Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story

Last updated

Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story (2015) is a documentary film which follows the life of Chuck Holmes, the founder of gay pornography studio Falcon Studios. Its director was Michael Stabile, and the documentary premiered on April 10, 2015, at the Wicked Queer film festival, formerly known as the Boston LGBT Film Festival. [1]

The documentary discusses Holmes's difficult relationship with the Democratic Party (which he supported) [2] and philanthropic groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and the LGBTQ Victory Fund, [3] as well as ways it says Holmes changed gay male beauty standards [4] [5] and modern gay pornography. [6] [7]

In the Los Angeles Times , Gary Goldstein noted that the film manages to squeeze in important context and history despite its short runtime. [8]

Related Research Articles

Falcon Entertainment, a United States independent company based in San Francisco, California, is one of the world's largest producers of gay pornography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frameline Film Festival</span>

The Frameline Film Festival began as a storefront event in 1976. The first film festival, named the Gay Film Festival of Super-8 Films, was held in 1977. The festival is organized by Frameline, a nonprofit media arts organization whose mission statement is "to change the world through the power of queer cinema". It is the oldest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Schwarz</span> American filmmaker

Jeffrey Schwarz is an American Emmy Award-winning film producer, director, and editor. He is known for an extensive body of documentary work including Commitment to Life, Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, The Fabulous Allan Carr, Tab Hunter Confidential, I Am Divine, Vito, Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon and Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucas Entertainment</span> New York-based gay pornographic studio

Lucas Entertainment is an independent New York-based gay pornographic studio started by porn star Michael Lucas, funded by his ex-husband Richard Winger. It is one of the largest such studios in the world. The studio is known for lavish, big-budget films, and it contends that its 2006 film Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita is the most expensive gay porn ever made. The film won 14 GayVN awards in 2007, the current record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Lucas (director)</span> Russian-American producer, actor and pornographic film director

Michael Lucas is a Russian-American-Israeli businessman, performer, founder, and CEO of Lucas Entertainment, Manhattan's largest gay adult film company.

Michael Stabile III (1974) is an American journalist and documentary filmmaker best known for his work in and about the sex industry. He is the director of Seed Money, a documentary about pioneering gay porn producer Chuck Holmes, of Falcon Studios. Stabile's written work on sex and sexuality has appeared in Playboy, The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed, and New York Times, among others.

CockyBoys is an independent New York City-based producer of gay internet pornography, managed by CEO Jake Jaxson and his two partners, RJ Sebastian and Benny Morecock. The 2012 reality television feature film Project GoGo Boy is considered the studio's breakout hit.

<i>Men of Israel</i> 2009 American gay pornographic film

Men of Israel is a 2009 gay pornographic film released by Lucas Entertainment studio. Journalists from The Atlantic, Out Magazine and Yediot Aharonot noted it as a landmark film as the first pornographic movie shot on location with an all-Israeli cast; while Tablet magazine and the Los Angeles Times remarked on it being the first to feature an all-Jewish cast. Director Michael Lucas—who is Jewish and obtained his Israeli citizenship in 2009—undertook the film as "a bold move to promote Israeli culture and tourism" and to counterbalance what he saw as biased portrayals of Israel in mainstream media.

Sexually transmitted infections in the pornography industry deals with the occupational safety and health hazard of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by workers in the sex industry. Since the 1980s many cases of pornographic performers contracting HIV/AIDS have been reported. However, since the mid-2000s strict adherence to rigorous STI testing, and limiting sexual contact with only fellow tested performers has halted the spread of HIV and other STIs in the industry.

<i>Pornography: A Thriller</i> 2009 American film

Pornography: A Thriller is a 2009 American mystery/thriller film, written and directed by David Kittredge.

Charles M. "Chuck" Holmes was an American adult film producer, businessman and philanthropist. He founded Falcon Studios in 1971.

<i>Wish Me Away</i> 2011 American documentary film

Wish Me Away is a 2011 documentary film directed by Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf. Winner of 12 film festival awards, it is about the coming out of the country music singer and gay rights activist Chely Wright. In May 2010, she had become the first major country music performer to publicly come out as gay.

