“Falcon Forever.”
That’s the grand title of a glitzy, golden-hued marketing and promotions campaign — featuring a pair of handsome, muscular and bewinged hunks about to share a passionate kiss — launched by Falcon/NakedSword to mark the milestone 50th anniversary of the pioneering gay erotica brand.
I remember being 18 years old and seeing a Falcon movie. It wasn’t scary. They looked like guys that I would dream of. That changed everything.
Evidence in the studio archives suggests legendary industry pioneer Chuck Holmes actually founded Falcon one year earlier than everyone believed, but as the company’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Toby J. Morris, quipped: “Every diva is allowed to fudge her age a little bit.” Either way, as Falcon celebrates its illustrious history, company president Tim Valenti is looking towards a bright future.
“‘Falcon Forever’ is something I came up with because I didn’t want to just be like, ‘Oh, hi, we’re the 50-year-old porn company.’ It was just too much of what happened then versus what’s happening now — and what’s going to happen,” Valenti told XBIZ. “But to pay homage to this amazing brand that has survived everything and everybody — it is forever! And when we tie it with NakedSword now, I think that speaks to its influence in the gay community.”
Valenti described a litany of new products and initiatives planned for the coming months and into the new year, including a line of erotica goods as well as independent films and a mix of live and virtual special events that builds on the strengths of both Falcon and NakedSword, the XBIZ award-winning livestreaming platform he built more than 20 years ago. He also noted his struggle to convince gatekeepers of the company’s storied legacy to take a leap of faith with him. Why tinker with a formula that has been so successful for so many years?
“I feel like, in terms of where we’re at with the folks that are still involved — the legacy folks — they get it now. They’re like, ‘There’s nothing that we can’t entertain,’” Valenti said. “‘There’s nothing that we can’t look at or things that we can’t do.’”
As we chatted, the CEO and I uncovered a bit of synchronicity: I actually interviewed Valenti on his very first day as head of what was then known as Falcon Studios Group, which included NakedSword as well as a number of legacy brands, among them Hot House Video and Raging Stallion Studios.
“I can’t even believe that it’s really been that long, to be honest with you,” he said. “Getting into it the first year was a little rough for all kinds of reasons, in terms of just a really well-established group that was used to doing things one way.”
He made those same comments in the original article, I tell him.
“It was hard, but we got through it,” he replied. “The last couple of years, even with the pandemic, I’m so jazzed about so much. I’m 61 and I have a really cool little farm in New Mexico. And I’m trying to spend more time there; I built an office so I could work from there. As much as that’s a visual of where you might go when you retire, I’m so excited about what we’re doing and what’s going on and how solid I’ve gotten with a lot of where we’re going to go. I feel like I’m having this total renaissance of what I want to do, and I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to retire. I feel like I’m so fucking excited.” Although his farm life is idyllic, Valenti is jazzed about the launchpad provided by the “Falcon Forever” anniversary campaign and the many and varied projects on the boards.
“I couldn’t last anywhere if I was just hanging out. I’m just not a hanger-outer,” he noted. “Everyone wants to film at the farm, but it ain’t gonna happen. Yeah, I can’t mix that up. I’m not Chuck Holmes. I can’t do that where I live.”
He is charmed by the synchronicity between this new interview and our chat on his first day at the newly-combined company nearly six years ago.
“It’s cool. I’m glad that we’re doing this,” he said. “I’m glad it’s you.”
Then and now, Valenti is candid about his struggles to differentiate these legacy brands, all of them beloved to several generations of fans. We chat about how to properly explain to colleagues on the straight side of the fence that gay adult content — and particularly content produced by such long-established brands — carries real emotional heft for gay and bi men. When a company like Falcon talks publicly about making changes and introducing new concepts and ideas, the news reverberates across the gay/bi media in a bigger way than it does for straight-identified people. No one is more acutely aware of this distinction than Tim Valenti.
“It’s just more ingrained and more a part of our everyday life — the acceptance of it — whereas straight adult has particular stars that certain groups of guys like,” he observed. “It’s just not part of their culture as much as what we’ve done, especially with Falcon and our legacy brands. But it gives us an opportunity to do more things.”
“We are not shunned, in general, by the community,” he added. “It’s not a secret. If you like a Falcon star or a NakedSword project, it’s not like you’re giving away your masturbatory secrets or whatever. It’s just not like that in gay culture. So we’ve got a head start there. It allows us to look beyond just producing scenes.”
