S4E37: Chuck Holmes/The Other Side of Aspen/Al Parker
Demystifying Gay PornNovember 07, 2024x
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S4E37: Chuck Holmes/The Other Side of Aspen/Al Parker

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Chuck Holmes was a gay adult film pioneer and gay rights activist who founded Falcon Studios in the early 1970s and reshaped the golden age of gay porn into the industry it is today. 

 Widely acknowledged as the best erotica gay video for all time, The Other Side of Aspen, Falcon’s 1978 hit became an instance classic, spawned several sequels and remains a best seller.

If there was ever a superstar that is well-known, much loved and remembered today from the golden gay of gay erotica…that superstar is Al Parker. The epitome of the everyday man, who can fit in to any scenario, Al Parker became an instant eye-catching success after posing for the very magazine company that years earlier had begun his own sexual awakening. 

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[00:00:00] Chuck Holmes was a gay adult film pioneer and gay rights activist who founded Falcon

[00:00:05] Studios in 1970 and reshaped the golden age of gay porn into the industry it is today.

[00:00:11] Widely acknowledged as the best erotic gay video of all time, The Other Side of Aspen,

[00:00:17] Falcon's 1978 hit became an instant classic and spawned several sequels and remains a bestseller.

[00:00:24] Yeah, move your eyes to the left. That's right. Now put your arm up like a victor.

[00:00:40] If there ever was a superstar that is well known, much loved, and remembered today from the golden age of gay erotica,

[00:00:48] that superstar is Al Parker, the epitome of the everyman who can fit into any scenario. Al Parker

[00:00:55] became an instant eye-catching success after posing for the very magazine company that years earlier

[00:01:01] had begun his own sexual awakening. On this episode, we're going to celebrate Chuck Holmes,

[00:01:07] an innovative businessman and filmmaker who through his studio and philanthropic efforts recreated gay

[00:01:13] identities and got involved politically to raise awareness to issues in the gay community. We're

[00:01:19] going to take a look at The Other Side of Aspen, a successful gay erotic film considered above the rest

[00:01:24] that was actually inspired by a ski trip. We're going to celebrate Al Parker, a once-in-a-generation model,

[00:01:30] a successful erotic film star, director, and activist who, during a horrific time in our history,

[00:01:37] advocated for safer sex practices before his own sudden supernova.

[00:01:42] This is Demystifying Gay Porn. My name is Aike Grande, and if you watch gay porn, I've definitely

[00:01:47] helped dig it off. Chuck Holmes was born Charles M. Holmes in Terre Haute, Indiana on May 5th, 1945.

[00:02:06] He graduated with a degree in business administration from Indiana State University and began working in

[00:02:12] sales for a local construction firm that manufactured prefabricated homes. That position would eventually

[00:02:18] land him in San Francisco, California. While directing the West Coast office of this company's sales

[00:02:23] operation, Holmes began moonlighting for a friend who needed his business skills to keep an adult film

[00:02:29] company afloat. The country would soon be hit with a recession, and Holmes would lose his job after a

[00:02:35] drop-off of Holmes being purchased or built. John Travis, a pioneer and veteran of the adult

[00:02:40] entertainment industry, had met Holmes through director and erotic filmmaker Jay Bryan. Travis suggested that

[00:02:46] Holmes start a mail-order business selling gay hardcore films. Holmes opted in and thought he can do this

[00:02:53] for a couple of years and then return to the corporate world. He borrowed some money, purchased

[00:02:58] a mailing list and loops made by John Travis and his company Telstar, and from there, Holmes would

[00:03:04] launch Falcon Studios in April of 1970 with Travis as his co-founder. Relying on other filmmakers' loops,

[00:03:15] Falcon was off to a slow start. But that all changed when Holmes began producing 8mm shorts.

