3000 Original Films from Bob Mizer’s AMG to be Saved

Sailors, wizards and cowboys hide in hundreds of boxes of film packed away for decades, waiting to see the light of day once again. 

Back the late 1950s, American photographer Bob Mizer began making short physique films to supplement his growing photo studio called Athletic Model Guild. These films, and the thousands that would follow, would eventually become the largest archive of moving images by a single artist in the world. The films range from posing films to short story and fantasy films to full length features by the 1970s. They span genres from westerns to sci-fi to teen melodramas to wrestling, with characters ranging from gladiators, bandits, scientists, doctors, magicians, to juvenile delinquents. Within a few years of his launch, he had his own Hollywood type studio system, and created a demand for beefcake films that hundreds of other photographers would soon copy.

“We’re very excited to begin this project,“ Foundation President Dennis Bell said. “These films are some of the earliest gay erotic media that exists. They were created in a time that opposed the mainstream morals of America, helping to pave the way to events like Stonewall. They are truly a slice of historic Americana.“

This project will produce a series of 10 DVD compilations to become part of the Bob Mizer Foundation Film Archive, by digitizing and remastering a number of films that will equal approximately 15 hours of footage. This will create permanent master digital negatives for the Foundation, and also make these films available to the public for the first time in decades.

Monies raised will go directly to pay for the digital capture of the films by a master lab that specializes in handing archival film footage and modern archival cans for the film reels. Mizer's original cans will be retired after half a century of use. All funds will be used directly to preserve these films.

Official Press Release is HERE