Caballero Home Video is an American independent

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

, based in

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

founded by Noel C. Bloom. It was previously known as Caballero Control Corporation.Jennings, p.180 The company was founded in 1974, making it one of the oldest U.S. porn studios still in existence. Caballero (meaning "gentleman" in Spanish) was one of the largest studios during the

Golden Age of Porn The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the genera ...

,Jennings, p.125 and produced several of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed

pornographic films Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...

of the 1980s and early 1990s. Its dominance of the adult video market saw it called the "

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

of Porn".Jennings, p.232 Its films starred some of the most successful and best known performers of the period, such as

Marilyn Chambers Marilyn Ann Taylor (née Briggs; April 22, 1952 – April 12, 2009), known professionally as Marilyn Chambers, was an American pornographic actress, exotic dancer, model, actress, singer and vice-presidential candidate. She was known f ...

, Seka, Amber Lynn, Stacey Donovan, Ginger Lynn, John Holmes, Joey Silvera,

Traci Lords Traci Elizabeth Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. As a 15-year-old high-school dropout, she used Identity document forgery, fake identity documents to enter the sex industry, where she began appearin ...

Nina Hartley Marie Louise Hartman (born 1959), known professionally as Nina Hartley, is an American pornographic film actress and sex educator. By 2017 she had appeared in more than one thousand adult films. She has been described by ''Las Vegas Weekly'' as ...

Ron Jeremy Ronald Jeremy Hyatt (born March 12, 1953) is an American former Pornographic film actor, pornographic actor, and actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", Jeremy was ranked by AVN (magazine), ''AVN'' at No. 1 in their "50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" l ...

and Christy Canyon. Previous company Presidents include Al Bloom.Jennings, p.194 Throughout the 1980s it was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages due to its films being illegally pirated. It also acquired the U.S. rights to rival studio Cal Vista's entire catalogue of more than 150 films. Caballero is a contributor to the

Free Speech Coalition The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) is a non-profit industry trade group, trade association of the sex industry in the United States. Founded in 1991, it opposes the passage and enforcement of obscenity laws and many censorship laws (with the excep ...

. Throughout the early 1980s, Caballero expanded its holdings launching several labels like Family Home Entertainment (a label used for non-adult releases) and

U.S.A. Home Video Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until i ...

, as well as

Monterey Home Video Monterey Media Inc. (formerly The Monterey Movie Company) started as a home video company founded in 1982 by Scott Mansfield. It was initially financed by Noel C. Bloom, and the titles were distributed by the Family Home Entertainment subsidiary o ...

, but both U.S.A. and Family was absorbed into

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

, and Monterey became a standalone label, using the NCB Entertainment Group moniker by 1984.

Ben and Jerry's lawsuit

In September 2012

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

-based ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's filed a lawsuit against Caballero for copyright infringement. The lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Manhattan on September 5, and claims that the sale of 10 “exploitative, hardcore pornographic” movies in Caballero's "Ben & Cherry’s" line harms the reputation of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. by linking it with pornography. The lawsuit was settled on July 29, 2013, with Caballero agreeing not to sell products that make reference to Ben & Jerry's products.

Films

Caballero was responsible for many of the classic films of the "

". Some of these films are:

Insatiable

''Insatiable'' is a classic pornographic movie released in 1980, at the close of the era of ' porn chic' in the US. It starred

and was directed by

Stu Segall Stu Segall is a Boston area–born TV and movie producer and director who is the founder of Stu Segall Productions, a San Diego–based TV production studio. Segall began his career in 1970, directing sexploitation movies and hard-core pornograph ...

(credited as "Godfrey Daniels"). It was followed by a sequel, ''Insatiable II''.

Traci, I Love You

''Traci, I Love You'' was

' final adult film, in addition to being the only of her films to be made after her 18th birthday. It was produced in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France, two days after her 18th birthday, making it the only one of her credited titles legally available in the United States, due to

child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...

laws. This movie has provided another aspect of controversy to Lords' life. It was the third and final film by her eponymous production company. She subsequently sold her rights to the film.

Awards

The following is a selection of some of the major awards Caballero films have won: *1988 AVN Award – 'Top Selling Release of the Year' for '' Traci, I Love You'' *1988 AVN Award – 'Best Film' for ''Careful, He May be Watching'' *1989 AVN Award – 'Top Selling Release of the Year' for ''Miami Spice II'' *1990 AVN Award – 'Top Selling Release of the Year' for ''The Nicole Stanton Story '' *1990 AVN Award – 'Best Film' for ''Night Trips'' *1991 AVN Award – 'Top Selling Release of the Year' for ''House of Dreams'' *1991 AVN Award – 'Best Film' for ''House of Dreams''

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control American pornographic film studios Film production companies of the United States Pornography in Los Angeles Companies based in Los Angeles Canoga Park, Los Angeles American companies established in 1974 Entertainment companies established in 1974 Mass media companies established in 1974 1974 establishments in California