[00:03:21] Falcon's first film was Muscle, Sweat and Brawn. Thanks to a loyal customer base,

[00:03:28] Falcon would quickly become an industry leader with their elaborate marketing and well-packaged product

[00:03:34] featuring some of the most beautiful men handpicked to be on film. Holmes' business strategy was focused

[00:03:41] on aggressive pricing, marketing and operating predominantly as a mail-order business for fear

[00:03:47] of losing film prints. When the market shifted to home video, Holmes was able to capitalize on the

[00:03:54] fact that many smaller companies were unable to meet the customer demand that surfaced in the early

[00:04:00] 1980s. Where Holmes and Falcon Studios succeeded, many smaller companies went out of business. Falcon

[00:04:12] movies relied on pure sex and followed a formula developed by Jay Bryan, John Travis and Matt Sterling,

[00:04:18] who had his own company, Brentwood Studios, which I'll touch on in another video. Falcon movies were

[00:04:25] pretty much run-of-the-mill in the beginning, but featured good lighting, personal sexual themes,

[00:04:30] a music soundtrack and of course incredibly hot men that became an industry template and something

[00:04:35] customers came to expect from a Falcon production. The models for Falcon were predominantly white,

[00:04:41] all-American young men. They adopted a hyper-masculine look featuring models with mustaches,

[00:04:46] flannels and jeans and then shifted in the 1980s to clean-cut, shaved bodies, tans and slim builds.

[00:04:55] This change made people see the adult entertainment industry as a bit more polished than its golden era.

[00:05:06] Scientists at the National Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta today released the results of a

[00:05:11] study which shows that the lifestyle of some male homosexuals has triggered an epidemic of a rare form of cancer.

[00:05:20] By the early 1980s, AIDS had reared its presence into the psyche of gay men and their community.

[00:05:26] By the mid-1980s, broader communities began to feel the effects and we were now in the cultural epicenter of the

[00:05:32] AIDS epidemic. It would change every single thing about the adult entertainment industry.

[00:05:37] Moreover, it would decimate the gay adult entertainment industry.

[00:05:42] Some studios shut their doors due to societal and financial pressure.

[00:05:49] Porn. Gay porn in particular during the AIDS epidemic was just about the only sex many

[00:05:55] people who were afraid to go out and have sex with somebody else were having.

[00:05:59] Porn was now again going to be a reflection of society. One that now had safe sex or risked losing

[00:06:06] their life. Holmes and Falcon Studios were one of the last studios to adopt safer sex practices on their

[00:06:14] shoots. The studio took what they believed were preventative measures, only to finally join the

[00:06:19] rest of the industry and feature condoms in their videos and becoming a leader in safe sex portrayals.

[00:06:25] Business grew and Falcon added new production lines nationally and internationally.

[00:06:33] I'm Chuck Holmes. I'm from San Francisco and I'm glad to be here in Washington. This is the first time I've

[00:06:38] ever marched for a cause in my life. I waited a long time, 48 years almost, and I'm here and I'm glad to be here.

[00:06:44] The spirit's very high. Everyone's very motivated and yet very civilized. I know there's people that are not

[00:06:50] rowdy. It's very safe. We're just glad to be here. I hope America wakes up and gets our message.

[00:06:56] Later in his life, Holmes became very active in funding AIDS foundations and research,

[00:07:01] the human rights campaign, and a major contributor to the Democratic Party.

[00:07:05] Something that became a problem when people found out what he did for work,

[00:07:09] with some candidates and organizations refusing to take his donations because they knew where it came from.

[00:07:31] Holmes contracted HIV-AIDS early on during the epidemic. Later in life, he would develop liver issues.

[00:07:38] On September 9th, 2000, Charles M. Holmes, Chuck Holmes, passed away of liver failure surrounded by

[00:07:48] friends and family. In his will, Holmes established the Charles M. Holmes Foundation to promote gay

[00:07:58] civil rights and gave the foundation complete ownership and control of Falcon Studios and all of

[00:08:04] its subsidiary businesses, including the website, streaming videos, and accessories. At the time of

[00:08:11] Holmes' passing, Falcon Studios was one of the largest companies in the gay adult entertainment industry.

