About Seymore Butts
- Eyes: Brown Eyes
- From: Bronx, New York
- Born: March 18
- Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Biography of Seymore Butts
A Star is Born
In 1991, shortly after he witnessed the making of an adult film, Adam Glasser, better known as Seymore Butts, borrowed a camera and directed his first adult film. After editing it himself, he took it to an adult film convention in Las Vegas and found a distributor who wanted him to produce and direct films. In order to create an alter ego for himself, Glasser chose a name that was not only easy to remember, but reminded him of a playground joke he heard in grade school. In 1992, Seymore Butts was born.
Notable Films
Butts has appeared in about 150 adult films, many of which he's directed himself. He is often the man behind the camera, rarely seen, but always giving direction to the female starlet showing off her assets in his newest feature. Notable films include Anal Express (Seymore Butts), Hot Bods And Tail Pipe 3 (Celestial), Immorals 3 (Arrow Productions), Yvonne's Odyssey (Exquisite), and Sophie Evans Exposed (New Machine Publishing).
Career
Since 1992, Butts has produced and directed over 100 adult movies. His movies are distributed in over 20 different countries throughout the world, including Canada, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Mexico, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Butts' productions (Seymore Butts and Seymore Butts' Home Movies) have received a multitude of awards over the years, including Gonzo Series of the Year two years in a row. In 2004, he was inducted into the X-Rated Critics Organization's Hall of Fame and in 2005 he was also inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame. He also serves an elected member of the Free Speech Coalition's Executive Board of Directors.
Mainstream Appearances
In 20003, Butts was made the focus of a popular reality show on Showtime TV called Family Business. The series ran for 4 seasons and featured other members of his family, including his mother and his cousin, both of whom help Butts run the "family business."
Porn Awards
- 2000 NightMoves Award - Fan's Choice Best Actor
- 2004 X-Rated Critics Organization's Hall of Fame
- 2005 AVN Hall of Fame
Interviews
Interview With Seymore Butts - January 27, 2004
Phone Interview
PornstarEmpire.com: For our readers who may not know a lot about you, can you briefly tell us how you got interested and involved in the adult industry?
Seymore Butts: Well, I got interested in the adult industry because I turned 13! And, you know, grew pubic hair and all of the sudden girls looked good. I became somewhat indoctrinated into the industry by stealing stuff from my father. At first I thought that my dad had poor taste in materials, but as I got older and became of renting age, I found out that it wasn't a matter of poor choices, it was just a crapshoot of finding something that was good or delivered what it said it was going to deliver. For example, an "anal" title back then could have been someone sticking a finger up a girl's ass. And I thought that was somewhat deceptive - so I was somewhat of a discouraged fan, to say the least...but obviously my urge to masturbate overcame that negativity. Then I became involved in the fitness industry, was a private trainer, and opened up my own gym. My gym began to struggle, I looked for other ways to bring in income, and somebody suggested to me I rent out the location to Hollywood (filmmakers) because it was a nicely put together gym and aesthetically pleasing. And I did - I listed it as a location, and one day John Stagliano walked in and we made a deal for him to rent my gym for a day, and he came in and shot a movie called Where The Girls Sweat. I watched what he did all day, and how much fun the girls had, and I thought to myself at the end of the day "I'm in the wrong fucking business!" And the rest is history.
Q: Was John Stagliano's Buttman's Ultimate Workout the first movie you appeared in as a performer?
Seymore Butts: Yes.
Q: Do you remember the name you used for yourself in that movie?
Seymore Butts: Yes...Bubba Brando! [slight groan and laughter]
Q: Are you glad you switched to "Seymore Butts"?
Seymore Butts: I don't know...I think they're kind of equal in their pluses and minuses.
Q: The reason I bring up Stagliano is because since he was the first shoot you got to watch...
Seymore Butts: Well, he wasn't the first shoot I got to watch, to be honest with you. That's kind of the way I make my long story short. But to be honest with you, I met Bill Margold playing in a flag football league, and I did visit him on the set one day.
Q: I was asking is because I was wondering how much influence Stagliano's style had on your own method of shooting adult movies.
Seymore Butts: Well, I was a fan of Stagliano's movies before he even walked into my gym. I was familiar with him. He's actually one of the few people that I found I could depend on to deliver the things I was talking about earlier. While I love John's style, I did take it a step further in the sense that I performed completely on camera while holding the camera, with full complete sex scenes - anal, oral, vaginal - and that really hadn't been done, by him at least. I don't know if it had been done by anyone else.
Q: One of the things fans like most about your movies is your selection of "Tushy Girls" that you find for your titles. I was just wondering what the selection process is for a "Tushy Girl"...