Our conversation shifts to Falcon’s reputation for collaborations and for trying out new technology. The company dipped its toes into 3D, for example, when Valenti’s colleague and friend, BelAmi founder and president George Duroy, expressed ardent enthusiasm for the format.
Director and early tech adopter Jasun Mark recently spoke to XBIZ about the experiments he and performer-director Trenton Ducati — who recently took over Hot House and some of the company’s fetish brands — conducted with the filmmaking capabilities available on the latest iPhone.
Mark challenged XBIZ to watch a recently edited Hot House scene and identify which parts had been filmed with an iPhone versus a traditional camera. He credited Valenti for giving them the space to experiment.
“Yeah, that’s the thing about technology,” mused Valenti. “I remember being on panels at past XBIZ Shows: ‘Tell us about the new technology, tell us where it’s going,’ people would ask. And I’d be sitting there saying, ‘It’s going so fucking fast. What I think is going to be happening next week is going to be, in a sense, somewhat passé.’ There’s so many different things you can do. The way I look at it is: I don’t ever say ‘no’ to something right away — show me why you think that way. Show me product testing.”
Valenti shares a telling anecdote from his early days as head of Falcon Studios Group.
He described himself as “not big on recreating old movies or anything like that,” but at the time he decided to pitch an update on the Falcon classic “Spokes,” called “Urban Spokes.”
“That was during the first few months of NakedSword and Falcon being merged together. The original ‘Spokes’ films were always about riding out in the country and coming across an empty barn and all that. I was like, ‘We’re in San Francisco — bike messengers, the hills, all that,” he recalled. “And I’m explaining to everyone, ‘I want to do this. And I want guys to come shooting over the hill. And I want drone shots.’ And I just remember them looking at me like, ‘Oh, my God. You don’t do that.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I know who to get to do it.’ A little competition never hurts. But boy, people got on it. We actually did it!”
The feature opens with dramatic, panoramic drone footage of the coastline outside San Francisco. It’s a popular technique often seen in glamcore productions today, but Falcon — as well as Jasun Mark — was among the first to experiment with using it to shake up the visual language of adult filmmaking.
“Everyone does that now,” stated Valenti. “If you can bring me something new — even with a drone — people will adapt to a new technology and a new way to do something. Most people will learn five things to do, and they’ll just keep doing those five things. But if you can do ten other things, let’s try to do ten other things. Look at what [directors] Tony Dimarco or Steve Cruz are doing now!”
Valenti swore me to secrecy about a yet-to-be-released project helmed by reigning XBIZ “Gay Director of the Year” Marc MacNamara, whose NakedSword Originals feature, “A Murdered Heart,” centered on controversial gay conversion therapy camps, won the 2020 XBIZ Award for “Gay Movie of the Year.”
“Marc just did something for us on the East Coast. He always makes things look good, so I left him alone,” Valenti shared. “But, man, he messaged me at 11 o’clock at night, and I usually ignore that kind of stuff. But I saw it, and I was like, ‘Fuck, this looks so good.’ He really, really just did things you don’t normally do. He took some risks.”
“This kind of stuff is what you hope a producer in Hollywood would do for his project. I love that. I feel like we’re at that level in a lot of ways,” he added. “That’s why I think it’s fun for everybody to try and branch out and do other stuff. I don’t like it when it gets boring and it’s just the same old thing.”
We spend some time chatting about the influence of the Falcon aesthetic on both gay media and the broader mainstream culture. For years, gay art directors and photographers would cast and style their models after their favorite Falcon twinks, which would then become the aesthetic in mainstream fashion that everybody copied. Suddenly, everyone looked like the latest Falcon beauty.
Reflecting the vision of company founder Chuck Holmes, early Falcon films featured “handsome, athletic, masculine young men, who evolved from the lean, mustachioed clone look of the 1970s to the smooth, preppy, boy-next-door look of the 1980s,” observed preeminent LGBTQ+ news outlet The Advocate in 2015. “Where did gay men of the time discover their personal style? In a large part, from Falcon films.”
Filmmaker and adult industry publicist Mike Stabile, in his documentary “Seed Money,” described Holmes, who died in 2000 at the age of 55, as “the most influential gay filmmaker in gay history, his work viewed by millions of gay men at a time when most representation of gay life was either homophobic or relegated to the art house.”
Valenti said the Falcon aesthetic is “ingrained in the culture.”
