The Making of CALIFORNIA BIG HUNKS

The Making of

California Big Hunks

Six dancers, a San Diego summer, and a VHS camcorder that never stopped rolling. Behind the scenes of the 1985 cult dance video.

Shot on set byPatty Mooney
Directed byMark Schulze and Patty Mooney
Music byPatty Mooney

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A girl and her VHS camera

In 1985, director Mark Schulze and writer Patty Mooney set out to make a playful, high-energy dance video with some of California’s most charismatic male exotic dancers. It became the cult classic California Big Hunks.

During the production, Patty kept her own VHS camcorder rolling behind the scenes. Decades later, that footage was restored and cut into this award-winning documentary: a look at the chaos, the camaraderie and the spontaneity behind the shoot.

Patty Mooney in a red dress and cardigan sits on the floor beneath a giant sign reading Shooting for the Gold
Patty Mooney, the girl with the camera, in 1984. Already shooting for the gold.

What the tape caught

Shot guerrilla-style and never meant for anyone else to see, the footage holds the moments the finished video left out.

  • Impromptu dance-offs

    Dancing that broke out when nobody had called action.

  • Backstage antics

    The goofing around that happened off camera.

  • Creative problem-solving

    How a small independent crew got each scene made.

  • Colorful personalities

    The dancers as themselves, away from the routines.

  • The spirit of the shoot

    The infectious energy that fueled the original video.

1985, and now

SIDE A 1985

The shoot

Mark directs, Patty writes, and six dancers bring the moves. It’s fantasy, music and humor, with plenty of big hair and unabashed 1980s exuberance.

SIDE B TODAY

The film

The camcorder tapes, lovingly restored, set to new music by Patty Mooney.

It’s a celebration of creative freedom, friendship and joy, and of a chapter of independent underground video in Southern California.

The moves were bold, the hair was big, the music pulsed, and anything felt possible.

Five men lean on a pier railing over a sunset marina and look back over their shoulders at the camera

Golden hour on the bay

Five smiling men in 1980s jeans, white shorts and an open shirt pose on harbor rocks at sunset
Golden hour on the rocks by the bay.
Five shirtless men on a sunset beach, two crouching in front giving a thumbs-up
On the sand at sunset.
Five men lounge on a lawn under palm trees by a marina
On the lawn by the marina.
Five men strike poses on a rock jetty, one with his arm behind his head
Striking poses on the jetty.
Five men on the rocks look down at the water as the sun sets
Between setups on the rocks.

The Hunks

  • Jim Kellogg
  • Reno Black
  • Donny Chambers
  • Dave Matthews
  • Prince Daniel
  • Michael Mednick

Credits

Producers
Mark Schulze, Patty Mooney and Dixie Louth
Studio
New & Unique Videos®
Original release
VHS, 1985
Run time
60 minutes
Listing
IMDb

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Meet the Hunks

See the 1985 dance video that started it all, whether you’re revisiting it or seeing it for the first time.

See California Big Hunks

Patty Mooney and Mark Schulze are San Diego filmmakers and the co-founders of New & Unique Videos, making independent films since 1985.