Seymore Butts: Well, before the Tushy Girls, it was really the "partner concept". In other words, the female companion - in a Burns & Allen or Ricky & Lucy kind of concept, which started with Shane in 1992. That was before the Tushy Girls came to be.
Q: So basically what you're saying is that whomever you happened to have a relationship with in your personal life at that time essentially became the "Tushy Girl" of the moment?
Seymore Butts: Right. Then when it came time for me to expand things...in other words, when I was making enough product and doing stuff to where I could feature more than one girl...then the concept of the Tushy Girls came to be.
Q: I think in the past five years or so, the gonzo format has really taken off. I was just wondering if you watch gonzo material from other studios and directors, and how to you feel about people essentially copying a style that you played a large part in creating?
Seymore Butts: Well...first of all I think that the meteoric rise of gonzo can be compared with the meteoric rise of reality TV in the mainstream. But that being said, to be honest with you, I'm almost ashamed to admit that while I hear good things about a lot of the people that are up and coming...people like a Jules Jordan...I've never seen one of his movies.
Q: Do you tend not to watch other porn at all...whether it be features, or all-sex or any other genre?
Seymore Butts: Well, the only time I tend to watch it is in short spurts [laughs]...about 10-mintues at a time! You know - when I'm in a hotel, or catching something on the Internet. It's possible that I may have seen a snippet of Jules or a snippet of Brandon Iron or Michael Stefano or whomever else is out there. However, I just don't know it (who's directing) if I'm seeing it.
Q: If I can switch gears, I know that in 1993 you were in a fundraiser in Las Vegas and were charged with "pandering" and "conspiracy to commit prostitution". Did this charge surprise you, or was it something that you were aware might be coming at the time?
Seymore Butts: Well, those particular charges took me aback...pandering and conspiracy to commit prostitution. Certainly I've thought about some of the legal ramifications of the industry - obscenity, etc. But I was completely taken aback by that particular event and being charged with those particular charges. It was a very frustrating experience, to say the least.
Q: And how long ago were the "Tampa Tushy Fest" legal problems?
Seymore Butts: Well, actually I got hit in December of 2000.
Q: At the time you were filming "Tampa Tushy Fest", the problems of 1993 must have still been fresh in your mind, and you must have been aware that "fisting" was something that's very borderline in the adult industry. What was your thought process behind keeping it (fisting) in the release of the video?
Seymore Butts: Well, let me say first that I was arrested a couple of times in between those two occasions that you mention - 1993 and 2000 - outside of this country. I was arrested in Florence, Italy and I was arrested in Brussels, Belgium, for industry-related type things. Now, what was my thought process? Well, first of all, lets talk about the movie itself. I didn't plan on shooting that scene (with the fisting). I had no idea that was going to happen until like 10-minutes beforehand when they (Alisha Klass and Chloe) were discussing fisting in the van while coming home from a signing at a strip club. So, I feel it's important for your readers to understand that fact. Now, my editor, who is now a First Amendment lawyer - he was known as H. Phase, my editor...he's now known as Al Gelbard, First Amendment attorney. He was going through law school at the time, so when this scene came up and he was editing it, his first statement to me was "Dude, you can't put this in!" And I said, "Well, why not?" And he said "Because you're going to get into trouble." And I said, "Well, can you please show me the law where it says that no fisting is allowed? If you can show me that, then I will not put it in." And the reason why (I said that) was because it was such a sensual, orgasmic scene and I wanted to see what the law said. He said that there is no such law, and that obscenity is subject to community standards...and I said "What makes you think that this is more obscene than anything else that is available out there?" And he told me this whole story about how back in 1972 or '74, leaders of our industry...or supposed leaders who are now dinosaurs...met with the Los Angeles district attorney and came up with the so-called "Seven Deadly Sins" - a list of actions that were prohibited from appearing in movies. So he tells me this, and I'm thinking to myself...1974? At the time we were editing this, it was 1997 or 1998. So I'm asking "Dude, don't you think things have changed?" Plus, I have to tell you that I was a little pushed by Alisha as well. I was living with her at the time, we were engaged to be married, she was very intent on being a star, she very much liked attention, and she was kind of egging me on to leave it in. And I really couldn't come up with a good reason not to. I mean, later I could...when I got the legal bill - that was certainly a good reason not to! But at the time, I just couldn't (come up with a reason). So I put it in. And I put it in the regular movie. Not (just) in any kind of foreign version or anything like that...the regular movie.
Q: So just to clarify...there was only ever one version of the film that was released?
Seymore Butts: There were two versions available. The reasons why we made two versions was because I knew that certain parts of the country (wouldn't accept it). In certain parts of the country, they have problems with ATM (Ass To Mouth), they have problems with female ejaculation, they have problems with certain things in certain places. So I anticipated some retailers not wanting to have it. But what I did was I shipped the version with the fisting in it to everybody first, and waited for them to view it and then make a decision on their own, as opposed to just saying "there's fisting in here". And it you'll notice in the movie, on the box there is no alluding to fisting in the movie anywhere.
