is the centre du monde, keep the faith there are plenty of goodies out there to ogle. Oh and BTW, I am plenty good at creating the fantasy part, myself.

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.

Will Seagers, recent photo

By Josh Eliot

A “tight” asshole? Lips wrapped tightly around a hard cock? Or a hand with a tight grip jacking you off to climax? The word tight in the title of this blog has nothing to do with any of those statements. Having said that, I do remember yelling out: “Your ass is so tight” or “Tighten your ass cheeks on my cock” about a million times to the models for them to repeat on camera. I guess the same went for lips. When directing, the moment things got quiet on the set I always felt the need to yell out a line or two for the models to repeat back. It’s not like the majority of actors would do it on their own, so in order to keep things energetic, I had my staple list of one liners to feed them. I also had a staple list of actions, too. For example, the “underneath” sucking shot was simply that. It’s not the most sexy angle of a cock getting sucked, so we always needed something to spice up the look so it wasn’t just a dick going in and out of a mouth, which got boring to watch after a few moments. I’d tell the model to do the “swing thing.” The swing thing would basically be having the model on his knees sucking the dick while the guy getting sucked would pull his dick out of the sucker’s mouth, using only his hips. He would then swing his dick from side to side, every once and a while clipping the bottom guy on his chin. For the most part, the bottom guy would try to catch it with his mouth or I would tell him to get his hand up there and “snap the dick,” which basically meant he would push it down towards the lens and it would bounce back up and down. We’d have him do it a few times to get a good bounce. It always looked great shot from underneath, and overhead too. I was always sure to repeat the swing thing and the snap thing in every other angle I shot: wide shot side, side close-up, side closeup with pan up body to face, etc., etc. It was a formula, for sure, when shooting a scene.

It was 1990 and I was in my second year of directing for Catalina and still getting the formula down, when our new GM decided to put my skills as a videographer to the test. He was always smoking weed and coming up with out of the ordinary ideas for me to execute. This was the first time, but not the last. Cat Men Do! was one of those later movies that came from his sativa filled brain and I hated every last minute I spent making that movie! He had a very specific idea for this one, and I guess because I was smoking a lot of weed at the time too, I absolutely loved it! The name came first – Sex In Tight Places – and his idea was that the actors would be in small, hard to shoot spaces while having sex. This project would basically throw “the formula” I was still learning out the window and force me to come up with solutions on how to shoot in tiny, cramped spaces. Since this idea stemmed from the GM, he threw in a little extra money for me to spend on the sets. I was off to Warner Brothers Studio in the valley, because they had the best set props anywhere. It was there that I rented two of my sets for shooting: the bus bathroom set, complete with hinges so you could open up one of the walls for shooting, and the graffiti covered phone booth, which had a pop off top for overhead shots. Those folding doors that phone booths had were not removable, making it a real pain in the ass to shoot. The other two sets I built myself were an air conditioning duct and an elevator interior.

We were able to load the phone booth in our van and take it to the set where we built a brick alleyway, which we filled with a bunch of litter. Danny Sommers is a city worker painting over the graffiti on the brick wall, while pedestrian Steve Kennedy drops a dime in the pay phone, hoping it will dial him up some action. The two stars were very helpful in coming up with positions in that tight ass booth – one with Danny holding the top of the booth doing pull ups while Steve Kennedy fucked him all the while using his foot to keep the accordion doors open. Aside from that position, the poor still photographer, Jeff Burton, was fucked and I felt really bad for him. For the bus bathroom scene, we brought the large unit over on a flatbed truck, then set it up in the Catalina warehouse where we shipped all the VHS tapes from. Doug Niles and Dean Pike really were troopers for that shoot, because the temperature in that warehouse got very hot, making things ten times harder. For the finished movie, we stole some stock shots from My Best Buddy, where we had interior and exterior shots of a real bus.

