Nova Studios
Encyclopedia
Nova Studios was a gay pornographic
movie studio
established by Scott Masters
in 1977. It closed in 1986. Under Masters, Nova Studios created the "West Coast Look", which dominated the gay adult film genre through the 1980s.
gay
male nude magazines. By the end of the year, he was producing as many as six magazines a month.
In 1970, Masters produced his first film, Drilled Deep. It was a "loop" (an 8mm
short film
, roughly 200 feet in length, designed to run over and over in peep show
s), and starred Jim Cassidy—at the time a popular underground
hardcore gay porn star
. To distribute his films, Masters established his first adult film business, The Stephens Agency. While Masters directed and produced films on a contract basis for distributors, he retained the right to sell the loops via direct mail
. The Stephens Agency was his direct mail operation. Masters closed the distribution business in 1972 because it was unprofitable. However, he continued to direct loops, working alongside former Hollywood lighting technician and cinematographer Jim Randall.
Despite a conviction in Texas
in 1970 for obscenity, by 1976 Masters had directed more than 100 loops.
In 1973, Masters directed his first feature-length hardcore gay adult film. The film was Greek Lightning, produced for Jaguar Productions and starring gay porn star Jimmy Hughes.
In late 1973, Masters founded In Touch (now known as In Touch for Men), a softcore gay porn magazine. But after two years, Masters turned over management of the magazine to a third party (while retaining ownership).
had opened its doors in San Francisco
. Distributing its films through direct mail as well as adult bookstores, the studio was able to charge high prices. This improved the budget for Falcon's loops, leading to higher-quality films. Realizing that direct mail might be profitable again, Masters spent most of 1976 raising capital to form Nova Studios.
Nova Studios' first production was Tubtricks (1976). Masters had decided to produce loops which ran to more than 400 feet, extending the film's running time to nearly 20 minutes. Tubtricks was shot in a San Francisco gay bathhouse
, and featured a complex orgy
at its conclusion. The film co-starred Lee Marlin and Ken Carter, both of whom would later go on to become notable sex performers and work for important directors such as Tom DeSimone
, Jack Deveau, William Higgins
and Mark Reynolds.
Tubtricks was a major success. Masters followed up the film with a series of wildly popular long loops: Kept After School, Beached, Tricking, Hot Lunch, Jocks, That Boy Next Door and Down on the Farm.
now common to gay adult film:
Masters attempted to keep Nova Studios afloat by finally producing sound film
s. Masters had refused to make films with synchronous sound until 1983—long after most other gay pornographic studios had not only begun using dialogue synched to the actor's lip movements but also had moved from film to video
. Masters' friend, William Higgins, had been recording sound for his films (but not using it) since 1978, and Falcon Studios released their first sound film in 1979. "I hated sound at this time. Because of my experience with Greek Lightning, partially, and I said, 'What will sound do for these films except make them ludicrous?' Because the kind of people we use in these films can't talk, can't act, have no background—they can't do any of these things, and it's just going to be absurd to make them say things when they aren't going to say them well."
In 1981, Nova Studios bowed to public demand and financial pressures and produced It's the Life. The film was a disaster. Star Giorgio Canali's English was so poor that he mangled his lines. Struggling to recite dialogue in an unfamiliar language, Canali could not maintain an erection. Masters eventually gave up and shot the rest of the scene without sound. Nova Studios would not produce a sound film again until 1983. That film would be Brian's Boys, starring Brian Hawks. But in the intervening two years, Nova Studios lost critical market share.
The same year, Nova Studio began dubbing
older silent loops. The company added music, limited narration, and asynchronous sexual sounds to the older films and began re-releasing these to make money.
Nova Studios also continued to find bright young performers. During 1983, the studio would discover and cast such notable adult film performers as Rick Donovan, Jim Bentley, Tim Kramer and Danny Connors.
In 1984, Nova Studios hired Chet Thomas. Thomas was an editor, and he worked on several of Nova's final films. They also released their final two sync-sound productions, Heroes and Something Wild, with the above stars as well as Scott Avery, Bobby Madison/Brian Michaels, and Randy Page.
But that same year, Masters' partner embezzled the company's bank account and fled with the master print
of the latest Nova Studio release, Boys Town. The company subsequently discovered that the company's taxes had also not been paid for several years. Faced with a large tax bill and $60,000 in debt, Nova Studios licensed the remainder of the company's products to a third party.
Nova Studios ceased to make gay adult films in late 1986.
. Catalina Video had been distributing Nova Studios' films to adult bookstores and video stores since about 1982. With Nova Studios in financial distress, Catalina and Nova Studios struck a deal: Catalina would purchase the rights to the unreleased Boys Town. Masters would be free to sell the rights to all other Nova Studios films to another vendor. Catalina would also hire Masters as its head of production, where he would be free to write and direct films on an occasional basis.