[00:08:18] Chuck Holmes, who had begun his career in the industry after being laid off, would go on to turn Falcon

[00:08:25] Studios into the most recognizable name in gay porn history and provided countless gay men so much support

[00:08:32] and many memories. Chuck Holmes had launched Falcon Studios in 1970. By 1977, it was a success,

[00:08:54] and he and the rest of the team at Falcon were planning to bring together the biggest stars of the gay

[00:08:59] erotic world and pack them into their next release. They wanted Casey Donovan, who shot at gay porn

[00:09:05] stardom thanks to Wakefield Poole's Boys in the Sand, Al Parker, a popular cult studios model, and a new but

[00:09:13] incredibly popular model, Dick Fisk. They would round out the rest of the cast with Jeff Turk, Chad

[00:09:20] Benson and Mike Flynn. Holmes had friends who owned a cabin in Lake Tahoe. He reached out to them and

[00:09:27] they agreed to let the studio use their cabin. So the film was shot in Lake Tahoe. However, the title

[00:09:32] alludes to Aspen, Colorado, since Aspen had become a popular LGBT destination. And it was the first

[00:09:39] municipality to pass a non-discrimination ordinance. Aside from the location and the models, they didn't have a

[00:09:45] script, just scenarios. But they would take everyone to the cabin and start production on the other side

[00:09:51] of Aspen. Production took about five days, with every scene taking a day to shoot. And each scene,

[00:09:58] shot as a loop, brought its own serving of intense sexual energy, causing the small crew to try and keep

[00:10:05] up with all of the action. After production had wrapped, Holmes and Sterling decided to weave the

[00:10:11] scenes together by shooting additional footage in San Francisco, giving the film a loose plot.

[00:10:25] So the other side of Aspen is a Falcon Studios film directed by Matt Sterling, produced by Chuck

[00:10:30] Holmes and stars Casey Donovan, Al Parker and Dick Fisk. And shot in Lake Tahoe with supporting shots taken

[00:10:36] in San Francisco. The film opens with Jeff Turk leaving a note on his door for his friend Mike Flynn.

[00:10:43] Turk is going out for a jog through the city to clear his mind. When he returns to

[00:10:48] his apartment, Turk tells Flynn about his time in Aspen and that time he had five guys. No,

[00:10:54] not those five guys. Turk serves as the narrator for the rest of the film, which immediately cuts

[00:11:01] to the infamous Al Parker and Casey Donovan scene shot on location in a cabin in Lake Tahoe. Parker

[00:11:07] and Donovan play two ski clients to Turk's ski instructor, who happens on them while they're... well,

[00:11:14] you'll see for yourself. Dick Fisk is introduced and I'm assuming Turk is just standing outside watching

[00:11:19] this entire time. Anyway, Turk continues to tell Flynn the story while he showers. Then we cut to

[00:11:26] Dick Fisk, Casey Donovan and Al Parker being joined by another guest, who I assume is Chad Benson.

[00:11:31] I just slid the door open, walked in, closed the door behind me. Turk walks in and joins everyone.

[00:11:40] After the scene ends, we cut back to Turk lying on a bed with Flynn, only to fade out and leave us to

[00:11:46] assume they have some business to get to. The other side of Aspen was shot in the winter, early spring of

[00:11:59] 1978. Around this time, Holmes had begun to hear the murmuring of home video. And that's when Holmes had an idea.

[00:12:06] The film would be one of the first in the industry released on videocassette. The other side of Aspen was

[00:12:12] strictly a mail order product. More significantly, the other side of Aspen was Falcon's first pre-mailing order ever.

[00:12:20] If you were one of their best customers, you were sent a reservation card. Then Falcon's brochure came out

[00:12:27] and they had their biggest day in the history of their company at the time. The other side of Aspen

[00:12:40] was a critical and commercial success, becoming the largest selling gay video in history at the time.