“A lot of people have tried to convince me not to do as much narrative stuff because it’s old-school. But I feel like that is who we are,” he mused. “There are more chances for our projects to be accepted in general. There are projects that we do that are more significant in trying to talk about social issues or to give a picture into what’s going on in our culture. And I don’t ever want to stop doing that. We just have to be a little more artful sometimes and understand that we’re not just creating a hardcore film.”
Stabile’s “Seed Money” includes a poignant segment that explores how Falcon films literally became a life-saving escape for gay and bisexual men during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and early ’90s when they were simply too afraid to go out as they normally would. They could enjoy gay men onscreen having normal sexual experiences without any fear. That may be when Falcon really cemented its place in gay culture.
“I remember being 18 years old and seeing a Falcon movie. It wasn’t scary. They looked like guys that I would dream of. They kissed and I remember just like shaking and feeling like, ‘Wow.’ It made me so excited in so many different ways. And that’s a game-changer. That changed everything,” Valenti said.
“There was no access to any of that material 20 years beforehand. That’s what Falcon and guys like Chuck Holmes and his contemporaries did. And obviously, technology advanced — it was VHS tapes and then DVDs. Before that, it was loops literally sold out of the back of someone’s car, and in gay magazines,” he added.
As Valenti looks to the future of Falcon/NakedSword, he is insistent that we include space to honor the company’s illustrious founder.
“In the last year of his life, I was trying to build NakedSword and get content for it. So I got myself into a meeting with Chuck. He wasn’t feeling well at that point. But he was there, and [protégé] John Rutherford was standing behind him like a fierce bulldog. And I’m not like that! It made me a little nervous,” said Valenti.
“I explained what I wanted to do, and he got so excited — and was like, ‘This is so cool. I want to do this. I’d love to work with you. This is really interesting.’ I mean, his enthusiasm for new ideas — I don’t care if you’re straight or gay or whatever — I felt that energy and joy,” Valenti recalled. “One thing led to another, and we built Falcon’s first site. We did all their streaming. The guy was a trailblazer in the sense that he was a creative businessman, and he was going to get it done however he could get it done. You know, you may disagree with certain tactics; we all have different ways of doing business. But I feel like — and I think a lot of folks in the adult industry can relate to this — he was going to get it done come hell or high water. I mean, there wasn’t going to be anyone stopping him. He was not in the least bit embarrassed. And that’s something to live up to.”
Holmes didn’t just build a company; he built the company.
In 1996, when Valenti founded Cubik Media — through which he built NakedSword.com — he was in advertising. He worked for Jerry Weintraub for a year and in radio and TV. He and a business partner built streaming media for gaming clients in the early ’90s, and Valenti would often think about how the tech could be applied to other markets. As a gay man, he turned to adult.
“But it wasn’t like, ‘I’m going to be the king of porn.’ It just happened that way,” Valenti noted.
Holmes had “different intentions” but he was still driven.
“I mean, I don’t think I’m a scary personality at all; I just want to get it done. I want to do it. And I think that’s something to look at when talking about Chuck,” Valenti says. “There’s a lot of folks that just expect stuff to happen, and when it doesn’t happen, they get disappointed. Everything, everything takes work. Sure, there’s the exception where stuff just happens. But the one thing about Chuck was that work ethic. Maybe he was whipping it harder than it needed to be on occasion. But I don’t think much happens unless you work at it.”
I take the opportunity to revisit a question I first posed to Valenti years ago.
“I’m interested in how you’ve grown in steering Falcon,” I ask him. “We’ve touched on this a few times. But it must be — I guess ‘intimidating’ isn’t quite the right word — but knowing that you’re producing something that you know people are going to see. And it’s more than just the latest Falcon widget.”
The CEO is thoughtful in his response, which goes directly to the core of Falcon’s appeal and its central place in LGBTQ+ culture.
“It’s funny you say that because I was thinking about it last night in relation to a situation in our company,” he says.
“I always end up in this situation where I’m not defending, but explaining, to people who don’t understand what it is we do and how different it is from a lot of other stuff that goes on. We do not just sell widgets. We fucking have to create it and make it — and make it relevant, make it entertaining, make it sexy, make you want it. And want more of it, and be a part of it and have it become a part of who you are, too.”
