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Michael Lucas (director)

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For other people named Michael Lucas (disambiguation)|Michael Lucas, see Michael Lucas (disambiguation).
Michael Lucas
Born
Andrei Treivas[1][2]

(1972-03-10) 10 March 1972 (age 52)[1]
Moscow, Russian SFSR[1]
Other namesRamzes Kairoff
Michel Lucas
Michael Lucas
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Websitehttp://www.lucasblog.com/

Michael Lucas (born Andrei Treivas, March 10, 1972, Moscow, Russia[1]) is an American gay pornographic actor,[3] director and the founder/CEO of Lucas Entertainment, New York's largest[2] gay-adult-film company. In 2004, Lucas was sworn in as a citizen of the United States, where he lives in New York City.[4]

The New Republic dubbed Lucas "Gay Porn's Neocon Kingpin",[5] and the New York City media have called him the "Lion of Chelsea" and the "last of the New York porn moguls".[2] He contends that his film Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita is the most expensive gay porn film ever made, with a budget of $250,000 and multiple celebrity cameos.[2] In 2009, Lucas was inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame, noted for "his stature as an A-list director and performer".[6] He was included in a 2009 New York magazine feature about people who made it to the top, but arrived to the city with very little.[7]

Lucas is particularly well-known for his activism and outspokenness.[2][5][6] His criticism of drug use and his sponsorship of public service ad campaigns about the dangers of unprotected sex in the gay community led Harvey Fierstein to interview him for The Advocate.[8] Growing up, Lucas experienced the antisemitism of the Soviet Union, which led him to form a strong connection with his Jewish identity and the state of Israel.[5] This connection is the foundation of a worldview that has attracted controversy.[5] His New York Blade columns on Ultra-Orthodox Judaism and Islam sparked a campus debate at Stanford University in February 2008 when Lucas was invited to give a speech to students.[9] In 2010 he debated Peter Tatchell and Sue Sanders at England's Oxford University on whether the gay rights movement has undermined family values.[10]

In 2009, Lucas released the film Men of Israel, which he called his most important. Journalists from The Atlantic, Out Magazine and Yediot Aharonot noted it as a landmark film as the first pornographic movie shot on location with an all-Israeli cast;[11] while Tablet Magazine and the Los Angeles Times remarked on it being the first to feature an all-Jewish cast.[11][12][13] Lucas followed the film with a gay tour of Israel.[14]

Lucas is a regular columnist for The Advocate.[15]

Background

Lucas was born in 1972 in Moscow, Russia, to Lev Bregman, an engineer, and Elena Treivas, a Russian literature teacher. In 1994 he obtained a degree in law from Moscow State Law Academy.[4][16] After graduation, Lucas briefly owned and operated a travel agency until 1995, when he left Russia for Munich, Germany, before settling in France for the next two years.[17] In 1997, Lucas moved to New York City.[4][18]

On November 12, 2004, Lucas was sworn in as an American citizen.[4] In October 2008 it was announced that Lucas had married his boyfriend of eight years, Richard Winger.[19] A press release stated that the couple wanted to get married to make a statement about same-sex marriage rights.[19]

Career

Actor

Lucas began his career in a German heterosexual pornographic film.[18] While in France, he worked under the influential French director Jean-Daniel Cadinot,[20] appearing as "Ramzes Kairoff" in two gay pornographic films, both released in 1996.[21] Using the name "Michel Lucas," he worked as a Falcon Exclusive, performing as a top in five films released in 1997 and 1998.[22]

Director

He directed his first project, Back in the Saddle, in 1998, and also performed in the film.[23] With co-director Tony DiMarco, Lucas won Best Director at the 2007 GayVN Awards for Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita. DiMarco and Lucas also won a 2008 XBIZ Award for Best GLBT Director, and Lucas received an award for Best Publicity Stunt for "Michael Lucas Found Dead".[24]

The Banana Guide called his productions the most polished, big-budget gay porn films ever made and cited Lucas' love for the subject and high technical aptitude.[25]

Lucas Entertainment

Main article: Lucas Entertainment

In 1998 Lucas founded his own production company, Lucas Entertainment, with money he earned from working as a male escort.[18] He based the company in New York City (rather than Los Angeles, where many of the other pornography studios are located), in part, to take advantage of the lack of competition.[26] In 2004, Lucas Distribution, Inc., his adult video distribution company, began operations. Lucas directs, produces and stars in his own films under the Lucas Entertainment banner. His studio has garnered many GayVN Awards[27] and Adult Erotic Gay Video Awards ("Grabbys") nominations and wins[citation needed].

