Gay pornography helped define more than one generation of gay men, and Falcon Studios founder Chuck Holmes was at the forefront of that movement, bringing high quality movies with attractive models to your mailbox in brown wrappers. He was tired of looking at poor quality reels which showed gay sex in the shadows and actors with their legs in the air displaying dirty feet.

The new documentary "Seed Money: The Story of Chuck Holmes,” makes its west coast premiere at FilmOut's San Diego LGBT Film Festival on May 30, and it is not only a lesson in creating a billion dollar business, it is also a chronicle of three decades worth of masculine identities in the gay community.

In the 1970’s men and women across America were trying to liberate themselves. Women were trying to flee from being the slipper-retrieving, apron-wearing housewives, to becoming vocal and active participants in a post-war society. Straight men were trying to lose the banality of office working, head-of-the household tyrants who rarely emoted any feelings for the fear of being seen as non-masculine.

In between these movements was gay liberation. Gays and lesbians were tired of being down-trodden, closeted second-class citizens and began standing up for themselves in sometimes forceful ways. In 1969 the Stonewall riots drove this point home and gay pride was born.

As for the sexual revolution, it was in full swing, more and more Americans were challenging the traditional orders of sexuality, becoming freer with their bodies and their bedrooms. Pornography gave the curious a peek into other people’s private lives and showed them the anatomy of another human being, possibly for the first time.

The gay men’s movement of the 70's leaned heavily on sexual freedom, so it was no wonder that pornography became an underground manual of which gay men could take examples. After all, straight men were fantasizing about the women in the pages of Playboy since 1953.

Perhaps no other person did more to develop the gay adult film industry than Chuck Holmes. In its beginnings, his Falcon Studio produced eight millimeter, ten minute reels that were delivered through the mail. At the time, he wanted to class up the industry and remove the normal bushy actors in bad lighting and dirty feet. In doing that, he defined a generation of gay men who were looking for an identity, but were lost behind the closet door or bound by religious handcuffs.

At this year’s San Diego LGBT film festival, Michael Stabile’s “Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story,” focuses on the Falcon film studio and its creator. This very informative documentary delves not only into the subject of gay pornography, but into its influences on gay men and their roles in society.

It wasn’t easy for Holmes at first. In 1973, he was indicted with Matt Sterling for selling interracial porn in Tennessee. He eventually won the case and soon after, with the advent of the VHS tape, became the biggest producer of gay porn the world had ever seen.

In 1983, Holmes released “The Other Side of Aspen,” which changed the pornography game forever. A high quality X-rated all-male movie which chronicled the sexual adventures of a skier in the mountains of Colorado. With VHS now available, Holmes sold the tape for $159 and orders went through the roof.

However, “Seed Money” also addresses how Falcon created a much bigger picture. Holmes’ movies depicted play-by-plays of fantasy gay sex. And for young closeted men everywhere, it also inspired fashion and societal trends. Falcon Studios had set the precedent of which all other studios began to duplicate.

Men, like the Falcon models, started removing body hair, getting into shape and dying their hair blonde. Tight denim jeans and flannel shirts gave way to polo tops and Dolphin shorts. Tan lines grew brighter and oiled bodies were a must. Falcon Studios had created a counterculture that suddenly became the norm for everybody; straight or gay. The definition of masculinity was being turned on its head.

As a documentary, "Seed Money: The Story of Chuck Holmes,” is a library of information on gay culture that spans three decades. The mustachioed and hirsute gay men of the 70’s gave way to the depilated and athletic youngsters of the 80’s. Somewhere along the way AIDS ravaged the culture, but Falcon prevailed by helping thousands of men follow the number one rule to avoid getting the deadly disease.

Directed by Michael Stabile, “Seed Money” is an important film not only in chronicling the success of a young man from Indiana in an industry that was constantly challenged by legislature, but it also illustrates the sexual movement of many decades within the gay community.

Chuck Holmes built upon an industry that provoked sexuality and in doing so helped take the shame out of it. He brought gay men out into the open in his films, putting them on ski slopes and desert sands. His films gave permission to gay men to have sex, explore techniques and define themselves in a world that had been doing that for them already.

While the world was trying to make change by getting their hands dirty, Holmes was busy making changes by cleaning up their feet.

Seed Money: The Story of Chuck Holmes,” makes its west coast premiere at FilmOut on Saturday May 30, at 10 pm. Tickets are $10.

The 17th annual FilmOut LGBT Film Festival runs from May 29 to May 31 at The Observatory – North Park, 2891 University Avenue, San Diego, CA.

For more information and how to get tickets click HERE