Paul Barresi, writer and director of Mustang’s Greased, describes his first meeting about it: “I drove up to San Francisco to meet with Todd Montgomery at Falcon. I touched on ways to create a new image for the Mustang line by incorporating the best of the past. When I was a COLT model, we didn’t shave the armpits, trim the pubic hair, or tweeze the eyebrows. There are many dimensions to a real man. I think a lot is lost today with all the preening. Every hair should not have to be in place. I want the models to ooze masculinity. The way he walks, talks and carries himself is all part of projecting the new image. I told Mr. Montgomery that it was my fondest wish to raise the bar by incorporating hyper-realistic fight scenes, face slapping, verbal abuse, bondage, spanking, flogging and extreme dildo action. I want to create a new line that doesn’t follow trends but starts them. We agreed to shoot my first project at an auto body shop and later came up with the title, Greased.”
Although making adult male videos is only one item in Barresi’s hyphenated designation as “actor-model-investigative reporter-fitness trainer to the stars,” he has obviously excelled at it. Warming up after his Vietnam service with unprecedented simultaneous acting careers in heterosexual adult entertainment as well as in mainstream theater, movies and TV, Barresi entered the gay part of the adult industry as a performer in 1977, performing solo and non-sexual roles.
Barresi first began writing and directing gay films in 1990 for John Summers at The Planet Group under the pseudonym “Joe Hammer.” That same year, he won the Gay Video Guide’s Best Specialty Release Award for Razor Close.
“Since then,” he says, “I’ve written, directed and/or produced over 200 gay adult films. Between 1994 and 1996, I shot about 16 films for Jet Set and Brickhouse Entertainment, including the multi-GAYVN Award–nominated Marine Code of Silence (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell).”
The following year, Barresi won rave reviews for Goodfellas-Badfellas, which Manshot magazine called “a masterpiece that ranks among the top 20 titles in gay video history.” The mafia epic, produced by Jet Set and Brickhouse Entertainment, was also hailed as the best title of 1997 and selected by AVN as one of the top 100 best gay adult films in history.
“From there I went on to write and direct for Studio 2000, Pacific Sun Entertainment, All Worlds Video and others,” Barresi says.
From 1996 to 2004 he directed several successful series including, Frat Boys on the Loose and Bad Boys. Dubbed by GAYVN as “undisputedly the king of military-themed videos,” he is arguably most famous for the military series he directed for Regiment Productions.
About working with Falcon: “At long last I had the budget and the production assistance necessary to show my greatest potential as a director. With the limited resources I’ve had to work with in the past, I was unable to hire the talent I wanted. Sure, a story rich in plot, character and design heightens the production value, but without a really good-looking model, you just can’t make a movie with selling power. Rest assured, the success of a project of any great magnitude is the product of many minds, hearts and hands. And a director is only as good as the team that supports him. Every production has its own unexpected challenges. Fact is, before being hired by Falcon, I was a one-man show. I was really excited about being hired by Falcon—the leading adult filmmakers in the world. I felt rewarded for all the years of hard work. Wow! I not only had one production assistant — I had three! Right then and there is when it hit me that I finally made it to the big leagues. What a great joy and tremendous privilege to find myself standing there on the set, under the lights, in the company of so many extraordinary, reliable and competent people. I was able to devote all my heart, mind and concentration to doing one thing: directing! I think the end result was nothing short of spectacular, but I'll let the film speak for itself.”
Although at the time of this writing Greased was still in final editing phase, Falcon had already signed Barresi on for another movie, title to be announced. As for other projects, Barresi says, “I’m looking for time to make a play about my life, The Paul Barresi Story.”
GayVN
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