Masters sold the rights to nearly all of Nova Studios' films to L.A. Video. Unfortunately, L.A. Video entered bankruptcy
a few years later, leaving the rights to all of Nova Studios' products in legal limbo.
Given the transition in his life, Masters stopped using the name "Robert Walters" and adopted a new stage name, Scott Masters.
Once at Catalina, Masters also hired Chet Thomas, his former editor at Nova Studios, to be a full-time director. Thomas subsequently became a notable gay adult film director in his own right.
Gay pornography
Gay pornography is the representation of sexual intercourse between men with the primary goal of sexual arousal in its audience. There is also a tradition, and continuing considerable output, of lesbian pornography....
movie studio
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
established by Scott Masters
Scott Masters
Scott Masters is a gay pornographic film director and studio owner active in adult film since the mid-1960s.Masters, whose real name is Warren Stephens, used the nom-de-porn "Robert Walters" when he founded Nova Studios. He later shuttered Nova Studio and became head of production at Catalina...
in 1977. It closed in 1986. Under Masters, Nova Studios created the "West Coast Look", which dominated the gay adult film genre through the 1980s.
Genesis of the studio
In 1969, Masters (then using the pseudonym "Robert Walters") began producing hardcoreHardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often displayed in magazines or on the Internet, or films. It can also...
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
male nude magazines. By the end of the year, he was producing as many as six magazines a month.
In 1970, Masters produced his first film, Drilled Deep. It was a "loop" (an 8mm
8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
short film
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, roughly 200 feet in length, designed to run over and over in peep show
Peep show
A peep show or peepshow is an exhibition of pictures, objects or people viewed through a small hole or magnifying glass. Though historically a peep show was a form of entertainment provided by wandering showmen, nowadays it more commonly refers a presentation of a sex show or pornographic film...
s), and starred Jim Cassidy—at the time a popular underground
Underground film
An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre, or financing.-Definition and history:The first use of the term "underground film" occurs in a 1957 essay by American film critic Manny Farber, "Underground Films." Farber uses it to refer to the work of...
hardcore gay porn star
Pornographic actor
A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...
. To distribute his films, Masters established his first adult film business, The Stephens Agency. While Masters directed and produced films on a contract basis for distributors, he retained the right to sell the loops via direct mail
Direct marketing
Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...
. The Stephens Agency was his direct mail operation. Masters closed the distribution business in 1972 because it was unprofitable. However, he continued to direct loops, working alongside former Hollywood lighting technician and cinematographer Jim Randall.
Despite a conviction in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in 1970 for obscenity, by 1976 Masters had directed more than 100 loops.
In 1973, Masters directed his first feature-length hardcore gay adult film. The film was Greek Lightning, produced for Jaguar Productions and starring gay porn star Jimmy Hughes.
In late 1973, Masters founded In Touch (now known as In Touch for Men), a softcore gay porn magazine. But after two years, Masters turned over management of the magazine to a third party (while retaining ownership).
Nova Studios
In 1976, Masters (still using the name Robert Walters) founded Nova Studios. The inspiration for the company came from a competitor's success. In 1972, Falcon StudiosFalcon Entertainment
Falcon Entertainment , an United States company based in San Francisco, California, is one of the world's largest producers of gay pornography....
had opened its doors in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Distributing its films through direct mail as well as adult bookstores, the studio was able to charge high prices. This improved the budget for Falcon's loops, leading to higher-quality films. Realizing that direct mail might be profitable again, Masters spent most of 1976 raising capital to form Nova Studios.
Nova Studios' first production was Tubtricks (1976). Masters had decided to produce loops which ran to more than 400 feet, extending the film's running time to nearly 20 minutes. Tubtricks was shot in a San Francisco gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steam baths, are commercial bathhouses for men to have sex with other men. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths" or "the tubs," and should not be confused with public bathing.Not all men who visit gay...
, and featured a complex orgy
Group sex
Group sex is sexual behavior involving more than two participants. Group sex can occur amongst people of all sexual orientations and genders...
at its conclusion. The film co-starred Lee Marlin and Ken Carter, both of whom would later go on to become notable sex performers and work for important directors such as Tom DeSimone
Tom DeSimone
Tom DeSimone is an American director, writer, producer and editor best known for such films and TV series as Hell Night, The Concrete Jungle, Reform School Girls, Freddy's Nightmares and Dark Justice.-External links:...