“There’s nothing wrong with making widgets,” he continues. “But knowing who you are, what you’re doing and why you’re doing it is really important. Accept what you can and cannot do, but if you think you can do it, you should try. You have to work hard at it. My biggest mistake going in was believing that everybody is going to be like me and be as excited as I was. Up until that point, I had only hired the people I wanted to hire or built it with people I wanted to build it with. It took some time to figure out who was on board to let it grow and who was never going to do it. It’s been a fucking ride, man.”
It's easy to imagine Chuck Holmes sitting at his desk in 1971 thinking the same thing; like his successors, he was creating from scratch. In the ever-changing world of adult, there is ultimately no template. Everything is created from scratch, over and over.
“It’s interesting, having spent time with some of the folks who do creative things, like George Duroy at BelAmi or Jake Jaxson at CockyBoys. There are a lot of others. Everybody has their own way of looking at this industry,” Valenti muses. “It’s always good to know how they might do it. Others might be like, ‘Oh, you couldn’t do that.’ But maybe I have to give it a try.”
“The thing I want to make sure is clear is that Falcon is an amazing company with an amazing history. It’s respected, it’s celebrated. And we’re doing it again at 50 years of age,” he adds. “I think the combination of Falcon and NakedSword is such a strong one. The message I would like to get out — especially for industry folks who will be reading this — is that we’re a very collaborative group. And I am very open about that. I like it when people call me up and say, ‘Hey, I have this idea. Have you thought about doing something like this?’ I feel like that is one of our best strengths because it leads us down a lot of roads. They may not all end up somewhere, but those kinds of journeys are really important, and I think they’ve helped us in a lot of ways. And I hope that comes across because I want people to feel like we’re approachable. And it leads to good things.”
Happy 50th birthday, Falcon Studios.
LIVING LEGENDS
On the occasion of Falcon’s milestone birthday, XBIZ reached out to a starry roster of current and former swordsmen, inviting them to recall their favorite memories and reflect on the vaunted “Falcon Exclusive” status that turned them into gay culture icons, an experience current exclusive Colton Reece has described as “both carnal and enriching.”
Cade Maddox told XBIZ that “whether we realize it or not, gay porn is a part of our history.” Classic star Tom Chase, the very first swordsman to receive “Lifetime Exclusive” status, called the company “a beacon of hope for many.” Elaborating, Reece observed how mainstream culture mistakenly thinks of pornography as a single monolithic entity.
“But when I think of Falcon, I see something evolving. If pornography is ubiquitous in our community, then Falcon is iconographic,” Reece mused. “Falcon has contributed to the lexicon that is gay culture in the United States and when I think of 50 years of history, I see the events of those past decades and the response to those events in each subsequent film.”
Reece said he stumbled into his exclusivity by happenstance.
“But in addition to the marvelous people, it is being a part of Falcon’s history that has kept me around,” he said. “As an individual of biracial ancestry, to be included upon a roster of models defined as ‘All-American’ is meaningful both personally and more broadly. It is validation and representation that I believe a lot of individuals in our community have been seeking. I think this both recognizes the mistakes of the past and hopefully charts a more variegated and welcoming future. Pornography isn't going to change the world singlehandedly, but it would be a mistake to minimize its effect.”
Reigning XBIZ “Gay Performer of the Year” Max Konnor is also a Falcon exclusive, and echoed Reece’s enthusiasm.
“In my opinion, when gay men think of studio porn, Falcon is always on that list. So it’s a very honorable feeling to be an exclusive with this company and having the opportunity to be a part of their 50-year legacy,” he said.
Konnor respects and appreciates that his opinion on any project is taken into consideration. “It makes everything I do with them a blast,” he continued. “I’ll never forget when the offer came through to be an exclusive. I honestly never thought anything like this would happen. Having already been an established performer, I’m very happy that our brands can work together and prosper. Happy 50th anniversary to my porn family. Here’s to 50 more years!”
Exclusive Cade Maddox is acutely aware of the special place Falcon holds in the cultural landscape. The company is one of the most recognizable brand names in the industry, he noted, and “whether we realize it or not, gay porn is a part of our history.”
He then described “a common bond over our sexuality,” created in part through the visionary efforts of Chuck Holmes and his founding of Falcon Studios back in 1971. Since then, he said, “Falcon has played a huge part in allowing gay men to be more comfortable, less apologetic and less inhibited about their sexuality.” Maddox is proud to state that becoming a Falcon exclusive changed his life.
