BijouBlog

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

My beautiful home state of Rhode Island, “Little Rhodie” as we affectionately call it, is famous for its sandy shores and seaside Colonial towns. It is most known for its capitol Providence and, attached by a bridge, the islands of Jamestown and Newport. Newport prides itself on starting the very first jazz festival, America’s Cup, and the Gilded Age Mansions such as The Breakers. With over 400 miles of coastline, it features an amazing “Cliff Walk” that ventures past the backyards of these enormous “summer homes” originally owned by America’s wealthiest families including the Vanderbilt’s, the Astor’s and the Morgan’s. Taylor Swift purchased and occupies an 11,000 square foot mansion on Watch Hill, a nearby beach community in Rhode Island. There is a lot of beauty in this small seaside state, the smallest state in the country in fact, one that you can literally drive across in 45 minutes to an hour. If you do take that drive, just beware that not everything in the state of Rhode Island is as welcoming or inviting. In fact, there is quite a dark and scary side to some of the state’s history.

This is my second out of three Halloween-inspired blogs I am writing this month. Today I will focus on a few of the places that literally made my blood run cold as a child and teenager. Now, of course this is a blog for Bijou World, so I’ll try to squeeze in the occasional blowjob with facial cum shot along the way!
 

The Sockanosset Training School for Boys, affectionately known to all Rhode Islanders as “The Bad Boys School,” opened in the late 1800s. It was part of a “state farm” which included an asylum for the insane, an adult prison and a state almshouse. The gothic looking dormitory cottages were built in 1881 to 1895. The approach to dealing with “Wayward Boys” was to offer them structure and discipline through labor-intensive work such as farming, construction and shoveling coal from a small coal mine on the property. There are many stories about the headmaster abusing his powers and submitting the boys to mental and physical punishments. When our family would drive past the Bad Boys School, my mother would never miss an opportunity to tell us that we would be sent there if we didn’t behave ourselves. Something dozens of mothers and fathers across the state used as leverage to keep their kids on the straight and narrow. This certainly worked for my brother and me, as Sockanosset was terrifying from the outside. I can’t imagine what it was like inside! In disrepair for many years and due to lack of funding, it closed down in 1985 and sat there vacant for over two decades.

Before moving to California to attend film school, I took a lot of pictures of the building and grounds knowing one day I would somehow find a way to make a movie about this place. As you can see from the pictures, it was definitely the thing that nightmares are made of, and stories of spirits haunting the grounds were rampant. Years later when Chi Chi and I were assigned Powertool 2, I considered using my photos as the exterior shots of the prison, but when I saw how “vanilla” the script was coming I struck that idea. If production with Catalina Video had continued past 2006, I’m sure I would have eventually found a way to make the movie Bad Boys School, probably with an S&M or Leather twist to it. I’ve been accused many times of making movies that don’t necessarily fit into the porno movie mold. Hey, what can I say, I was a young horror movie buff who just happened to have complete control (mostly) on the projects I wanted to direct. With Thrill Me!, it was: “Dead bodies and porn don’t mix!” Well, you know what? I made it mix! In Night of the Living Bi-Dolls, it was: “Are you nuts? Zombies are not sexy!” Well you know what? I made it sexy and it won Best Bisexual Picture that year! For Single White Male, it was: “A criminally insane lead is not a proper subject for a Catalina Feature!” (a Scott Masters quote). Well, you know what? Rob Cryston won Best Actor at the Gay Video Guide Awards that year and I picked up Best Screenplay.

So why wouldn’t I do a Bad Boys School movie some day?! The image on the faux lobby card below was a must; no matter what the box cover looked like, that shot had to be there. Says it all, don’t you think?