In the summer of 2005 Lucas released Michael Lucas' Dangerous Liaisons; the film featured celebrity cameos from RuPaul, Boy George, Graham Norton, Bruce Vilanch, Lady Bunny, Amanda Lepore, and Michael Musto.[28]

The company received 24 nominations for the 2009 GayVN Awards, including best picture for Return to Fire Island. Two Lucas films, Farts! and Piss! were labeled obscene and detained by the Canadian Border Services Agency. The CBSA's Policy On The Classification Of Obscene Material states that the "ingestion of someone else's urine... with a sexual purpose" makes a film obscene.[13] Lucas responded by writing a letter to President Barack Obama asking for his intervention during a summit with the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.[29][30]

In May 2009, Lucas Entertainment filmed the first gay porn film using all Israeli models, billing it as a sexual journey to promote Israeli culture.[19][31] The company launched its Men of Israel website to promote the film, which announced its release for July 22.

Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita

Main article: Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita

In 2006, the studio released Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita Parts 1 & 2, a gay pornographic remake of the 1960 Fellini classic La Dolce Vita.[32] The film won a record fourteen awards at the 2007 GayVN Awards, winning in every category in which it was nominated.[27]

In February 2007, International Media Films, Inc., which owns the rights to Fellini's La Dolce Vita, filed suit against Lucas (as Andrei Treivas Bregman), Lucas Entertainment, Inc., and Lucas Distribution, Inc. for trademark and copyright infringement.[33] The lawsuit seeks to collect unspecified damages and to stop sales of Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita Parts 1 & 2.[34]

Lucas won the lawsuit in April 2010 in a summary judgment by Judge John George Koeltl, who dismissed IMF's claims of copyright infringement, since many porn films have parodied mainstream films.[35]

Speaker and writer

I couldn't talk about anything in Russia. I was growing up in a very strict regime. But I rebelled.

— Michael Lucas, [36]

Notable for an adult entertainer, Lucas has become known for his views on politics and culture. He is a vocal opponent of drug use and an advocate for safe sex, both in the porn industry and the gay community at large, going as far as to take out full-page public service announcements in several national publications. In August 2004, The Advocate published an interview by Harvey Fierstein with Lucas about his about these public service campaigns.[8] In March 2008 he was profiled in The New Republic as "Gay porn's neocon kingpin" in an article that explored his views and a controversy surrounding a lecture he gave at Stanford University.[5]

In an interview with Michael Musto in April 2009, Lucas remarked that his stifled upbringing in Soviet Russia influenced how vocal he is about his opinions.[36]

Writer and advocate

University lectures

In April 2005, Lucas was invited to speak before a Calhoun College Master's Tea at Yale University's. The speech was organized with the assistance of gaYalies, a campus group for gay and bisexual men.[37] He spoke about his life history and his views on pornography.[18] In February 2006 he participated in a symposium on adult entertainment that was sponsored by the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, which later published Lucas' discussion in its Spring issue.[38]

The Speakers Bureau at Stanford University invited Lucas to speak in Cubberley Auditorium on February 14, 2008, about the role the adult entertainment industry plays in AIDS prevention.[9] The appearance sparked debate about his political columns for the New York Blade, particularly his assertions that "the Qur'an is today’s Mein Kampf" and that its teaching inspire Muslims to kill gay people.[9]

Columnist

On April 20, 2007, The New York Blade began to publish regular opinion columns by Lucas, who had previously had a number of comments published in the Blade's opinion section.[39] In October 2009, Lucas wrote a column for The Advocate decrying the group Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism.[40] In March 2010 Lucas began writing a column for The Advocate. His columns have focused on Israel,[41] Russia's confronting homosexuality,[42] and the Park51 controversy.[43] His writings on Islam caused the blog Queerty to question why the Advocate publishes "the very type of hatred the magazine was founded to counter. [44].

Israel

See also: Men of Israel
Lucas, under the microphone, on the set of the 2009 release Men of Israel, the first adult film to use exclusively Jewish models.[45]

The core of Lucas' worldview is his Jewish identity, and particularly his deep affinity for the state of Israel.[5] His time growing up in the Soviet Union, which was notorious for its antisemitism, meant that like many Russian Jews, Lucas to repress his identity. Lucas has claimed that he was given his mother's maiden name at birth specifically because Treivas sounded less Jewish than his father's surname Bregman.