“It took something that was just a hobby or part-time job for me and turned it into a career. It has really solidified my place in the gay porn industry,” he said. “My Falcon experience has been nothing less than immaculate. Becoming part of the Falcon team has really given me a strong sense of family and belonging. They don’t treat me like I’m just a piece of meat; they treat me like I’m a human being. Consequently, every time I walk onto a set, I feel right at home and comfortable.”
Maddox said August 2 marked his fourth year of being in the adult industry, with the last two of those years spent exclusively with Falcon. To date, Falcon has been “the easiest and the most enjoyable studio that I’ve worked for; I can’t even imagine working for another studio now.”
“Becoming a Falcon Exclusive was definitely one of the best decisions that I have ever made,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dean Phoenix described Falcon as “the essence of being gay” and the crème de la crème when it comes to onscreen sex.
“To be able to work along with the crew and cast was always a great feeling, to be part of that magic,” he told XBIZ.
Phoenix recalled moving to San Diego after being outed as a teenager in high school.
“I felt so alone and lost, and when I discovered other gay men just like me, with the same stories and feelings, I felt found. This was where I belonged. When I became a Falcon exclusive, I felt more found and more on the right path. I was in the right place, at the right time,” he said. “I met so many beautiful people with beautiful souls. I continue to meet people in the industry to this day that are so amazing and happy that this industry is not going anywhere and that teens who feel lost and get discovered will have that same feeling I had.”
His travels around the world are among his favorite memories, including a trip to Greece to work on “Out of Athens” with his then-boyfriend Colby Taylor. A visit to Mykonos and Super Paradise Beach particularly stands out in his mind.
“I'm doing great today, apart from starting to feel my bones ache the older I get,” he quipped. “I'm pushing 50 years old and starting to feel my age, but still got that kid inside me. I feel like I've lived a full life so far and that it has been pretty colorful. I wouldn't change a thing.”
“How many people get to live the life of Dean Phoenix? No one; just me,” he continued. “It's been a rollercoaster and I love it. Life is too short. And I'm happy. I've retired from the porn industry about five times. Who's to say if I do another film or not? I'll let the universe decide. I'm just thankful to my fans and everyone who's been supportive in my journey and wouldn't be here without them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Matthew Rush himself, one of the most notable stars in the Falcon firmament, told XBIZ that Falcon represents quality and family.
“To be considered a part of the Falcon family is truly an honor,” he said.
“When I was approached to be a Falcon model, I turned it down. It wasn't until a few years later, when I was asked again, that I accepted,” he recalled. “They flew me out to see the offices, meet everyone and do a solo video. I was nervous as hell. I saw pictures of all these hot guys hanging around the office. I didn't really have the typical Falcon look. I was a competitive bodybuilder and my look was different. Not like the guys in the pictures. I had no idea what the future was going to hold. When they offered me an exclusive contract, I was surprised — and I accepted.”
He was invited to dinner by Tom Chase, Falcon’s first-ever lifetime exclusive, and asked the burgeoning star for his thoughts about becoming the second lifetime exclusive.
“I was truly honored,” said Rush. “Falcon treats their exclusives like royalty. They were and always will be family to me.”
“I traveled the world and met some pretty amazing people,” noted Rush. “No matter where I went, I was recognized. It was hard for me to grasp what was so appealing about me. I'm a dorky, nerdy country boy from rural Pennsylvania. I'm so clumsy and uncoordinated that it amazes how I wasn't raised by the state growing up. I learned to embrace it all and enjoy the ride.”
Rush described his recovery from “a very dark period” in recent years. “As crazy as it sounds, I needed to go through everything that I went through. I embarked on a spiritual journey,” he said. “A journey of healing and deep soul-searching. I wouldn't be who I am today if I didn't experience my dark times. I love myself, I found my soulmate and I've learned that there is no road to happiness. Happiness is the road and life is pretty damn amazing!”
As others think of “family” and “quality” when describing Falcon, Tom Chase told XBIZ he also sees “royalty” in the name.
“It is a place to look to for guidance — in this case, sexual guidance — acceptance by a community, hope, inspiration and motivation,” he said. “By working for Falcon, I made a dream come true. I became a part of royalty, and I made a name for myself. Through hard work and determination, I also garnered a good reputation for my new name. Falcon is a beacon of hope for many.”
Chase worked for the studio for only five years and “was treated like gold.”