[00:12:46] Its release helped usher in a significant turning point in the industry. In an interview with Jerry

[00:12:52] Douglas, Holmes would go on to say this was his favorite of all Falcon films, containing a lot of

[00:12:58] Holmes' personal fantasies. From the perspective of John R. Berger, author of One-Handed Stories,

[00:13:05] the other side of Aspen can be seen as an important document to not only the all-gay environment,

[00:13:11] but the gay male psyche, which so desperately envisions such spaces where they can be free from

[00:13:17] the social oppressions encountered daily. The success of the other side of Aspen on VHS led to Falcon

[00:13:24] releasing most of their back catalog of films to video and make them one of the first studios to do

[00:13:30] so. The other side of Aspen was released on DVD in 2001 and remastered in 2014.

[00:13:53] Hi, I'm Al Parker.

[00:13:54] Hey, how you doing?

[00:13:55] Al Parker was born Andrew Robert Okun on June 25th, 1952, and grew up in a middle-class family

[00:14:02] in Natick, Massachusetts, 18 miles outside of Boston. His father was a salesman for a chemical

[00:14:09] company and his mother was in technology manufacturing computer components. Parker was a shy and playful

[00:14:16] child and by the time he got to high school, he blended into the background, except when it was

[00:14:22] time to hit the showers and many of his classmates noticed this shy and scrawny young man was packing,

[00:14:29] leading to the nickname Pony Boy. It was in high school that Parker developed an interest in attending medical school.

[00:14:37] On his way home from a medical study, Parker was followed off of the bus by an unknown assailant

[00:14:42] and was assaulted at knife point. Parker went home that night not knowing how to feel, yet not telling anybody

[00:14:50] what had happened. Parker's life would take a sudden turn when his mother lost her life to cancer

[00:14:59] after a short but aggressive battle. He enrolled in Boston University with a focus in medical studies

[00:15:06] and the hopes of being a doctor. When he got there, however, the campus, as many others during this time,

[00:15:13] were filled with anti-war protests and constant bomb threats due to the U.S.' involvement in Vietnam.

[00:15:20] Spending more time in drills and outside of the classroom helped Parker reevaluate his college career.

[00:15:26] Parker. He packed his bags and headed to California, finding an apartment in Elmosa Beach and a job at a

[00:15:35] mobile gas station. Parker's neighbors were young, gay, and butlers at the Playboy Mansion while Hugh Hefner,

[00:15:47] the publisher of Playboy Magazine, was at the height of fame and throwing legendary parties.

[00:15:52] Parker had an interview and quickly became a household fixture at the mansion. Hefner was known to hire gay

[00:15:59] men as butlers since he knew they wouldn't bother the bunnies. By the end of his time at the Playboy

[00:16:04] Mansion, Parker was operating a projector booth and communicating with Hefner on an average basis,

[00:16:11] a closeness he mistook and was eventually fired for. Parker eventually began to explore his sexuality

[00:16:22] and moved into his own place. Around this time, he met a man 13 years his senior with whom he had an open,

[00:16:29] long-term relationship with. He would become his lover, business partner, and mentor. Richard.

[00:16:37] I read a book by Michael Kearns called A Happy Hustler and it was just when I was just coming out. It was

[00:16:44] one of the first gay things I had ever read and it sounded to me to be quite interesting. I took the attitude

[00:16:52] that if you wanted to have an interesting life, then you had to take your hand into it and make it an

[00:17:00] interesting life. Parker decided he would like to try his hand at becoming a male hustler. Richard

[00:17:05] happened to know someone that Parker can speak with. While interviewing with this man, Parker was told

[00:17:11] that somebody may be interested in taking pictures of him. Soon after, Rip Colt would walk into their meeting

[00:17:18] and examine him and tell him he'd pay $50 for his time. On the day of his shoot, Parker arrived to

[00:17:25] Colt's house where he was greeted with the question, are you sure you want to do this? Because after you

[00:17:31] stand in front of this camera, your life will change and there's no turning back. And truer words could not

[00:17:38] be spoken to a Mr. Al Parker. After sitting for Rip Colt for many sessions, Parker knew he was going to need a

[00:17:50] name. Colt said Al Parker, to which Parker felt was so forgettable. But the magazine had already gone to

[00:17:58] print and it was soon a name everyone knew, more so than the 1950s magazine illustrator Colt named Parker

[00:18:05] after. Parker was now in high demand and posing for various magazines and photographers. And although Parker

[00:18:13] didn't fit the type of other Colt models, he surely made up for it with his big personality.