, Jack Deveau, William Higgins
William Higgins (director)
William Higgins is a director of gay pornographic films. His first film, "Boys of Venice" was produced in 1979 and he has produced over 140 internationally distributed titles. His films have won several Grabby awards and he is in the GayVN Awards Hall of Fame...
and Mark Reynolds.
Tubtricks was a major success. Masters followed up the film with a series of wildly popular long loops: Kept After School, Beached, Tricking, Hot Lunch, Jocks, That Boy Next Door and Down on the Farm.
The "West Coast Look"
Under Masters, Nova Studios developed the "West Coast Look" of gay pornography. As noted in a published history of Nova Studios, the West Coast Look was a very stylized and highly planned filmmaking style. Films were like staged plays, and contained extremely linear story-telling. "Tight transitions" were inserted between each scene to add continuity and establish setting, mood, and theme. Each scene sequenced almost formulaically "from master shot to medium shot to close-up, with frequent returns to the master shot. (By re-establishing the overall shot so often, Walters made viewers feel that they were viewing the action from the best seat in the house, not from within the circle of action itself.)" The lighting was strong, and tended to eliminate shadows and expose flaws in the performers' skin. Models' hair was carefully groomed, make-up was used, and cleanliness emphasized.Establishing gay porn tropes
Nova Studios established a number of tropesTrope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
now common to gay adult film:
- Heavy emphasis on sexual fantasySexual fantasyA sexual fantasy, also called an erotic fantasy, is a fantasy or pattern of thoughts with the effect of creating or enhancing sexual feelings; in short, it is "almost any mental imagery that is sexually arousing or erotic to [an] individual"...
- Nova Studios productions often featured sex in settings not generally considered "gay" at that time, such as factories, garages, locker rooms or barns. The studio focused on the fantasy of "sex with a straight man" or "sex between straight men," and played heavily on the idea that "gay sex can happen where you least expect it." - Gay-for-payGay-for-payGay-for-pay describes male or female actors, pornographic stars, or sex workers who self-identify as heterosexual but who are paid to act or perform as homosexual professionally. The term has also applied to other professions and even companies with the same core concerns and criticism in place...
performers - Nova Studios films did not depict characters as gay. The personality or sexual identity of each character was left ambiguous at best, and more often decidedly heterosexualHeterosexualityHeterosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, physical or romantic attractions to persons of the opposite sex";...
. "The point, above all, was to show 'hot guys having gay sex,' not gay guys having hot sex'." - Partially-clothed sex - Nova Studios pioneered the idea of leaving one piece of clothing on the performers during the sex act. This usually was a pair of white athletic socks with colorful stripes on the top, a visual which became nearly ubiquitous in gay pornography until the late 1980s. Athletic shoes, work boots, cleats and even complete uniforms (such as a policeman's shirt and pants, or a football player's pads, jersey and jockstrap) would remain on the model. The concept was to continually remind the viewer of the fantasy setting in which the sex occurred.
- An emphasis on youth - Although most of the models cast in Nova Studios productions were in their late 20s and early 30s, the setting and story used in the films emphasized the youth of the models. In some cases, the films implied through the use of dialogue, setting or behavior that some of the characters were under the age of 18.
- IncestIncestIncest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
themes - Beginning with the film His Little Brother (produced in 1978), Nova Studios often included incest in its films. Although none of the models were, in fact, siblings, Nova Studios often gave them the same last name as their stage nameStage nameA stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
to heighten the impression that the models were brothers. Other aspects of the films—the performers occupy the same house, or appear to have the same parents, or seem to have a brotherly relationship in school or at home—also contribute to the impression that incest is occurring. - "The natural look" - Except for its last films, Nova Studios productions featured performers who were "not some Olympus of demi-gods, all gym-buffed, parlor-tanned, and blow-dried. Instead, Nova, offered a down-to-earth collection of real individuals, each with his own sex appeal and identity. The 'typical' Nova model has a lean, natural build which looked even heftier (as did the cock) if the model was short but well proportioned." Expressive eyes and wide, friendly smiles were also very common.
- Sexual chemistry - Nova Studios performers were often sexually ambivalent individuals who were strongly aroused (rather than turned off) by same-gender sex. Nova Studios sought out thrill-seekers who would be excited by the prospect of sex on film or sex for money, or escortsMale prostitutionMale prostitution is the practice of engaging in sexual acts for money. Compared to female sex workers, male sex workers have been far less studied by researchers, and while studies suggest that there are differences between the ways these two groups look at their work, more research is needed.Male...
who wanted to have sex with men their own age for once. - Structured story lines - "The majority of Nova's releases had a story to tell, with clear transitions and an element of dramatic conflict. And Walters liked to end his little tales with a comical or O. Henry-esque twist: a signature of his Nova work."
