SAN FRANCISCO—Seed Money, a new documentary on late Falcon Studios founder Chuck Holmes, screens Sunday night at the Castro Theater in San Francisco as part of the city’s Frameline LGBT Film Festival.
The movie follows Holmes’ life, from the founding of the gay porn industry in the early '70s, to his controversial work with gay rights organizations like the Human Rights Campaign.
Seed Money features appearances by industry notables including Steven Scarborough, John Rutherford, Chi Chi LaRue, Terry LeGrand, Phil St. John and David Forest, as well as adult stars Jeff Stryker, Jim Bentley and Tom Chase, and mainstream director John Waters. Six years in the making, the documentary was finally completed after adult studio NakedSword provided the needed finishing funds in February.
Director Michael Stabile, who got his start in moviemaking while working for NakedSword.com as the producer of the Tim and Roma webcast, says the adult industry was critical to getting the project done.
“We couldn’t have done this without the support of the adult industry," Stabile commented. "Falcon Studios gave us full access to its vast library of film footage to help complete the project. Sabin Gray spent nights digging out old camera tapes from the Gay Erotic Video Awards in the '90s. My co-producers on the project, Jack Shamama and Ben Leon, who also shot the film, came from the adult industry. And NakedSword’s financial support was really crucial to clearing rights and getting the final edit done, promoting the film over the years and building the film's website.”
While Stabile is currently evaluating different distribution proposals, Seed Money is traveling festivals under the “NakedSword Presents …” banner, part of the company’s NakedSword Indie arm which produced the indie movie I Want Your Love. NakedSword’s Tim Valenti also came aboard as an executive producer.
“I met Chuck in my early days in the industry,” Valenti said. “And NakedSword has been a huge supporter of the project since inception. I’m so proud we were able to help get it finished.”
Stabile estimates the total budget for Seed Money to be about $150,000. While it has played a number of festivals, from Toronto to Turin, Stabile says San Francisco is really a homecoming.
“San Francisco became Chuck’s hometown, and it’s still the center of the gay porn industry," Stabile explained. "I’m excited to see who comes out for the screening.”
The Seed Money screening takes place at 9 p.m. Sunday at the Castro Theater. For tickets, click here.
A Los Angeles screening at the Director’s Guild Theater is scheduled for July 13. More is available at ChuckHolmesDoc.com.
