Page 90 - AVN January 2016

IN MEMORIAM | | By Mark Kernes
There was no notice in the Los Angeles
Times or The New York Times, no posts
on major gay porn blogs, and even
most of Gino Colbert’s friends were
surprised to find out that the former
Gino Colbert, Top Gay/Bi Porn Director, Passes Away
task, doing the bi stuff, especially since we had to shoot it in
“Even if you don’t know Gino, chances are you’ve watched a
New York because we were still headquartered in Rochester,
Gino Colbert movie. In fact, hundreds—credited or uncredited.
so we were shooting a lot in New York. Ron Sullivan [aka
“After a successful career in front of the camera, Gino
Henri Pachard] was doing stuff for us, and Sam did the bi.”
stepped behind it in ’89 and quickly became one of the most
Zane continued, “I don’t even know how we found Sam;
prolific and iconic directors of the ’90s. Across all genres,
maybe through Ron, or maybe [Dick] Benedetti; I don’t
straight, transsexual, bisexual (particularly with the Switch
remember. We gave him this almost impossible task, and
Hitters series for Metro/Intropics), and above all, gay, which
it was pretty funny, because to shoot the bi stuff, you have
he helped shape into the 21st century.
to have people who can get it up for both, and it was pretty
“Gino groomed me to become his production manager in
freaky. It wasn’t easy, but Sam was patient, and the actors and
the early to mid ’90s. As such, I was fortunate to take part in
actresses liked him, and that was the important thing, because
blockbusters like Matinee Idol and Jeff Stryker’s Underground
there were always the physical problems with bi shoots, and
(both for VCA/HIS). But, in my opinion, his legacy lies
it doesn’t help if you have a finicky director. So Sam did make
elsewhere: it isn’t with the big movies he helmed (Night Walk,
a difficult thing much easier, and I remember he did what he
which he co-directed with Michael Ninn, also for VCA/HIS,
had to do, he delivered the product and I really liked him.”
or the award-winning Three Brothers for New Age Pictures). It’s
According to Zane, Colbert was something of a bon vivant.
with the ‘one-day-wonders’ he has produced for a number of
“He had, for some reason, some connection at Sylvia’s up in
studios: well scripted, tightly blocked and beautifully filmed,
Harlem; it was a soul food restaurant,” Zane said. “He had the
all in one day (CockEyed Eagle) or two (A Brother’s Desire). His
‘in’ there, so he brought me, my wife at the time and two of
legacy is with his attention to multi-racial casting, well before
my kids up to 125th Street, and it was the craziest thing. Sam
it became ubiquitous, and his focus on ‘nasty’ sex. ‘Keep it
director of hardcore gay and bi films
had passed away on August 21 of
what his friend Bob Schear described
as a “massive heart attack.” He was
57 years old, and by all accounts, in
good health prior to the attack.
Schear, Colbert’s close friend for
more than 30 years, said, “He was
not feeling well for a few days, and
he hated going to see doctors. He just
thought it was something like the flu,
and it would go away.”
Colbert is credited with directing
more than 130 gay and bi titles,
with a couple of hetero ones thrown
in as well, beginning with several
volumes of the series Bi Heat for Zane
Entertainment Group, which was
then shooting in New York City.
“He was a really nice guy,” recalled
Zane Entertainment CEO Chuck
Zane. “He always did have a pretty
good physique on him. I remember
that my brother and I really liked
him. We gave him a pretty tough
brought us in, and they just treated us like royalty.”
Soon after, Colbert headed to the West Coast to become
filthy, keep it hot,’ he used to remind me.
“More than anyone I’ve known, Gino had a deep
head of production for Mark Carriere’s Stallion Video.
“I’m the one that brought him out here years ago,” recalled
Ron Jeremy. “I had [Leisure Time Entertainment’s] Mark
Carriere fly him out. In those days, nobody ever flew a
production manager out; they flew out actresses, but he was
so good at running shoots as a production manager, Mark took
my advice and flew him out. That was way back. Sam tried his
hand at doing heterosexual movies, but he wasn’t too good at
‘getting it up’ for a girl; he did better with the gay films, so he
worked on Mark’s gay line, Stallion. ...
“He was very, very efficient,” Jeremy continued. “When I
had him on my set, he was always on time; never a problem
when he was around. He was the best production manager in
the business, as far as I’m concerned.”
Colbert began directing features in 1987, but by the end of
the 20th century, his output had decreased greatly, though he
apparently lensed his final movie in 2011 for the short-lived
company Devil’s Male. Besides various Carriere entities—
Leisure Time, Video Exclusives and Venus 99—Colbert also
helmed films for VCA’s gay line HIS, CDI Home Video, Bizarre
Video, Jet Set Productions and New Age Pictures.
One of Colbert’s closest friends was fellow director Lucas
Kazan, who offered the following remembrance to AVN:
appreciation (and knowledge) of porn’s rich and diverse
history as a film genre (‘It was born out of the burlesque,
arguably one of the true forms of the American Theatre’,
he wrote). He was trained by the legendary Joe Sarno and
passed down Sarno’s blocking style to me and the many
directors, videographers, and performers he trained. He knew,
befriended and often worked with most of the pioneers, from
Tom DeSimone to Alex deRenzi to Pat Rocco.
“Gino’s thirst for life manifested itself on so many levels:
he loved food, he loved sex, he loved his many friends. Always
generous with each and all of us, always original, Gino is the
last of a formidable generation of filmmakers. Like many of
them, he got lost with the internet revolution. But his legacy
is fertile and alive: it’s us, the hundreds of performers and
technicians he encouraged, coached, hired.”
Amid the tributes on Colbert’s Facebook page, director Pat
Rocco noted his part in one of the first GayVN Awards shows.
“He [Colbert] was instrumental in obtaining a ‘Lifetime
Achievement Award’ from the Adult Film Industry as
presenter several years ago at the Castro Theater in San
Francisco,” Rocco wrote. “His friendship will never be
forgotten. My heart goes out to family and all others whose life
has been touched by him.”
GAYVN
Director/Performer/Author Blue Blake Passes
One of the most famous gay adult actors of all time, Blue Blake,
passed away in October in London. He was 52.
Born in the U.K., Blake appeared in 66 movies for such studios
as All Worlds, Rawhide Entertainment, Stallion Video, HIS, Colt,
Leisure Time Entertainment, and eventually his own company,
Big Blue Productions, which he formed in 2000, and for which he
directed 24 features.
“Blue Blake and his brother Gage began their careers in the
adult film industry as Colt models,” according to his profile on
AVN.com. “Together, they made their debut performances in
The Blake Twins: Raw and Uncut. Afterwards, the Tom of Finland
Company approached Blue Blake, for which he starred in The Wild
Ones. It became a worldwide hit, giving him porn star fame.”
A former Royal Marine, Blake created several memorable films,
including a trilogy for director Gino Colbert which he wrote
himself: Black and Blue; Red, White, and Blue; and Men In Blue, which
led to Blake’s appearance with Colbert in the 1997 documentary
on the adult industry, Shooting Porn, which the Dallas Voice declared
to be his “finest on-screen appearance.”
After the formation of his production company, Blake received
five GayVN nominations for Big Blue’s first release, Demolition
Daddy, and later, his Cowboy got 10 nominations, including Best
Director and Best Screenplay. In 2005, Blake was inducted into the
GayVN Hall of Fame.
Blake is also known for the autobiography he authored in 2008,
Out of the Blue: Confessions of an Unlikely Porn Star.
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