Nina Hartley
Nina Hartley, Las Vegas, 1997
How did a San Diego video production crew meet the magical Nina Hartley? Well, back in the mid-1980’s, we used to travel to Las Vegas to attend the VSDA (Video Software Dealer Association) shows, to pedal our wares. We had produced a handful of special-interest videos including some that were the first of their genre. These were “The Great Mountain Biking Video,” “Massage For Relaxation,” “California Big Hunks,” “Common Sense Self-Defense For Women” and “Anti-Terrorism: Weapons & Tactics.” (Indeed, as early as 1985, we could foresee this unfortunate trend).
The Vegas Trek
So we would pack all our wares in the car, drive from San Diego to Vegas and troll the Las Vegas Convention Center for any distributors who wanted to buy our videotapes. Basically, for a time, you had two choices, VHS or Beta. Then, the higher-quality of the two (Beta) fell away and VHS was declared the winner. The Convention Center was filled to the brim with studios hawking their lines of videos; you’d see racks of VHS tapes. Consequently, it was quite a carnival atmosphere as many of these studios would bring in their top celebrities to sign autographs and pose for photos with conventioneers who were generally owners of video stores.
Adult Video Corner
Off in a corner of this gigantic show would be a curtained off section called “Adult Videos.” This was the section where you could find the naughty videos, the pornography. And this turned out to be the most popular area for convention-goers as you had the opportunity to possibly rub elbows (or other body parts, perhaps) with porn stars. Over the years, we met a few. There was even a producer there we got to know over the years who wondered when Mark and I would appear in a porn video ourselves. Of course, that was never gonna happen.
John Holmes hugs Patty Mooney; note the lei she gave him
John Holmes Himself
One of the most unforgettable porn people was Mr. Johnny Wad himself, John Holmes, who would be the first porn actor to die of AIDS. He was there in the Adult Video section courting fans in 1987 when Mark and I spotted him and decided to say hello. At the time someone at the show had gifted me with a fragrant Hawaiian lei. Sometimes an overwhelming feeling of generosity comes over me as it did that day. I placed the lei around his neck upon which he quipped, “Thanks for the lay!” He kindly posed for a photo with me, autographed a poster, writing: “Still sore after last night?” and within about a year he was gone.
Nina Hartley with Producer Patty Mooney, Las Vegas, 1998
Candida Royalle
Another wonderful person we met behind that curtain was Candida Royalle, a former porn star who was starting to produce erotica for women. There were plot lines in her films, as well as lots of hugging and cuddling. She just passed away in 2015 after making great inroads in the genre, and designing a vibrator for women (what a concept – a product for women designed by a woman!) in various sizes and colors – a big hit.
Penn Jillette
Someone else we spotted once was a super hero of the magic world, Penn Jillette. We didn’t see Teller anywhere in the area. However, Penn was having enough fun for the both of them.
Our favorite actress through all these years of stealing behind that curtain was Nina Hartley, the Queen of Porn. In fact, she, like Candida, has been all about sexual awareness.
Penn Gillette with three beautiful women at Las Vegas Adult Video Show
Boogie Nights
Nina produced a series of how-to sex videos and appeared as the nymphomaniac on “Boogie Nights.” I have posted photos of myself with Nina Hartley which have risen to most popular of all my photos on Patty’s Flickr Site and San Diego Video Crew Pinterest Page. Indeed, she is a woman who really is easy to love.
Wet ‘n Wild
During an after-show Playboy party at the now defunct Wet ‘n Wild, a water park complete with margaritas, appetizers and Playboy bunnies romping in their bikinis, Mark and I spotted Nina in the pool making love on a raft with a guy who looked a lot like Fabio, long dark hair and well muscled. As the waves in the pool drew that lovers’ raft closer and closer to the milling crowd, Nina looked up, saw where she and her amor were, slid off, dragged the raft and man back to the far reaches of the pool and carried on. What a trooper.