<i>Undressing Israel: Gay Men in the Promised Land</i> 2012 Israeli film

Undressing Israel: Gay Men in the Promised Land is a 46-minute documentary written by American adult-film entrepreneur, columnist, gay activist and gay pornographic film director Michael Lucas, and co-directed by Lucas and Israeli director Yariv Mozer. In his debut as a documentary filmmaker, Michael Lucas portrays in this film released in 2012 Israel's thriving GLBT community through footage of Tel Aviv's vibrant nightlife, a same-sex wedding, and candid interviews with a diverse range of local Israeli gay men and lesbians, including a gay MP, an openly gay Army trainer, a drag queen, a transvestite, a young Arab-Israeli journalist, and same-sex parents raising their children and a number of artists and activists.

Fred Charles Halsted was an American gay pornographic film director, actor, escort, publisher, and sex club owner. His films Sex Garage and L.A. Plays Itself are the only gay pornographic movies in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where they were screened before a capacity audience on April 23, 1974. A screening of L.A. Plays Itself was sponsored by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on February 28, 2013, and another took place on December 16, 2011, at the Los Angeles art gallery Human Resources. His films have also been shown the Netherlands Film Museum and in competition at The Deauville Film Festival.

<i>Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda</i> 2014 American film

Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda is a 2014 American documentary about LGBT rights in Russia directed by Scott Stern and Michael Lucas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silas Howard</span> American director, writer, and actor

Silas Howard is an American film and television director, writer, and actor. His first feature film By Hook or by Crook (2001) co-directed with Harry Dodge is a seminal trans masc feature. Howard earned an MFA in directing at UCLA and is a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow. He began directing episodes during the second season of Transparent, making him the show's first trans director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewel's Catch One</span> Gay dance bar in Los Angeles

Jewel's Catch One was a dance bar owned by Jewel Thais-Williams. It was located at 4067 West Pico Boulevard in the Arlington Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Opened in 1973, it was the longest running black gay dance bar in Los Angeles. After nearly closing in 2015, it was purchased by Mitch Edelson and his father Steve Edelson - who reopened under new management. Briefly called Union after the change in management, it has since reverted to the Catch One moniker.

<i>Last Ferry</i> (film) 2019 American film

Last Ferry is a 2019 mystery film. It is set on Fire Island and follows the story of a gay attorney who is drugged and robbed while visiting the island and tries to return home after witnessing a murder. It received a Jury Award for Best US Feature at the 2019 NCGLFF.

Tom Chase is an American gay pornographic film actor who was active in the 1990s and 2000s. He is best known as the first lifetime exclusive model for Falcon Studios, and for his later work at Colt Studio Group.

<i>The Other Side of Aspen</i> 1978 American gay pornographic film

The Other Side of Aspen is a 1978 American gay pornographic film produced by Falcon Studios, directed by Matt Sterling, starring Casey Donovan, Al Parker, and Dick Fisk. The film consists of sex scenes filmed in Lake Tahoe, California, interspersed with dialogue scenes shot in San Francisco. The Other Side of Aspen was Falcon's first feature-length release, notable as one of the first adult films distributed on videocassette.

References

  1. Lathan, Ryan (April 9, 2015). "Need to Know: Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story". Out .
  2. Marinucci, Carla (June 19, 2015). "Documentary profiles Democratic powerhouse and pornographer". San Francisco Chronicle .
  3. Kupecki, Josh (July 28, 2015). "aGLIFF Announces Lineup". The Austin Chronicle .
  4. Flanagan, Jack (April 13, 2016). "How Chuck Holmes Engineered Gay Beauty". The Advocate .
  5. Reynolds, Daniel (December 24, 2015). "Watch: 10 Best LGBT Documentaries of 2015". Out .
  6. Kinser, Jeremy (July 12, 2015). "How Adult Film Mogul Chuck Holmes Helped Bill Clinton Become President And Gays Achieve Equality". Queerty .
  7. Taylor, Jeff (September 1, 2016). "WATCH: New Movie Documents Birth Of Gay Adult Films". Queerty .
  8. Goldstein, Gary (September 29, 2016). "Review: 'Seed Money' examines the philanthropy of gay porn mogul Chuck Holmes". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved December 26, 2023.