- Structured sexual performances - The nature of Nova Studios' guerrilla filmmakingGuerrilla filmmakingGuerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by low budgets, skeleton crews, and simple props using whatever is available...
required that the studio plan to the last detail the shots produceers wanted in films. Time was of the essence while shooting, which required rigorous planning. While this occasionally drained the scenes of spontaneity, more often than not they created richly layered sexual performances lacking in the jerky, heavily-edited performances rife with jump cutJump cutA jump cut is a cut in film editing and vloging in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit causes the subject of the shots to appear to "jump" position in a discontinuous way...
s which characterize most gay adult film in the 2000s.
Marketing innovation
Nova Studios also pioneered a new marketing technique, the glossy brochure. To help sell films, which were nearly triple the cost of most loops, Nova Studios produced 16-page, full-color, glossy brochures. Each brochure contained nearly 70 small photographs of the film's action.Theft and embezzlement
Nova Studios began licensing many of Scott Masters' pre-Nova loops and early Nova Studios material on video in 1980. Unbeknownst to Nova, however, Masters' lover (who had acted as the studio's chief of production and financial manager) had been licensing much of the same material over and over to a wide variety of customers without permission. As this material began to flood the marketplace (much of it in degraded quality), the studio's financial situation deteriorated significantly.Masters attempted to keep Nova Studios afloat by finally producing sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
s. Masters had refused to make films with synchronous sound until 1983—long after most other gay pornographic studios had not only begun using dialogue synched to the actor's lip movements but also had moved from film to video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
. Masters' friend, William Higgins, had been recording sound for his films (but not using it) since 1978, and Falcon Studios released their first sound film in 1979. "I hated sound at this time. Because of my experience with Greek Lightning, partially, and I said, 'What will sound do for these films except make them ludicrous?' Because the kind of people we use in these films can't talk, can't act, have no background—they can't do any of these things, and it's just going to be absurd to make them say things when they aren't going to say them well."
In 1981, Nova Studios bowed to public demand and financial pressures and produced It's the Life. The film was a disaster. Star Giorgio Canali's English was so poor that he mangled his lines. Struggling to recite dialogue in an unfamiliar language, Canali could not maintain an erection. Masters eventually gave up and shot the rest of the scene without sound. Nova Studios would not produce a sound film again until 1983. That film would be Brian's Boys, starring Brian Hawks. But in the intervening two years, Nova Studios lost critical market share.
The same year, Nova Studio began dubbing
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
older silent loops. The company added music, limited narration, and asynchronous sexual sounds to the older films and began re-releasing these to make money.
Nova Studios also continued to find bright young performers. During 1983, the studio would discover and cast such notable adult film performers as Rick Donovan, Jim Bentley, Tim Kramer and Danny Connors.
In 1984, Nova Studios hired Chet Thomas. Thomas was an editor, and he worked on several of Nova's final films. They also released their final two sync-sound productions, Heroes and Something Wild, with the above stars as well as Scott Avery, Bobby Madison/Brian Michaels, and Randy Page.
But that same year, Masters' partner embezzled the company's bank account and fled with the master print
Original camera negative
The original camera negative is the film in a motion picture camera which captures the original image. This is the film from which all other copies will be made. It is known as raw stock prior to exposure....
of the latest Nova Studio release, Boys Town. The company subsequently discovered that the company's taxes had also not been paid for several years. Faced with a large tax bill and $60,000 in debt, Nova Studios licensed the remainder of the company's products to a third party.
Nova Studios ceased to make gay adult films in late 1986.
Post-Nova Studios
In 1987, Masters was hired by Catalina VideoCatalina Video
Catalina Video is an award-winning production house of gay pornography, founded in 1978 by William Higgins. The company was primarily a distributor for Nova Studios in 1982. In 1987, Scott Masters was hired as its head of production, and he began making films for the studio...
. Catalina Video had been distributing Nova Studios' films to adult bookstores and video stores since about 1982. With Nova Studios in financial distress, Catalina and Nova Studios struck a deal: Catalina would purchase the rights to the unreleased Boys Town. Masters would be free to sell the rights to all other Nova Studios films to another vendor. Catalina would also hire Masters as its head of production, where he would be free to write and direct films on an occasional basis.
Masters sold the rights to nearly all of Nova Studios' films to L.A. Video. Unfortunately, L.A. Video entered bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
a few years later, leaving the rights to all of Nova Studios' products in legal limbo.
Given the transition in his life, Masters stopped using the name "Robert Walters" and adopted a new stage name, Scott Masters.
Once at Catalina, Masters also hired Chet Thomas, his former editor at Nova Studios, to be a full-time director. Thomas subsequently became a notable gay adult film director in his own right.