Joel is from Brooklyn, raised in a neighborhood who had many successful people including Kirk Douglas (It may have been Burt Lancaster) who rented a room from Joel's family. He got his break into show business after leaving The Korean War and got work as a designer hanging around theaters and was offered a set designer job with no experience. Trying to get out of further serving in the military, Joel sought out colleges and got himself into the American Academy of Arts and acted in a number of films before moving into advertising and promotion, public relations, and publicity while acting on and off Broadway. Working for MGM he was given $50.00 by Si Seidler and ordered to take Elizabeth Taylor to lunch with columnist Earl Wilson. Nervous as he could be, Joel took her to lunch using the money to feed her, not using anything to feed himself. Worst, he made Elizabeth Taylor go back to her hotel room when she wanted to get shopping. That earned him the reputation of the man who told Elizabeth Taylor off! After that he was the designated guy to pick up any MGM starlet visiting New York.

 

Joel was working on films when he met Oliver Stone and became best friends. He recalled how Oliver Stone had long hippie hair and spoke French. Joel was working on a soft porn movie Career Bed with Joe Sarno when Mr. Sarno went to Sweden leaving Joel to direct. Mr. The first thing he did was grab 2 books for Reference (The ABCS of Cinematography and Editing the Documentary film. He hired Ron Dorfman (The Groupies) and other NYU film students. Dorfman went on to concentrate solely on porn as a cameraman working with Sarno. He was involved in an era of exploitation films when they were popular before porn and much more timid. He knew all the producers, actors and actresses. Joel also worked as an actor in some of the films. Most Theaters would not carry the soft core films. They played at places like The Rialto and Globe on 42nd Street. But he did not jump into porn like so many others did to make lots of money. He stuck to the art. He did more with the horror directing 'Wit's End' and 'Blood Bath' his biggest cult following, 'Blood Sucking Freaks' and 'Night of Zombies'. When it opened as a big motion picture presentation people flocked to it but half the women walked out on the film. Blood Sucking Freaks is known as one of the most tasteless movies ever made but was not made to be such. It was made to be funny to Joel. Now it has a cult following. Night of the Zombies was more closer to gore but actually could have been if had.

Though Joel was around plenty of people in the porn industry he never really got involved. He found them boring except when they were funny. There was no eroticism felt here. But he has written romance and gung fu books at about $5,000 each to make money. Now Joel works with multimedia. Helping people and consulting people gaining more fame in these fields than when he was a director.

What kind of women did you often have an attraction to? Was it a sophisticated lady, a trendy out going woman, a quiet lady, or an aggressive woman?

More often than not, the quiet type. But as long as they are gorgeous.

What were you good at competitively before?

Karate, fishing, hunting and outdoor sports.

Since you found porn to be boring, would you say you are a visual man?

I found porn interesting when it was funny. I found the shooting of porn to be boring and anti-sex. Having been on porn sets I wasn't the least bit interested and turned off most of the time. About the same for orgies. Had they and/or the films been staged with some style I may have been interested. Probably more turned on by the imaginative situation that never exists.

Is nude boring? Would you rather see a woman wearing something or nothing?

Actually, the romance of it counts. Totally nude in a situation such as a club leaves me with the blahs. Unless - it was extremely creative as a couple of Junior Agents being forced to have sex with animals and network executives subjected to extremely creative indignities. Anyone being hurt in any way turns me off. I knew a few gals who would do anything for a job, rent money, or just diner. I tried but couldn't come up with any grand scenarios on the spur of the moment. You can get a pizza on the phone but not Twenty eunuchs. Actually, I had one of the hottest gals in show biz but she was really into S&M and required a lot of classical bondage. By the time we go around to actual sex I was more or less turned off.

Were you aggressive in your approaches, were you well spoken, or did you humor people to win them over?

It all sounds like me, now. I don't recall having an approach in the past or even approaching anybody. Most of my women came from my office, friends or parties. My great loves came from normal social interaction. Women are usually the aggressors and make all the decisions. I just sort of stood there. (I run into girls who I knew who were pretty young and I never even considered touching them who later said the only interest in me was sexual. (one said I hope you didn't really believe me when I said "I only came over to your apartment because I liked to do my homework there.")

Why do you think there are so many lonely women in New York?

I think there are lots of lonely women in New York. Women outnumber the men. A lot of men are unable to approach them for one reason or another. There has to be some sort of body language drawing you in. I do make the mistake, occasionally, of trying to start conversations with girls that have no interest in me at all. I used to score like an ace on the R train headed uptown. One girl said, "I met you on the platform on 14th Street, I'm going back to your apartment, and I'm getting married this weekend. What the fuck?" It was perfectly okay with me that she copped out.

Do you think men have way too much of a dignified quiet than to approach women anywhere in the city?

They should just talk.

What do you think of a female's navel?

Love the navel. And a flat tummy. Actually beginning to appreciate a little pop out belly now. Girls are sporting their navels and flaunting their panties a lot. Would have never happened in years past.