NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — Friends and family of Russell J. Hampshire, the founder of VCA Pictures, will gather Friday, March 1, to celebrate his life at a memorial service.
The service will take place at the Porter Valley Country Club, located at 19216 Singing Hills Dr. in Northridge, Calif., from 1-4 p.m.
Hampshire, who started up VCA in 1978 and built the company into a major distributor of adult content with its vast catalog, was an avid golfer.
So, the Porter Valley Country Club will be a fitting location for those who knew about his love for the game played on the greens.
VCA made its mark as the largest distributor of 8mm films for various releasing companies. It later had higher aims as a production house, hosting a stable of legendary directors that included Gerard Damiano, Edwin Durrell, Henri Pachard, John Leslie, Paul Thomas, John Stagliano, Ben Dover, Michael Ninn, Antonio Passolini, Veronica Hart and Chloe, among numerous others.
Hampshire was a tireless supporter of free speech, but VCA Pictures struggled through the early 1990s when he served a year in prison for interstate transportation of obscene materials. He agreed to take the fall after he was finger-pointed by the Meese Commission’s prosecution arm.
He saved a number of VCA employees the pain of trial and potential jail time when he agreed to the sentencing, serving his time and returning to become a bigger adult production company than ever.
VCA, in its heyday, operated out of a 40,000-square-foot facility, churning out 400,000 videotapes a month and reporting $15 million in annual sales. At a high point, VCA was known as the second-largest porn studio and had 80 full-time employees, including his wife, Betty, who helped him run the business.
Last month, XBIZ posted industry tributes about the man who let the Golden Age of Porn bloom to where it is today. Check out the piece here.