“I received perks such as first-class tickets on flights and a full seasonal wardrobe. It was the best life experience I have ever had to date. I had fun every step of the way. I made lifelong friends with some of the most loving, beautiful men in the world. I look back on my experience with great fondness and I am proud to be a part of the Falcon family,” he said.
Like many of his colleagues, Chase is still recognized wherever he goes.
“I am treated well on airplanes and in restaurants. Knowing I have a place in the history of gay culture gives me great satisfaction. My first movie was ‘Backwoods,’ which was filmed at a Russian River resort on top of a mountain,” he recalled. “On the first night, all of the models gathered together to stargaze and to bond under the big sky.”
Today, Chase calls Washington D.C. home.
“I am happy, healthy and loved,” he said. “I feel great. I look great. I have good friends who surround me every day. I still operate my personal training business — 31 years now — and I am proud to tell you that my clients are doing very well at achieving their goals.”
Chase Hunter grew up working in his family’s hardware shop in small-town Ohio, never imagining he would one day enter the Falcon pantheon of sex stars.
“When I made my first movie, I was just doing it to help my boyfriend because he wanted to be a porn star,” Hunter recalled. “So I was shocked when I was on the cover. But I have to say I liked it. The times I worked for Falcon were some of the most enjoyable times of my life! What more could I ask for? I got flown to California and got to fuck the hottest guys around. And as if that wasn’t enough, at the end of the day I got paid for it. Falcon gave me the ‘porn star fantasy’ for real and not just once, they did it over and over and over.’
Hunter’s first movie for the studio was “Basic Plumbing,” one of Falcon’s most famous titles.
“I’ll never forget Shanté (aka Michael Youens) on the set. He had everything I needed ready and waiting within arm’s reach; he even wiped the sweat off my face so I didn’t have to stop,” Hunter noted. “The entire staff was always 100% professional, totally respectful, yet fun and easy to work with. And they always made sure you looked great. Over time we became good friends, which just made it easier still. Not just the time on set; there were parties and nightclub events, from Folsom Street in San Francisco to Gay Days at Disney World in Orlando and everywhere in between. Working with Falcon was simply the best.”
Hunter’s time with the studio also conveyed a life lesson or two.
“I have to say, they taught me plenty about sex! Trim your fingernails, no jewelry, cheat to the camera and go for it. Chuck Holmes knew what he was doing. He made me world-famous, and changed my life for the better, forever. I’m proud to have been a Falcon model. I’m glad that I got to meet so many great people along the way,” he enthused. “You know, I still wonder how many guys have shot a load watching my movies over the years? It’s gotta be a lot! I still get recognized today, by guys young and old, and everybody has good things to say. From my first movie in 1993, Falcon brought out the best in me. I thank everyone who was part of that family.”
GOLDEN GREETINGS
A-list fans from across the cultural spectrum have not only stuck around for years as loyal Falcon consumers, they also shared with XBIZ some of their favorite memories, commenting on the iconic studio’s cultural impact. In fact, a common thread throughout their feedback centers on the brand’s gorgeous roster of Olympian erotic icons who served as a touchstone for men who were still finding their place in the community.
Throughout the evolution of adult entertainment — from loops to brick-and-mortar cinema, strip clubs to Pride parades, magazines to websites, VHS to DVD to NFTs — Falcon has been there, providing escapist entertainment even during the darkest days of the AIDS crisis and wrapping up safer-sex messaging during a time when such education quite literally was to be found nowhere else.
Falcon and its contemporaries were the only studios providing gay and bisexual men the opportunity to enjoy erotic love stories and wild sexual adventures of every stripe. Who else was telling these stories? Certainly not Hollywood. Is it any wonder Falcon achieved pantheon status, and remains so highly regarded today? During the COVID-19 pandemic, Falcon/NakedSword quickly pivoted to DIY content and found new ways to eroticize connection, both sexual and emotional, between gay men from afar.
The call to spring into action during a pandemic is something that Falcon’s employees, retail partners and fans remember all too well. As the company celebrates five decades of entertainment and activism, a select group of insiders and ardent mainstream admirers raise a glass and share their favorite studio memories.
Director and iconoclast John Waters, widely celebrated for his exquisitely filthy good taste, told XBIZ he first became aware of Falcon “when VHS first came out and finally you could jerk off at home and not in some crummy dive theater with trolls trying to blow you and rats biting your ankles.”