Hezbollah's attacks in the 2006 Lebanon war affected Lucas, who in the midst of the fighting announced his plans to go to Israel to entertain gay soldiers (who are allowed to serve openly in the military).[3][46] Lucas received a positive response to the trip; however, some religious segments of Israeli society had expressed less enthusiasm for the arrival of a gay porn magnate. In an article, "Lucas responds," Lucas characterized some of the reaction as homophobic and in an interview said, "Israel is my country as much as it is yours. To come to Israel is my birthright."[47][48]

The next summer in a New York Blade column Lucas brought up his disapproval of Haredi Judaism in Israel once again. In "Trouble With Ultra-Orthodox," Lucas referred to the Ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem as "religious goons" and parasites for his belief that they take advantage of state welfare programs.[49]

Islam

His Blade columns on Islam have also been controversial.[50] In an August 3, 2007 column Lucas expressed support for artist Charles Merrill's burning of a Koran,[51][52] and condemned Islam for attitudes towards homosexuals. Lucas wrote "Between the Koran and the Hadith there is no question but that Mohammed, fatuously and ridiculously claiming to be speaking the thoughts and words of a Supreme Nincompoop called 'Allah,' believed that two men caught having sex with each other should be put to death."[51]

Blog

Since May 2005 Lucas has maintained a blog at lucasblog.com. He chronicles his life, thoughts and news about Lucas Entertainment.

In popular culture

In 2004 Lucas appeared in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' book XXX: 30 Porn Star Photographs[53] and the accompanying HBO documentary Thinking XXX.[54] Greenfield-Sanders asked Lucas for a list of his 10 favorite films; the 10 films he listed are all films from his own production company. In May 2007, Kensington Books published a biography of Lucas titled Naked: The Life and Times of Michael Lucas.[55] Lucas asserts the book was published without his involvement or approval.[56]