[00:18:21] In 1976, Parker met Matt Sterling, a young director for Brentwood and made his film debut in Challenger.

[00:18:29] That experience was so bad, it was almost his last film. As he found out sometimes having sex for film

[00:18:36] is not fun. Parker was able to use his success posing for Colt to convince the photographer to put him in one of the

[00:18:43] his films. The film would be called Shoot, an instant classic. Parker followed that film with Timberwolves,

[00:18:52] again with Colt, and finally, Hand Tool. From there, Parker was approached by Falcon Studios,

[00:18:58] another growing erotic film company, where he starred in three loops, weekend lockup, rocks and hard places,

[00:19:06] and taxi. The fame was there and Parker was everywhere, but the money really wasn't.

[00:19:14] Parker and his partner had a side wallpaper removal business that would inevitably provide them the

[00:19:21] funding they needed to start their own studio. Before that, Parker would star in Heavy Equipment

[00:19:26] and a little film called The Other Side of Aspen. That film would solidify his star status and help him

[00:19:33] finally found Surge Studios.

[00:19:41] Parker and Parker, Jr.: Well after I had done this for a period of time, I said, well I can do this, you know. I mean I

[00:19:47] I know how many feet of this I need and how many feet of that I need, you know. I knew people who worked in the business and

[00:19:53] um I said to somebody who was using me in film that I would like a percentage of

[00:20:02] the money made from films that I was in and uh got an unequivocal no

[00:20:09] and said well I'm gonna go do this on my own then. And he said yeah sure go ahead, try.

[00:20:16] And uh Steve and I started Surge Studio.

[00:20:20] For Surge's first film, Parker and his partner met a man who said he was a producer and agreed to

[00:20:26] produce if Kip Knoll was in the film. Parker would star, produce and direct.

[00:20:32] Hi Kip, this is Al Parker. Oh you're busy? Oh you're fucking this early in the morning huh?

[00:20:39] Oh okay, don't uh call me back, I'll meet you on the beach at the lifeguard station in about

[00:20:45] 45 minutes. It's uh kind of important. Okay thanks a lot. Bye.

[00:20:51] When filming wrapped, Parker and his partner would spend every dime they had buying out their other

[00:20:56] producer. Now with everything riding on this film, flashback had to be a success.

[00:21:03] After editing and finishing the film, Al Parker's flashback premiered at the 55th street playhouse.

[00:21:11] Surge Studios was now a promising new studio. Surge's next release was Turned On, directed by Steve Scott.

[00:21:21] Turned On also had a theatrical release but times were changing and theater rentals were high.

[00:21:27] Parker and his business partner gave a studio called Le Salon the distribution rights to flashback and now turned on.

[00:21:35] They later agreed to have Le Salon fund their productions in exchange for video distribution

[00:21:40] with Surge maintaining the movie rights and magazine franchise.

[00:21:45] A deal Parker was quoted as saying,

[00:21:49] I've made 21 movies now and I've been fucked 21 times.

[00:21:54] I've made a movie now and I've made a movie now.

[00:21:54] Needless to say, they would never sell their video rights again.

[00:21:58] Surge, a small studio run by two partners, would end up making a string of great films

[00:22:02] as the beginning of the new decade began to take shape.

[00:22:11] It was 1983 and the threat of the AIDS epidemic was quickly becoming clear.

[00:22:16] Parker had already seen many models and friends wither away and became increasingly

[00:22:20] interested in safer sex practices. In 1986, during one of their road trips, Parker's partner had a terrible

[00:22:28] cough he couldn't shake. When they got back home, Richard went to bed and never got out of it.

[00:22:36] After four grueling months, the doctors diagnosed him with AIDS and gave him three or four days to live.

