Want A Closer Look At The 1980s Porn Industry In NYC?

We've seen New York in the 1980s, and things were looking pretty Mad Max, so it's unsurprising that in the dark corners of the city was a booming porn industry. Now, Barbara Nitke is aiming to bring it back, sort of. She tells us, "I have a campaign currently running on Kickstarter to publish a photo book behind-the-scenes of making porn movies in New York in the 1980's. A lot of people don’t know there was a porn industry here in NY back then." She sent along many photos that she took at the time, documenting around 300 porn movies with still photography. We can't publish them here, but you can see them all in this video (NSFW x infinity!):

She writes, "we shot real 35mm film on big movie cameras. Home video cassette players had barely been invented. There were no DVD’s, no home computers, no Internet. People went out to downtown movie theaters and watched sex movies on the silver screen. Our shoots lasted anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks, with a crew of at least twenty people. We all put a lot of care into the script, the acting, the lighting, sound, editing—all the aspects of real movie-making. It was the Golden Age of Porn, and I was thrilled to be a part of it." As this author can tell you, having worked (as a writer) for the same industry, a lot of care is still put into some of these movies! But yes, even with the better quality films out there, it's nowhere close to '80s porn.

As for where this was all going down, Nitke tells us, "There was a studio in Corona Queens, aptly called Adventure Studios, where a lot of the movies where made. It was there from the 1970s and director Jerry Damiano shot there a lot, followed by another big name director of the period, Henri Pachard. We also shot a lot in a loft in the East 20s, and a midtown townhouse (reputedly owned by somebody who was in jail)."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on February 15, 2012 5:04 PM

Comments [rss]

BottomlessChips

If Los Angeles goes through with the condom law, lure the industry bareback to NYC!

Peanut_Butter

I see a small loophole in the condom law. badumbump. i'm here all week.

WZA

As much as I'd welcome this, NY doesn't even have the balls to host a porn convention because people are so uptight.

That's why it moved to Jersey.

Peanut_Butter

I heard uptight Westsiders petitioned to have the now-defunct Victoria's Secret remove their alluring poster. And then there's the LES American Apparel hubbub.

zombiebob

Ahh... good old nina Hartley, she's only gotten hotter with age. She's like a fine cooz-cheese.

DonPancho

But only the cognoscenti devour the rind.

Peanut_Butter

As my ex would say, ohmygoodness...

zombiebob

By rind are you speaking of her poop shoot, or as some less mature people might call it, her asshole?

concreteblonde

The Other Hollywood has a lot of great information detailing the porn industry in NY and is an absolutely fascinating book to boot.

Olog-hai

Stories about dirty panties http://gothamist.com/2012/02/1... and porn are not why I subscribe to Gothamist. Get your heads straight or plonk you go from my RSS reader.

ixvnyc

I disagree with you, and thus cancel you out.

Peanut_Butter

Which head?

schmeep

Your refund is in the mail...with a complimentary pair of JDS' panties!

edgie168

umad?

tim_f

WAH WAH WAH

WZA

When I think of porn in NYC, I think of Paragon cable, Ch. 35, Robin Byrd and Midnight Blue...and of course, Times Square.

Peanut_Butter

"When I think of porn in NYC, I think of ... Times Square."

You'll have to forgive my friend. He's been on a hunting trip and cut off from the world.

WZA

HAHAHA!

D'oh!
I meant the old Deuce!

LesFleursDuMal

slutever.com did a great write up on this as well . . .

virgilstarkwell

wait - her argument as to why no publisher would touch it is because you need to be over 18 to buy it? that's total crap. for one, i don't think amazon or barnes and noble is carding anyone. and, for two, even if that was true, i think there are enough book buyers in the world over the age of 18 to make it feasibly economical for someone to publish this... assuming that it was, you know, good.

face it, lady - your book sucks, the photos are only mildly interesting at best (which is a really hard thing to accomplish, given how much you had to work with), and - at the stage in your career which you seem to be at - you should be able to rustle together the $25K needed to publish this on your own.

sorry for the rant but the attitude really 'grinds my gears'.