A&E Explores the Little Told Story of Penthouse Magazine with "Secrets of Penthouse"

For Nick pictured at right participating in the project was important quotThis was something monumental in publication history as well as cultural historyquot he shared during an exclusive interview with MediaVillage quotI thought by taking part that I could maybe get some truth out there that might not go along with what people tend to believe about my father and the industry along with Penthouse and Playboy magazines etcquotWhen they say 39Secrets of Penthouse39 it sounds a little salacious but there are very positive secrets some people are not aware of that I39d like to bring to lightquot he addedBob Guccione founded Penthouse in 1969 and with his published admission to go quotrabbit huntingquot shortly thereafter he made it a formidable competitor to Playboy As detailed in the documentary the magazine became a major success affording him and his family all the trappings of a lavish New York lifestyle But at what cost After bringing his children into the business when age appropriate Guccione managed to ostracize them one by one except for his daughter Nina who would fight to the end to salvage her father39s dream of running the businessNick Guccione39s contribution to the Penthouse empire before being cut off was via filmmaking and editing within Penthouse39s video division which he made a huge success before being fired quotExploring the message of family dynamics in this was extremely important to mequot he said quotNot only for my family and myself but for people going forward who are photographers or artists who want to capture the beauty of the female or male form depending on what your inclination isquotI39d like to help dispel some of the attitudes of culture and people around erotic entertainmentquot he continued quotPorn is not a word I use Porn is a fourletter word and not what we were about I was always respectful a gentleman and professional with the women I worked with and never asked them to do anything they were uncomfortable doing I love and respect women Unfortunately dad got into that towards the end maybe out of desperation because he was going bankrupt and times were changing He also made some bad business decisionsquotTwo of those bad decisions the documentary explores still resonate with the younger Guccione The first was his father39s decision to make Caligula the world39s first bigbudget adult film for 17M quotI think Caligula was a major money swampquot he recalled of the project quotHonestly I liked the film believe it or not Where did he go wrong The simple answer is he shouldn39t have added graphic scenes in a movie with Sir John Gielgud and Helen Mirren I39ve been a video editor for 39 years and I would have shown hints Trying to mix a porno movie with feature film Alist actors just doesn39t work I would have made it much less graphicquotThere39s no doubt the public39s response to Caligula damaged the Penthouse brand but that was only the beginning Thereafter Guccione decided to expand the limits of Penthouse39s pictorials and depicting things beyond the confines of social acceptance much to the chagrin of his worried kids and advertisers who jumped ship in droves quotWhen dad started putting in pictures of girls having intercourse and more of that 39fourletterword39 stuff I never appreciated itquot Nick recalled quotWe39d say 39Listen dad Easy buddy39 It was frustrating and has haunted me for yearsquotDad tried to appeal to a certain comparatively minuscule audiencequot he continued quotBut lost millions of potential dollars in income because of his decision I39ll give credit to my sister Nina and my brother Tony although he and I don39t speak anymore as he disappeared but they said quotDon39t do it You39re going to lose too much audience and advertising dollars It39s not worth it He wanted to try something different but maybe should have come up with a whole new magazinequotTwenty years after his association with Penthouse ended and 13 years after his father39s passing Nick now a father of a 21yearold son can look back on those times with a sense of closure thanks in part to the documentary He appreciates his unconventional upbringing and is hopeful the secret to parenting he taught himself while quotgrowing up Guccionequot is something all parents will adhere toquotNo 1 is don39t ignore your childrenquot he asserted quotBe a part of their lives and be there for them I39m always there for my son so let your children know you love them you think about them and will for as long as you39re alive and even after That39s so important as a parentquotToday Nick is close with his sister Nina and brother Bob Jr although distance prohibits them from getting together as often as they39d like He also shared that Secrets of Penthouse may not be the closing chapter on the family name quotI39m working on a book and there39s talk of a feature filmquot he revealed in closing quotI39ve been speaking to people at Curious Films and have a couple of people in mind to play dad We have to do thisquotPart one of AampampE39s Secrets of Penthouse will be telecast Monday September 4 at 9 pm Part two premieres on Tuesday September 5 at 9 pmClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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A&E Explores the Little Told Story of Penthouse Magazine with "Secrets of Penthouse"

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A&E Explores the Little Told Story of Penthouse Magazine with "Secrets of Penthouse"

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