Q: No, it's not like you used that fact as a selling point...
Seymore Butts: And I did that purposefully. Because I didn't want it to be a selling point. It is what it is...it just happened.
Q: Now this case never went to court...you pleaded to a lesser charge and paid a small fine, correct?
Seymore Butts: The company pleaded to a charge of disturbing the peace.
Q: Are you worried that by pleading to a lesser charge - albeit a one - that it might come back to haunt you with some future attempt to prosecute you or your company?
Seymore Butts: No, not at all. The only reason I pled to anything was in order to let the city attorneys save some sort of face, to be honest with you. They didn't want to have anything to do with this from day one. That being said, if I would have pled to any kind of misdemeanor obscenity charge or anything having to do with obscenity that would be a different story. However, I pled to disturbing the peace, which is like pissing in public. And that's the way it reads on any kind of record - and I didn't plead to it, a company pled to it that's not even in business any longer. And I also received the written right from the city attorney that I can offer my film with the fisting to anybody I want as long as I offer them an edited version at the same time. In other words, I say to them, "We have this movie with fisting and the same title without fisting, which one would you like?" But that only applies to the state of California, unfortunately.
Q: I have one final question on this, and then we can move on...have your legal problems changed the way you film your movies? In other words, are you more cautious about what you film and what you release?
Seymore Butts: At the current time, I am. Because of the current administration. In different times, I might be inclined to think differently. "Edgy" is all relative. To me, the only time I'll choose something that's different from what I like is if somebody tells me they like something. In other words, fisting or getting pissed on when they're cumming or...who knows?
Q: Moving on to a new topic, I was just curious as to how the new Showtime series ("Family Business") got started. Was it an idea they came to you about, or was it one that you pitched to them?
Seymore Butts: Actually, they approached me after seeing me being interviewed about by obscenity prosecution.
Q: Was that the Frontline PBS special?
Seymore Butts: Yes.
Q: How accurate do you feel the Showtime series is in portraying your life the way it really is?
Seymore Butts: It's fairly accurate.
Q: Can you give fans of the series an idea of what to expect in Season Two (which began on Jan. 30th, 2004)?
Seymore Butts: Well, more hijinx from Stevie, of course. He tries to get more involved in the production process. Bishop also tries his hand at some production. Stevie also has a little problem because he forgets his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife, and that turns into a very big problem for him. My assistant Myrna further explores her adult career, and also makes some adjustments to her body as well that are documented on the show.
Q: Your titles are now distributed through Pure Play Media. Can you give us a little background on how that relationship developed?
Seymore Butts: During the time of my prosecution, things got tough. And there was a time where I was discussing the sale of my company. And one of the people I was discussing that with was Private. And Richard (Richard Arnold, the CEO of Pure Play) was working with Private at the time. And while my relationship with Richard continued past that, Richard's relationship with Private didn't continue long past that, and he called me up one day and said he was not longer there and was looking to do something - and the rest is history.
Q: A frequent question that our customers seem to ask is what is the status of some of your older titles that are currently only available on the Sunshine label or perhaps haven't been released on DVD yet. Will these older releases eventually see the light of day on the Pure Play label?
Seymore Butts: Sunshine still has the right to distribute a limited number of my movies. They still distribute the original 14 titles. The letters I get indicate that they (the Sunshine DVDs) are of much lower quality than what I produce, and it's unfortunate that people are sometimes confused, but there's nothing I can do about it, unfortunately. Pure Play will not at this time have anything to do with those particular titles - and I can't really say what the future will hold.
Q: What can fans look forward to from Seymore Butts in 2004?
Seymore Butts: Well first of all, kind of peripherally for the fans - depending on their personal situation - I'm doing something very exciting. I'm launching a national bachelor/bachelorette party company. We right now have regional managers placed in close to 40 markets across the United States, with dancers in place in at least 30 of those right now. If anybody is interested - they have a birthday, a wedding, a divorce, an opening and need convention models - whatever. We provide all types of girls everywhere. And that's www.xxxposedentertainment.com. And fans can always contact me at www.seymorebutts.com, there's an e-mail button and I read every e-mail that I get, and believe me, there's lots of them - especially since the TV show. The DVD of the first season (of "Family Business") is out. It just came out January 6th, and they really did a great job...the packaging on it is great, the extras are great...so people that don't have Showtime and haven't been able to get a taste of the series can get a full taste with the DVD.
Rate Seymore Butts
Thank you for your review.
Your review has been received and will be online soon.
Blog
Twitter
TikTok