Now, let me get back to what I was saying about the criminally insane! The Boys Asylum - Ladd School - really does take a top prize for one of Rhode Island’s most haunted. Founded in 1908 by Joseph P. Ladd and originally called “The Rhode Island School for the Feeble Minded,” this caring and loving facility carried out cruel treatments like shock therapy, ice-bath therapy and lobotomies. The boys dormitory filled up in 1909 and a girls dorm was erected. Consisting of 10 buildings on 331 desolate acres, it also featured padded cells, operating rooms, a morgue and crematorium; more like an overcrowded prison where the occupants slept head to foot with only nine inches of separation between beds. Most were committed to life sentences, often never having committed crimes. Women were confined until menopause or death and sometimes sterilized for extramarital affairs or having a child out of wedlock. Known in modern day as Ladd School, it continued to function as a facility until 1986. Sitting vacant and isolated before this hell hole was finally demolished in 2013, the property was a hot, white hot, spot for paranormal activity.

Here is an excerpt from The Pawtucket Paranormal Society from a day trip to the property before it was razed:

“As we got close to the place, I began to feel a strange feeling settling into my gut. I can not say that I knew straight away this place was causing it, but I had a feeling. We drove onto the property and the feeling grew so much stronger, like there was a veil we passed through. We began to pass old, dilapidated, boarded up buildings, when a wave of sadness washed over me. I began to feel the hatred that seeped from the very ground we drove on. We stopped a few times so I could take pictures of the buildings, when I began to hear the whisper of many voices, all young and seeming to plead for mercy. When we came to the Fogerty Building, it felt like all the bad pooled in one place. The whispers grew stronger, they wanted to be released from the hell that bounded them. We came to what was left of one of the playgrounds. All that remained was a rusted, twisted swing set with one swing remaining. Dawn (team leader) did not want to get out of the car because [as] she stated to me later... she had the feeling of being watched. When I got close to the swing set, I heard a young girl asking me to follow her. I approached the swing… I had to feel it. I had to know how many sad souls sat upon it. When I got close to it, I heard the child say, 'Mine, mine, mine.' I proceeded to touch it. When I did, I immediately felt pain go up my right side and across my chest. It felt like I was being burned. This place is a tumor on the face of the earth.”

This report was just one in a long line. In previous instances, various investigators noted: a low moaning sound haunts the basement; blasts of wind can be felt and noises of footsteps and shattering chains can be heard; an ethereal figure haunts the halls; the walls bleed. A horde of “orbs” were caught on film, as well as a peculiar dark figure. One investigator’s camera slipped from her hand and, when she picked it up, it was slapped from her hand again. In the morgue, noises of a little girl can be heard as well as the sound of heavy footsteps. On the second floor, there were voices of people talking, things getting thrown and people screaming for help or weeping.

The list goes on and on, but I won’t. You know why? Because I don’t want a fucking thing to do with this place! I have no wish, desire, craving or itch to make Ladd School a movie. Nope. Nada. That is a bridge too far… even for me! Oh, you know what? I’ve just noticed that I never got to that blow job. Apologies. I promise it will be included in my third and final Halloween blog this season. It’s called Vampire's Grave, and it’s named after a real place located a short distance from the “actual” Conjuring house, which is also in Rhode Island.

I’ll add the BJ to that one!

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 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. 

By Josh Eliot

 

Hands down, the very best part of my career with Catalina Video was the projects I shot with adult film icon Sharon Kane. Muse is a word that comes to mind when I think back about all the projects we worked on together. We first met when Chi Chi introduced her to me. The movie was Valley of the Bi-Dolls and I was casting the role of Ceily Fontana based on the Neely O’Hara role, as you probably already know if you’ve read my previous blog, “Whatever Happened to Neely O’Hara.” I’m pretty sure anyone reading this knows and loves the performance Patty Duke gave in Valley of the Dolls, and as things turned out, Sharon was able to get right up there with her, in my book, and take things up a notch with the original music she wrote and performed in the movie. We took things to a whole other level in Revenge of the Bi Dolls, where I got to imagine how things would have progressed had Jacqueline Susanne written a sequel. Neely gets her revenge on all those who rubbed her the wrong way. Sharon has the ability to say a particular line fifteen different ways. I would create entire movies around her. In the boy/boy movies where she would do a non-sexual role, I made her a central focal point. Case in point, the music agent Nance Freely in Boy Band and the school superintendent Ms. Narkwurst in the Rascal series. In the bisexual movies, she was not only a central character but also a screen vixen, even playing three different characters in Night of the Living Bi-Dolls: Zombie Ceily, Tanya and Margo Peyton. In between my projects, Sharon also worked with other Catalina directors like Brad Austin and Chi Chi LaRue on roles with very diverse personalities.

