BLAST FROM THE PAST-THE WORLD THEATER

Grabbed this business card from one of my fathers file folders. This is after he took over the theater from Bobby Sumner, where his Mature Pictures played some of the best adult films of all time, and booked even more!

THE WORLD THEATER a legendary XXX film house

49th and Broadway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 80′s….Possibly one of the most infamous video/film blocks in the entire city. The World Theater/VIDEO SHACK/CIRCUS CINEMA…WOW!!

Shaun Costello’s First Ever Commentary

November 15, 2010

I am proud to announce that as part of “The Passions of Carol” Platinum Elite Collection, we will be including a full- feature length, audio commentary with the film’s creator and director, the legendary Shaun Costello. This was the first time that Shaun has ever recorded a commentary over one of his films and it is an honor to be able to bring you this great footage. We shot/recorded over this past weekend in NYC and also got to spend some time with Shaun and walk around the city and talk about how much the city has changed…we walked past the old capri cinema…we walked around 42nd st, even checked out SHOW WORLD, man has it changed. He told us some of the greatest stories as well, really a great time and the commentary is brilliant….. just very informative and Shaun talks about the filming, the cast, the producers, the music, and also some great stories. The commentary was produced by Distribpix and conducted by Chicago -based, film historian, Joe Rubin. Being a huge fan of Costello’s work, combined with his ultimate love for “The Passions of Carol” made Joe a shoe -in to moderate the commentary and he did a wonderful job.

Release date is ASAP, we are trying for a Christmas release date!

I am going to post a few pics:

The first one was taken in front of what is left of the legendary Show World, it is pretty sad and I even took a photo inside  just for shits and gigs and the Clerks made me erase the photo….Dam, I was just having fun, if they only knew how much money I had spent there in my teens!!LOL. Besides, there is nothing in there but crap, really sad. I remember when at any given time there were a dozen girls doing live shows, but that was 20 years ago…dam i am getting old!! Now it is filled with old magazines and the worst bottom of the barrel porn available.

The second photo was shot in front of an abandoned lot, which used to be the Capri Cinema. It was great to walk around the “new” Times Square, with a legend like Shaun, it was also tough to see the “new” 42nd street. It is still NYC, but not the way it used to be, especially for guys like Shaun, who used to live, work and play in the DEUCE!!

Joe and Steven with the Legendary Shaun Costello

Taken in front of empty lot ( used to be CAPRI CINEMA)

DISTRIBPIX IS GOLDEN AGE HISTORY

DISTRIBPIX INC./VIDEO•X•PIX
In 2008, Adult Video News magazine celebrated its 25th Anniversary and chose to commemorate its impressive longevity by paying tribute to the most prominent pioneers of the industry who took risks and paved the way for today’s multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Amongst the great and the good featured in the retrospective, special mention was made of two distinguished New Yorkers whose names may not have been familiar to many readers. They were rightly praised for being amongst the first to develop a chain of video stores called Video Shack in 1982.
What the article failed to mention however was that by the early 1980s, these guys were already veterans in the adult film industry – and able to lay claim to just about the longest tenure of anyone.
Back in 1965, armed with limited funds, Distribpix was founded. Within months, the company was distributing the most profitable adult films of the day; this was the era of black and white sexual melodramas with lascivious and sleazy titles such as “Thigh Spy”, “Lust Weekend”, “Spread Eagles”, and “ Wee-Gee Broad”.
Though the plots were strongly sexualised, the nuditity quotient of the initial films was low – though the climate quickly become more permissive with every film. Wanting to ensure their risque’ films stayed ahead of the competition, Distribpix took risks with the censors and revealed a little more flesh each time. This led the founder to comment wryly that Distribpix invented the industry “one pubic hair at a time”.
The success of Distibpix was instant, and operations were immediately expanded. Relationships were formed with the rising talent of East Coast directors such as Joe Sarno, Ron Sullivan, the Amero brothers, and Michael and Roberta Findlay. In the late 1960s, films rolled off the production line with regularity, turning a quick profit in the legendary Times Square adult cinemas – before earning thousands around the country.
As the 1970s dawned, softcore gave way to hardcore, and once again Distribpix was at the forefront – producing the highest quality adult pictures available. For the first time, the best of the adult films looked like mainstream pictures – and Distribpix led the way with the biggest names in the industry such as Georgina Spelvin, Tina Russell, Jamie Gillis, Marc Stevens, and Harry Reems, specially commissioned scripts and soundtracks, and talented mainstream crews.
Distribpix even started to mirror mainstream production company’s such as MGM or Paramount becoming the first to stage elaborate premieres for its film, or signing now legendary stars such as Gloria Leonard and Jennifer Welles to exclusive contracts. Along the way, the Distribpix library was augmented by the purchase of Sam Lake’s Maturpix back catalog – home of many legendary titles from the era.
Towards the end of the 1970s, the adult film market had become more discerning; Distribpix responded by increasing the budgets and ambition of their productions, hiring the likes of Armond Weston, Chuck Vincent, Jonas Middleton, and Gerard Damiano – resluting in movies such as “Through The Looking Glass”, “Take Off”, “A Scent of Heather”, and “Consenting Adults”.
By now Distribpix had been rebranded as VideoXPix reflecting the advent of the video age. But, unlike many competitors, the company thrived and adapted to the new marketplace quickly becoming a major video production house, even going back to one of it’s earliest directors from the 1960s, Joe Sarno, to deliver film after film shot on video.
Movie production eventually stopped in 1989 – but the company remained in family hands, and has been run by Distribpix kin since 2002. The priority was originally to release the classic hardcore features from the 1970s and 1980s – an undertaking which has been underway ever since, resulting in over 200 films now available on DVD.
However with the resurgence in interest in soft and hardcore adult cinema, Distribpix and VideoXPix are proud to announce the re-launch of the company. The relaunched company will focus on a three-tiered approach: First, we will offer multi-disc remastered special editions of the hard core films, featuring contributions by the original directors and stars, production stills, and authoritive liner notes. Secondly, we will release, remastered soft-core films by stellar directors such as Joe Sarno, Ron Sullivan, Michael Findlay and Leonard Kirtman. Third, we are developing an extensive online community for the sharing of information and documentary material relating to the films, and the ability to download the movies themselves.
Far from being a bootlegging, oldies company like so much of the competition, Distribpix / VideoXPix is proud of is long heritage in the industry and looks forward to increasing the size of its family of people interested in this historical company. We hope you enjoy our family of jewels!