The air duct shoot was a breeze, as we had a studio with visible air ducts for the lead in storyline. Cole Phillips and Damien looked pretty damn good in their hard hats, and once inside the air duct, set the intimacy of the small space helped them connect more sexually. Yes, in case you are wondering, I ripped off the idea from Warner Brothers' set rental department by adding hinges to the wall panels of my air conditioning duct, making it super easy to get shots from every angle.

The final setting, the elevator, was a breeze. We made an elevator before for The Big One, Chet Thomas’ earthquake themed movie, when we were in San Francisco. You basically build a three walled set out of wood paneling, throw some carpet on the floor, and frame some lighting panels on the “removable” ceiling… done. What was the most satisfying about shooting that elevator scene was the surprise Steve Regis brought with him to the set. At the last minute, Steve’s co-star, “what’s his name,” dropped out. We thought we had to cancel the shoot, but Steve said he had a friend who would do the scene with him and assured me I would love this guy. I agreed, sight unseen, so as not to cancel the shoot. When the studio doors opened and Steve walked in with his big, studly, raunchy redhead friend, everyone on the crew felt their heart skip a beat. This guy was handsome, but not overly so in the traditional sense. It was just his overall look and the way he carried himself which was very sexy to us 20-somethings!

Steve played a businessman stuck in an elevator with a hot blue collar delivery guy, whose coke-can, rock hard cock gave us all goosebumps when he opened his fly and pulled it out for the first time. I remember making eye contact with our still photographer, Jeff Burton, and we made a silly face at each other, acknowledging our approval of this hot new model to the set. Since Jeff had such a hard time getting good shots in the phone booth scene, we let him take his time with the new stud to get lots of great hard-shots. The crew and I just sat back and enjoyed the show. We really were like a bunch of oversexed kids in a candy store on that shoot, which never happens! It felt like the fastest scene we ever shot. His dick came out hard, stayed hard even during re-lighting and camera angle changes, and he even came on cue! Now remember, this was years before Viagra; we were not used to this on the set. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and damn! We didn’t name him until after the shoot, and struggled to find a really hot, masculine name to match his looks and the vibe he gave off. On the drive home after the shoot, Steve and his friend/co-star, who cabbed it to the set, rode with us in the van. We were determined to come up with the perfect stage name for him. We wanted something macho and I remembered Tom Brock from the 1988 Catalina movie, They Grow ‘Em Big. He was an ultra-masculine stud who worked for Falcon, Matt Sterling and Catalina from 1985 - 1988. Tom Brock was in some of the most popular movies of the time, including Inch By Inch (1985), Bigger Than Life (1986), Bulge: Mass Appeal (1988) and In Your Wildest Dreams (1988). We decided Brock would be a great first name, then suddenly a Maxon brand truck pulled in front of us on the freeway and I said, “That’s it: Brock Maxon.”

Literally the very next day, I reached out to Brock Maxon and started offering him EVERYTHING. We set up and shot a couple hard photo layouts of him, which graced the cover of Honcho Magazine. We quickly cast him in Chet Thomas’ Cruise Control, starring Derek Cruise, and The Taste of Leather, starring Joe Magnum, the winner of the 1988 International Mr. Leather contest. Brock, Joe Magnum and Donnie Russo worked together in the stand-out scene. Then, just like that… boop. The hottest new stud on the scene got hitched, “married,” to some lucky fucker and removed from the porn star pool, never making another movie again. Now this was a real, “What the fuck!” moment, even though it had nothing to do with my producer, Scott Masters!

Making Sex In Tight Places was good for me as a director and even more so as a videographer, teaching me tricks to use on future projects. Even though Doug Niles was ready to kill me, because we had two crew members shaking the bathroom set constantly to emulate a bus driving, the great group of guys in the cast were all on board for the challenge. But best of all, it's one of only three movies where Brock Maxon ripped the screen apart with his presence. Can you imagine if “what’s his name” didn’t cancel and we never got to meet Brock Maxon in the first place? That would have been as much of a “bummer” as it was having to make Cat Men Do!

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.