In The Big Switch 3: Bachelor Party, Chi Chi LaRue’s bisexual movie, Sharon played a stripper jumping out of a giant fake cake we rented, playing upon her days as a dancer at Alex DeRenzy’s Screening Room Theatre in San Francisco where, she recently told me, Desiree Cousteau also worked and was quite a wild child. In Brad Austin’s Cockpit 2, Sharon played Mama, a hillbilly with two sons who held a couple of survivors from a plane crash hostage on their psycho farm. She stole the show in a scene where she was talking to her sons on a two-way radio. In order to get a better signal, she improvised by raising one of her pigtails (wrapped around a metal hanger to keep them firm) into the air and adjusting it like an old TV antenna! The crew roared with laughter! It was moments like this where we fell more and more in love with this fabulous actress. She would literally become her characters and try to think and react how they would, always bringing a surprise and delight to every situation.

In the Rascal series (click link for trailer), she played Ms. Narkwurst, an Ilsa She-Wolf knock off who ran Rossmore Academy where little Ricky Haskell attended. She took him under her wing to her own detriment, as he was too much of a “little monster” for anyone to handle. She nailed the role with her accent, and when her character went blind because she had an itch during her Lasek surgery, she improvised on set again with a show-stopping scene of her falling out of bed then tripping and smashing into anything and everything in her way. In Cracked (trailer link), She played Joan, a bitter mother-in-law who is “dead-set” on getting her deceased son’s fortune away from his surviving wife. Based on the Patty Duke movie You’ll Like My Mother and the Joan Crawford movie Strait-Jacket, this movie is not straight nor will you like this ax-wielding mutha.

 

In Boy Band (trailer link), Sharon as Nance Freely, music director, stole the show away from the boys with her over the top, fouled-mouthed, spoiled rich-bitch character, who would instill fear in anyone and everyone she dealt with. As Miranda in His Terrible Twin (trailer link), she took a different approach as a very grounded, down-to-earth theater performer and singer, drawing upon more of her real life persona. It didn’t pay off for her, unfortunately, because that dirty rotten twin, who was so sweet with her during their duet of “When Trouble Calls,” stuck it to her in the end - not in a nice way. Now, Ms. Challenger, on the other hand, from SwitchCraft (trailer link), was all about handing out the punishment and abuse. Sharon didn’t hesitate to chop off her beautiful golden locks to get into the character of the butch gym teacher from hell, obsessed with firm and tight muscular bodies. When frump Edwina Simplestein, played by Chi Chi LaRue, crossed her path, it sent Ms. Challenger into a frenzy! Challenger smacked around and wrestled to the ground poor Edwina, humiliating her in front of the other students. The tables turned when Edwina got her revenge on the gym teacher in the end, turning her firm body to flab, and breaking bones in her body through (s)witchcraft.

The movie The Hills Have Bi’s (trailer link) was the most different type of role I wrote for Sharon - that of Clarice. She played a rich Beverly Hills matriarch whose husband’s behavior with other women, including their son’s fiancé, causes her to lose her self-esteem. The son’s fiancé, looking like a young Heather Locklear, has a secret in that her mother and relatives are hillbillies, played by Chi Chi LaRue and Moist Towelette. Their visit to the mansion contributes positively to Clarice’s growth as a sexually charged, newly independent and proud woman. Sharon performed two songs, one as a duet with Clint Yeager (“Desires of the Heart”) as well as the theme song (“The Hills Have Bi’s”). That’s caviar on her face in the photo, in case you were wondering.

This is but a quick bullet point blog about my favorite gal in the adult film business. It’s just the tip of the iceberg as she has worked with incredible directors and co-stars for many decades. There is an amazing podcast with her, which was recorded recently and released through The Rialto Report. I was truly blown away with all the information and experiences this wonderful woman has lived through and experienced. If you click on only one link in this blog, this is one to pick. It’s amazing!

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.