DISTRIBPIX IS BACK…THE SLEEPING GIANT AWAKENS

AFTER 30 YEARS, DISTRIBPIX INC., WILL OPEN THIER VAULT TO REVEAL A TREASURE CHEST OF 35 MM SEXPLOITATION JEWELS, LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF SEXPLOITATION FEATURES FROM THE 1960′S. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THIS BLOG FOR ALL NEWS RELATED TO OUR BRAND NEW DISTRIBPIX RELEASES, ALL WHICH WILL BE TRANSFERRED FROM 35MM NEGATIVES AND PRINTS, AND SOME IN HD. THESE FILMS DEFINITELY REPRESENT A TIME IN FILM HISTORY THAT IS INDEED UNIQUE. SOME HISTORIANS SAY THAT THE FILMS OF DISTRIBPIX ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN DAY ADULT VIDEO INDUSTRY. THESE ARE THE FILMS THAT CAME BEFORE DEEPTHROAT, LIKE A DECADE BEFORE. MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT DEEPTHROAT WAS THE START, BUT THEY COULD NOT BE FARTHER THAN THE TRUTH.

OUR PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS ARE AMONG THE BEST OF ALL TIME. WE WILL HIGHLIGHT FILMS FROM THE LIKES OF THE YOUNG RON SULLIVAN, JOE SARNO,LEONARD KIRTMAN, JACK BRAVMAN,MICHAEL FINDLAY, SAM LAKE, FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA AND MANY OTHERS.

SOME OF OUR FIRST TITLES TO BE RELEASED ARE THE EARLY JOE SARNO CLASSICS “NUDE IN CHARCOAL” , “SKIN DEEP IN LOVE” AND “THE BED AND HOT TO MAKE IT”. ALSO, IN THE LINE UP ARE RON SULLIVAN’S “LUST WEEKEND” AND “THE BIZARRE ONES”, WHICH WE MIGHT TREAT AS A DOUBLE FEATURE. THIS IS THE NEXT GENERATION OF SEXPLOITATION, WE HOPE YOU ENJOY OUR APPROACH TO THE PRESERVATION OF THESE THOUGHT TO BE LOST FILMS OF THE LATE 60′S. EACH RELEASE WILL BE TREATED WITH THE UTMOST CARE AND WILL INCLUDE EXTRAS, LIKE SEXPLOITATION TRAILERS AND OUT TAKES, DIRECTOR/ACTOR INTERVIEWS, IN-DEPTH LINER NOTES, HIGH END PACKAGING AND EACH DVD WILL INCLUDE ACTUAL FILM CLIPPINGS, FROM OUR OLD PRINTS.

PHOTO Below, IS ONE OF THOUSANDS OF ARCHIVED DISTRIBPIX PHOTOS FROM THE LATE 1960′S,(RECENTLY DIGITIZED) OF AN OLD NYC THEATER IN NYC, WOW!!!!!, THIS IS REALLY WHERE IT ALL STARTED. FANS OF SEXPLOITATION FILMS FROM THE EARLY NYC GRINDHOUSES, YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR HOME!!