Robert Van Damme launched his new studio, RVD Productions, with a bang. He invited friends and fans to the North Hollywood leather bar The Bullet on May 31 for a barbecue and a friendly meet-and-greet.
On hand were some legendary directors and stars including Gino Colbert, who has helped shepherd the handsome Czech hockey player’s adult entertainment career. Another of Colbert’s protégés, star-turned-director Blue Blake, told me the story of how he discovered Van Damme in a bar in West Hollywood, and how he was reluctant to do adult movies but was very familiar with Blake’s work. Van Damme since has starred in 25 titles for Blue Blake Productions and Hot House since 2002 and now has his own company.
Van Damme was a big hit at the Grabby Awards in Chicago this year as one of the alternating hosts, and to top things off at his party, he performed his own striptease for the audience.
Look for a series of titles called Private Party to debut this year, along with provocative releases like Anal Intruder, Butt Bouncers and Cocks in Paradise. More information about Van Damme and his studio is available at RobertVanDamme.net.
* Bruno, the gay-porn-loving fictional character played by Sacha Baron Cohen (of Borat fame), seems to have pissed off rapper Eminem when he landed head first in Eminem’s lap at the always-unpredictable MTV Awards recently. After Bruno’s crotch was laid squarely in Eminem’s face, the rapper got up and walked out. He looked really pissed off — maybe because he’s been trying to fend off persistent rumors that he’s in the closet and this was a major slap in the face (so to speak).
* I was very sad to report the passing of longtime GAYVN Awards judge Elliott Simmons, and I also recently found out about the sudden death of Florida porn purveyor Steve Girard, who at one time ran a number of websites specializing in naked men with long hair. Girard, based in Tampa, Fla., originally ran the Sexy_Long_Hair Yahoo group, which eventually translated into a few now-defunct websites. Girard was 49 and died of complications related to diabetes.
* Award-winning editor Andrew Rosen said he filed a small claims lawsuit against Studio 2000 for past work that remains unpaid. Rosen has since moved up to San Francisco to work exclusively with Raging Stallion Studios and told me, “I’m getting adjusted to living in San Francisco.” He said he plans to file the case again in Northern California, and there’s still no response from Studio 2000. Rosen said he will keep us informed.
* I just got back from the GLBT film festival FilmOut San Diego and was delighted to see (again) the movie produced by Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer, Pedro. The film follows the life of “Real World” HIV-positive activist Pedro Zamora. The MTV movie was written by Dustin Lance Black, who won the screenplay Oscar for Milk. Black’s first writing and directing foray produced On the Bus, which featured gay porn star Dean O’Connor and included a cameo by me as Mickey Skee, a gay porn critic and O’Connor’s landlord. More importantly, Wash is the former Wash West who made so many great adult movies in the past, and he and Glatzer co-directed The Fluffer (which won an AVN Award). Other FilmOut movies of note with a good bit of male frontal nudity include Dog Tags, 3-Day Weekend, Watercolors, Between Love and Goodbye and Eugene.
* Red Eagle Films just released a hot new title with a great name. Awesome Fuckers by director Wolfgang Bang features a wide range of ethnic-looking guys, including African-American muscle stud Ronaldo Macchu, skinny Latino twink Diego Lauriel, macho bald white guy Gavin Mauro and many more. Keep an eye out for it.
