Scott Masters - Early Years

Early Years

Masters grew up in Illinois, and later attended college.

Masters came to San Francisco, California, from Chicago in 1966. Many of the bookstores (including gay and adult bookstores) which he visited were openly selling gay pornography. He established a small business purchasing gay pornographic magazines for area booksellers. He began selling nude male photosets from such notable photographers of the male nude as Bruce Bellas ("Bruce of L.A.") and Walter Kundzicz (Champion Studio), as well as softcore nude films from Athletic Model Guild.

In late 1967, he formed a partnership with Reuben Sturman to print and distribute one-off magazines featuring the work of Kundzicz. The first magazine was Champions All, published in the spring of 1968. Moving full-time to San Francisco from Chicago, Masters took up work as a full-time bookkeeper at a printing company. He began taking photographs of nude men on the side to supply his magazines with images. Although the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that images of the male nude were not obscene in MANual Enterprises v. Day 370 U.S. 478 in 1962, U.S. postal inspectors still considered the tumescent and erect penis obscene under then-current interpretations of American federal postal and obscenity law and court rulings. Nevertheless, Masters took hardcore as well as softcore images, and images of solo, duo and group sex.

In 1969, Masters began producing hardcore gay male nude magazines. The Supreme Court had further liberalized the standards for obscenity in Redrup v. New York, 386 U.S. 767 (1967), and several lower-court rulings had significantly undercut the ability of state and federal authorities to seize even materials which depicted hardcore sexual activity between individuals of the same gender. The first such magazine was Hard?. By the end of the year, Masters 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 shows), and starred Jim Cassidy—at the time a popular underground hardcore gay porn star. To distribute his hardcore films, Masters established his first adult film studio, named The Stephens Agency. Masters closed the distribution business in 1972 because it was unprofitable. However, he continued to direct loops with former Hollywood lighting technician and cinematographer Jim Randall.

Masters is responsible for developing 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 planned filmmaking style. The films were like staged plays, with very 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.

That same year, Masters was prosecuted in Texas for obscenity. He pled guilty. He received a one year suspended sentence, three years of probation, and a fine. The judge waived the fine because Masters told him he was putting a child through college. What Masters said was true, but he did not reveal that the college-age student was also his gay lover. After his sentencing, Masters cut back on the number of brochures, magazines and loops he produced but did not exit the adult film industry. By 1976, however, Masters had directed more than 100 loops.