“Falcon is like MGM or Paramount. The class act of porn production,” he quipped. “A real dick star factory. I was even on their press list and got screeners — just like the Oscars! Jeff Stryker, Johnny Davenport and Lee Ryder were the Holy Trinity. Happy 50th! Bring back Jeff Stryker!”
Paper Magazine Editor Mickey Boardman saluted Falcon as an iconic name.
“I feel like I’ve known about Falcon from the earliest days I’ve known about porn,” he recalled. “I was a teenager in the ’80s and then Falcon was all about muscled, tanned dreamboats who seemed too good to be true. To me the brand will always represent that California muscle-man ideal.” Boardman added that “The Farmer’s Son,” starring “the late, great Erik Rhodes and Jason Adonis will always have a special place in my heart.”
“Thank you for the half century of sexy content,” he added. “And here’s to 50 more!”
Erik Schut, the managing director of TLA Entertainment and TLAgay.com, is also marking a milestone anniversary in 2021.
“Coincidentally, as Falcon celebrates its 50th this year, TLA is celebrating its 40th. We like to think of us as two iconic brands in the gay film world. TLA opened its first video store in the mid ’80s and as far as we can tell, Falcon has been a part of the TLA family ever since,” Schut told XBIZ.
“It’s Falcon’s dedication to quality as well as continuing to grow as a studio that keeps customers loyal and returning. We know this because TLA’s customers have told us so,” he said. “Starting from the early loop days, Falcon has consistently stood up loud and proud as a gay-owned business. Their influence on gay pop culture is immeasurable.”
Schut observed how TLA’s customers have reacted in “overwhelmingly positive” ways to every significant era in the company’s history. From the pre-condom Bill Clayton classics, to Steven Scarborough’s game-changing hits, to John Rutherford’s polished blockbusters, to the current era’s roster of creative talent — Marc MacNamara to mr. Pam, Chi Chi LaRue to Steve Cruz, Tony Dimarco to Jasun Mark and Trenton Ducati — the studio and its subsidiaries have always been “enormous favorites with the TLA customer.”
“We appreciate you, Falcon, for supporting us through the years,” he added. Sister Roma is an activist with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in San Francisco, with whom she earned the title of “The Most Photographed Nun in the World.” She also serves as creative director for Falcon/NakedSword.
“Before I worked in the adult industry, I was a huge porn fan. In my vast VHS collection, early Falcon classics like ‘Winner Takes All,’ ‘The Other Side of Aspen’ and ‘Spring Break’ were the cream of the crop,” she recalled to XBIZ. “No other studio could compare to Falcon when it came to the hot action, incredibly handsome, hung men and high production values. The same remains true today, five decades later.”
Roma got her introduction to the adult industry through her best friend and longtime Falcon employee, Michael Youens (aka drag performer Shanté), who relocated to San Francisco from Phoenix to work customer service for the studio in the early ’90s. Youens introduced Roma to stars like Chad Donovan, Aiden Shaw and Kevin Williams, with whom she remains friends to this day.
“It was friendships with [directors] Chi Chi LaRue and Steven Scarborough that really brought me into the fold,” Roma said. “I started doing freelance graphic work and eventually Steven hired me as his art director. A few years later, [then-president] John Rutherford suggested to Tim Valenti that I would be a good co-host for a new live-format adult industry online talk show he was producing and ‘The Tim and Roma Show’ was born. Thanks to lifelong friendships and successful business relationships like these, I have always felt completely at home in the adult industry. I am very proud of my career and I love my big porn family.”
Roma described Falcon's impact on gay culture as “undeniable.”
“As one of the pioneers in gay hardcore, Falcon movies were delivered in plain brown wrappers to remote destinations all over the country,” she said. “For a lot of LGBTQ people, especially gay men, Falcon movies were their first and only exposure to gay sex. Just thinking of all those pent-up, repressed loads being shot around the world brings me joy.”
“Later, when HIV/AIDS started to ravage the community, Falcon was among the major studios to go condom-only. For years it was our mission to save lives by showing our viewers that safer sex could be hot sex,” Roma continued. “Today, we continue to reflect the changing world we live in and strive to create a more diverse and inclusionary environment. Porn is like everything else in life: you either evolve or you die. And we are ready to go for at least another 50 years.”