[00:22:42] Four days later, on September 9th, 1986, Richard, Steve Taylor would die in Parker's arms.

[00:22:55] Richard's death would almost unravel everything Parker knew.

[00:22:59] This wasn't only his business partner. This was his lover, his companion in life.

[00:23:07] Soon after, Parker would also come to find out he contracted HIV.

[00:23:13] Lost in his thoughts, Parker began to focus his attention on the adult entertainment industry.

[00:23:19] There, he was an icon, but the industry was ignoring the AIDS epidemic.

[00:23:25] So after a long stage of grieving and realization, Parker began to move forward.

[00:23:31] He sold the rights to 10 Surge films he exclusively owned for $10,000 each.

[00:23:37] And Parker would also make safe sex videos that would be attached in front of all participating gay porn films.

[00:23:45] All of his later films for Surge included and mandated safe sex practices, which nearly destroyed his business.

[00:23:53] People simply didn't want to think about AIDS.

[00:23:56] This all culminated with the release of Surge's next film, A Night Alone with Al Parker, a safe solo movie starring Al Parker.

[00:24:05] Distributors wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

[00:24:08] It was eventually re-edited to include older footage Parker had from the Surge vault.

[00:24:15] Parker would sell the home he owned with Richard and move to San Francisco, where he lived with his long-time friend and eventual domestic partner, Keith.

[00:24:24] Hi, how are you?

[00:24:27] How are you doing?

[00:24:28] Alright.

[00:24:29] Are you having a good time here at the festival?

[00:24:30] I'm having a great time.

[00:24:31] Now tell me something about your new haircut here.

[00:24:33] Oh.

[00:24:35] That I gave him.

[00:24:35] He gave it to me.

[00:24:37] It looks great.

[00:24:38] I think it looks great.

[00:24:39] Thank you.

[00:24:39] Clean cut, all-American guy.

[00:24:41] Back to the clean cut, all-American guy, Lord.

[00:24:43] Slowly, Parker began moving away from industry work to take more of an activist stance, helping raise money for AIDS-related causes.

[00:24:52] All the while, it was becoming evident to him that his health was beginning to decline.

[00:24:57] But he fought back forcefully with a rigorous health routine.

[00:25:01] He was asked by Falcon Studios to be in a film called Overload, released in 1992.

[00:25:24] On a summer Monday morning, Parker found it harder than ever to get out of bed.

[00:25:30] His partner Keith helped him out of the bed and ran a bath.

[00:25:34] Parker fell into the bathtub and was there for nearly an hour, too weak to pick up his own body.

[00:25:41] Keith rushed him to the hospital.

[00:25:43] Ten minutes later, he was gone.

[00:25:50] Andrew Robert Okun, Al Parker, passed away August 17, 1992, nearly two months after his 40th birthday.

[00:26:05] Everyone, from industry friends to acquaintances to family, remember Parker as one of the kindest and compassionate human beings that they've ever encountered.

[00:26:15] A generous man and a successful and innovative filmmaker.

[00:26:20] And to some, the greatest porn star of all time.

[00:26:23] For me in particular, I know that a lot of the people that do these films are exhibitionists.

[00:26:32] I felt that if I could do these films and not feel self-conscious in front of the camera,

[00:26:37] that I could, somebody could ask me to be Bozo the Clown and I shouldn't feel funny doing it after, you know, exposing yourself so completely to a camera.

[00:26:47] Al Parker is still very much with us.

[00:26:50] In an industry that turns out scene after scene, movie after movie, day in and day out,

[00:26:57] the films and scenes of Al Parker are still rated among the most legendary.

[00:27:02] You can still Google an image of Al Parker and immediately be met with his unique beauty.

[00:27:13] Weeks after he exited this life, his ashes were scattered on San Gregorio Beach, where he wanted to be.

[00:27:47] As always, don't forget to subscribe, give this video a like, leave a comment, and let me know what else you'd like me to cover.

[00:27:55] This is Demystifying Gay Porn.

[00:27:56] My name is Aike Grande, and if you watch gay porn, I've definitely helped you get off.