Last week, the Rialta report published an article about meeting the Avon film director, Phil Prince, and we were overwhelmed by the positive reaction we received.

A number of you asked why we didn't put the story out as a podcast as well.

The simple answer is that we usually do one or the other, but we realize that many of you prefer to engage with us through our podcasts.

So as an early holiday present, this time we've done both.

If you've already read the article, you can skip this podcast episode.

It's largely the same as the written piece, although we do have a short amount of audio of Phil himself at the very end.

But if you haven't gotten around to checking out the article,

well, we hope you enjoy this look back at the life of one of the Golden Age's most incredible figures,

the one and only Phil Prince.

It's one of our favorite stories.

Thanks, and happy holidays.

Music favorite stories. Thanks and happy holidays. I put a spell on you. Because of mine.

When the report of the Attorney General's commission on pornography was published in July 1986, it went to great lengths to describe examples of adult films that it found particularly reprehensible. In fact, 40 pages of the final report were dedicated to detailed and pretty titillating plot descriptions of several New York adult films made for the Avon Theater's company.

These films were directed by the same man, Phil Prince, a first-time filmmaker who had no training or knowledge of the film industry, and yet who created a small, significant,

and shocking body of work that continues to resonate today.

After making a handful of movies for Avon, Phil disappeared from the film scene,

amid rumors of jail sentences, shootings, and drug dealing, and he never returned.

For 40 years, much of Phil's story has been shrouded in mystery.

So what is the truth behind suggestions of his time as a live sex show performer?

His extensive racketeering, a murdered wife, a life of crime spent on the edge of New York's

violent Westies gang, and making some of adults' films most outrageous titles.

In fact, who the hell was Phil Prince?

...