Toby J. Morris, Falcon/NakedSword’s VP of sales and marketing, grew up in small-town Oregon and came out in high school. He first learned about Falcon when he went to college in Chicago. He recalled getting his hands on an issue of Men magazine that featured “Branded,” starring Jeremy Penn, and captured his imagination. Shortly thereafter, he traveled to San Francisco to experience a Pride celebration for the first time.
“Falcon had a booth at the Pride festival with some of the big names of the day, like Josh Weston,” recalled Morris. “I was in awe. From that moment on, I always associated Falcon with the finest men in the world — stunning, handsome, sculpted and charismatic.”
Morris moved to San Francisco in 2010 and answered a LinkedIn ad for a marketing director.
“I thought to myself, ‘If you’re going to start working in a new vertical, what a great opportunity to start with the best gay company in the adult industry.’ Plus, being a part of Falcon, its legacy and what it represents to our community, was really appealing to me,” he said.
“Falcon has liberated gay men,” Morris continued. “It has helped spur the conversation toward sexual freedom. Falcon has influenced gay culture in so many ways and provided many young gay men with a way to learn about their sexuality. Falcon has always set trends and expanded the view of gay sex and raised awareness on sexual health and social issues.”
Morris has also taken the opportunity, over the past decade, to study the company’s storied history.
“The moment that sparked that need for a new marketing director was the acquisition of Falcon by AEBN [in 2010], so that is of particular significance personally, and it was the beginning of a new era,” he said.
“My early favorite movies from the Falcon family of brands that I watched and loved before working here were ‘Quarterback Sack’ and ‘Flashpoint: Hot as Hell,’” he enthused. “When I started watching porn, I was really into Roman Heart, Matthew Rush, Erik Rhodes and Ty Colt. And of course, the huge stars of the past like Al Parker, Lee Ryder, Mike Branson, Aiden Shaw and Ken Ryker — to name a few.”
Morris also cited the “stunning exclusives that we’ve worked with since I started at Falcon,” such as Cade Maddox, Ryan Rose, Landon Conrad, Woody Fox, Skyy Knox, Austin Wolf, Sebastian Kross, Sean Zevran, Devin Franco and Max Konnor.
Many gay adult studios and video lines have sprung from former directors, employees or models at Falcon, he said — Hot House, Kristen Bjorn, BelAmi, Raging Stallion, NakedSword Originals and Lucas Entertainment, among many others.
Reigning XBIZ “Gay Director of the Year” Marc MacNamara observed that Falcon, as a legacy brand, “taught me sexuality is not what you do, it's who you are. I remember walking down Eighth Avenue in Chelsea when I moved to New York and seeing stars like Arpad Miklos, Roman Ragazzi and Collin O'Neal and thinking, ‘Wow, I've seen you eat an ass. I can relate to that.’”
MacNamara noted that “gay porn is its own culture and Falcon is the house ‘mother’ — or ‘daddy.’”
“There was a draft of gay porn before Falcon came along but they are the ones who laid the blueprint. Not to put down anyone's efforts, but before Falcon came along, gay porn was a bit underwhelming. It was like watching someone use a croissant as a dildo,” he quipped. “It wasn't getting the job done and it was making a fucking mess.”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” breakout star Latrice Royale told XBIZ she first became aware of Falcon around 1989.
“I knew I was gay; however, I was nowhere near that closet door,” she said. “But my first viewing of a scene from Falcon was all the confirmation I needed. Hot, hot, hot men! Woo!”
“This brand has been around for decades and is a legendary icon in our culture. Back in my heyday, it was the boys of Falcon that were touring and dancing in the clubs. Packing in the gays to see these men of film,” Royale recalled. “Colton Ford, Matthew Rush, Cameron Fox and Chad Hunt, just to name a few, were constantly in my circle. I've partied with these dudes, they've been to my house for after-hour parties. At one point, I could have had a very different career path, had I started directing. Oh, yes! I was gonna come for Chi Chi’s gig!”
Author, columnist and culture critic Michael Musto offered his appreciation for “a half century of raunch and romance, usually done with some kind of wacky plotline or other.”
“I'll never forget Leo Ford and his flirtation with Divine, Joey Stefano and his flirtation with everyone and Gus Mattox — and his side career today as an accomplished musical director,” said Musto.
“Whatever one can say about your stable of stars and directors, they certainly have never been boring and they have often been downright stimulating,” he quipped. “Your vivid exercises in unapologetic gay sex have helped many males come out of the closet with a bang and stay there.” “Happy 50th, Falcon!” he added. “You still look fuckable!”