Awards

Filmography

A complete list of film performance and model credits can be found at Lucas Entertainment.com, including those directed, written or produced by Lucas.[57]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Lucas.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Photograph of Lucas' Soviet passport showing his birth information
  2. ^ a b c d e Van Meter, William (October 30, 2006). "The Lion of Chelsea". New York Movies. New York Magazine Holdings LLC. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  3. ^ a b Bunder, Leslie (August 18, 2006), "Entertaining gay Israeli troops", retrieved from www.somethingjewish.co.uk on September 3, 2006.
  4. ^ a b c d Model profile at www.lucasentertainment.com, retrieved from www.lucasentertainment.com on September 5, 2006
  5. ^ a b c d e f Gay Porn's Neocon Kingpin, James Kirchick, The New Republic via CBSNews.com, March 20, 2006.
  6. ^ a b GAYVN Announces 2009 Hall of Fame Inductees, Harker Jones, AVN, March 12, 2009.
  7. ^ Waking Up to New York, New York Magazine, April 12, 2009.
  8. ^ a b Kennedy, Sean (August 17, 2004). "Porn star wants you...safe". Advocate.com © Planet out Inc. 920 (37–39): 37–39. ISSN:0001-8996. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ a b c Adult film star’s remarks spark debate, Kelly Fong, February 14, 2008, The Stanford Daily.
  10. ^ PORN ACTOR MICHAEL LUCAS TO SPEAK AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY
  11. ^ a b Great Exxxpectations, Wayne Hoffman, Tablet Magazine, July 21, 2009.
  12. ^ Gay-Porn Mogul Hopes to Arouse Interest in Israel, David Graham, Newsweek, September 23, 2009.
  13. ^ a b First-Ever All-Israeli Gay Porn Movie, DNA magazine, May 9, 2009. Cite error: The named reference "DNA" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  14. ^ Michael Lucas Wants to Take You To Israel
  15. ^ Columns by Michael Lucas
  16. ^ "Michael Lucas: The Gay Porn Blog Interview". gaypornblog. June 19, 2005. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
  17. ^ Michael Lucas New York's Hardcore Porn Director From Russia Eats Ass in Private, Gert Jonkers, Butt Magazine
  18. ^ a b c d Oswoski, Kevin (April 22, 2005), "Adult film producer fleshes out his 'fantasy' at tea", Yale Daily News, retrieved from www.yaledailynews.com on August 31, 2006.
  19. ^ a b c Gay Porn Impresario Michael Lucas, Married, Gawker.com, October 15, 2008. Cite error: The named reference "Gawk" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  20. ^ Dunn, Rick (April 27, 2005), "Down and Dirty With Michael Lucas", retrieved from www.edgeboston.com on January 16, 2007
  21. ^ smutjunkies Gay Erotic Archives
  22. ^ List of videos at the Falcon Studio online store with Michel Lucas in the cast. Adult images. Retrieved from www.falconstudios.com on September 3, 2006
  23. ^ Lawrence, Doug, Editor (1998). Adam Gay Video 1999 Directory. Los Angeles, California: Knight Publishing Corp. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ X Biz Award Winners
  25. ^ Review of Lucas Entertainement, The Banana Guide, June 2009.
  26. ^ Mao, Tien (June 21, 2006),Michael Lucas, CEO Lucas Entertainment, retrieved December 18, 2006 from www.gothamist.com
  27. ^ a b "Michael Lucas’ ’La Dolce Vita’ Sets GAYVN Record"
  28. ^ [1] Plot summary, IMDb
  29. ^ MICHAEL LUCAS REQUESTS PRESIDENTIAL AID TO COMBAT CANADIAN CUSTOMS CRISIS[dead link], Lucasblog.com, February 19, 2009.
  30. ^ Michael Lucas Implores Obama, Harper to Talk About Porn, AVN News, February 20, 2009.
  31. ^ What Fun Stories Will Michael Lucas Bring Back From Israel?, Queerty, May 8, 2009.
  32. ^ List of credits at the tlavideo online video store, retrieved from www.tlavideo.com January 9, 2007
  33. ^ "Copy of Complaint" (PDF). Online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents. February 15, 2007.
  34. ^ "Transcript of judge's ruling" (PDF). Online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents. April 27, 2007.
  35. ^ Edge Boston April 2010 article about lawsuit
  36. ^ a b The Naked Truth about Michael Lucas, Michael Musto, The Village Voice, April 21, 2009
  37. ^ GAYalies
  38. ^ Lucas, Michael (Spring 2006). "On Gay Porn". Yale Journal of Law and Feminism. 18 (p. 299). {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  39. ^ Michael Lucas (April 20, 2007). "When gays don't attack". New York Blade. Archived from the original on 2007-10-26.
  40. ^ Queers for Palestine?, Michael Lucas, The Advocate, October 5, 2009.
  41. ^ Europe's Trouble with Israel, Michael Lucas, The Advocate
  42. ^ Russia's Struggle to Demonstrate Pride
  43. ^ The Monument to Muslim Terrorism.
  44. ^ Michael Lucas practices Islamophobia
  45. ^ 'Men of Israel': The new box-office stud?, Los Angeles Times blog, July 27, 2009.
  46. ^ Bunder, Leslie (August 19, 2006), "Entertaining gay Israeli troops": "Talkbacks", retrieved from www.ynetnews.com on September 5, 2006.
  47. ^ Bunder, Leslie (August 24, 2006), "Lucas responds", retrieved from www.somethingjewish.co.uk on September 3, 2006.
  48. ^ Lucas, Michael (August 23, 2006), "Dear friends and fellow Jews", retrieved from www.lucasblog.com on September 5, 2006
  49. ^ Michael Lucas (June 6, 2007). "Trouble With Ultra-Orthodox". New York Blade. Archived from the original (– Scholar search) on 2007-10-20. {{cite journal}}: External link in |format= (help)
  50. ^ Faisal Alam (June 1, 2007). "Fanning Flames of Fear, Hatred Against Muslims". New York Blade. Archived from the original on 2007-06-04.
  51. ^ a b Michael Lucas (August 3, 2007). "Burn the Koran? It's Gay Artwork". New York Blade. Archived from the original (– Scholar search) on 2008-05-04. {{cite journal}}: External link in |format= (help)
  52. ^ Michael Lucas (August 3, 2007). "Religion, Sexuality, and Art". World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews.
  53. ^ Greenfield-Sanders, Timothy, Photographer (2005). XXX 30 Porn-Star Portraits. New York, New York: Bulfinch Press. ISBN 0821277545. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |unused_data= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  54. ^ Greenfield-Sanders, Timothy, Director (2004). Thinking XXX (TV Documentary). HBO.
  55. ^ Corey Taylor (2007). Naked: The Life and Pornography of Michael Lucas. Kensington Books. ISBN 978-0-7582-1750-9.
  56. ^ Lucas, Michael (May, 2007), "About That Book" retrieved from www.lucasblog.com on May, 2007
  57. ^ Lucas Entertainment


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