Take an adult filmmaker, a bookkeeper who happens to be his mother, and a cousin who handles distribution and you have Family Business. Showtime’s reality series focuses on Adam Glasser and Seymore Butts Video (his alter ego and company brand name) as his business and romantic relationships are displayed for the viewers’ laughing pleasure.

SexHerald caught up with Glasser at his home office (where he was nursing his sick son, who had to stay home from school), as he expounded on what goes on behind the scenes of the show and what the future of Family Business holds.

SexHerald: What’s the weather like over there? Sunny?

Adam Glasser: Yeah, although we’re just starting to feel the end of summer. In other words, it’s really starting to cool down here. It’s probably in the low 70s now.

SH: That’s not bad. It’s about the same as Manhattan. Speaking of which, you were born here, about 40 years ago…

Glasser:…at University Hospital…

SH: …and you were raised here. For how long?

Glasser: I lived actually in the Bronx for 12 years then I moved out to California.

SH: Do you think the Bronx had an impact on your ideas about film or your life?

Glasser: Probably more so about life than about film. Certainly, even though I didn’t live in a “ghetto,” I saw things as a little boy that I probably wouldn’t have seen if I had spent my entire life in Santa Monica, Calif.

SH: Is that where you’re located now?

Glasser: That’s where I originally moved to from New York. From Santa Monica, I’m actually now in Sherman Oaks.

SH: Do you frequently travel back to New York?

Glasser: Yes. I still have family back there. I have a stepbrother or half-brother actually.

SH: Judging from the success of your Showtime reality series Family Business, it sounds like your family is not just in approval of you working in the adult industry but actually takes part of that day-to-day work force.

Glasser: Certainly, a part of my family does, yes. While it always hasn’t been that way as far as them taking part, they’ve always been approving—at least on the outside. Who knows what people REALLY, really, really feel? But you know, we’re a close family and there were opportunities at different points to get some of them involved, namely my mom and Cousin Steve. At those points, they felt like that was something they wanted to do.

SH: The infamous Cousin Stevie. He’s about 20 years older than you, correct?

Glasser: Yes. I never actually thought about how much older he really is. Actually, I kind of hoped it was more. It seems like a small number to me. It’s like, ‘Really? That’s all?’

SH: Let’s briefly talk about family in a different manner. In the past, you have been known to either feature actresses you’ve become romantically involved with or become romantically involved with actresses you feature. Which is it?

Glasser: Generally, I become involved romantically first and all of a sudden they have an inclination to become involved in the business. I think it has to do with possibly wanting to be closer with me, possibly thinking they’re around it so much it becomes somewhat less intimidating and think they can do it better than what they’re seeing. Whatever the reason, it seems to be the pattern.

SH: The first one being Shane, who you nearly married, and created Shane’s World. Was that inspired by you?

Glasser: Shane’s World, I think, was partially inspired by me. That came about after we broke up; she created Shane’s World as a way of moving on and getting on with her life. I helped her with the first one that she did. I worked camera on it for her.

SH: That was nice of you.

Glasser: After such a long and intimate relationship, at least you’d like to think you can end up friendly.

SH: Then came Taylor Hayes, who used to be a Vivid girl.

Glasser: Actually, I met her before she got involved in the business. I met her at the adult convention in Las Vegas.

SH: And, she became the mother of your son. I assume they have a good relationship, or at least still communicate?

Glasser: My son lives with me; however, they do communicate on a regular basis and see each other quite regularly.

SH: Moving on, next was Alisha Klass who started off as a stripper [in Las Vegas]. How did you two meet?

Glasser: My assistant knew her at the time. Alisha was good at recruiting girls in Vegas for the movies. She [the assistant] thought we should meet. We met and I don’t know. Business turned to pleasure. She didn’t turn out to be a great recruiter but she turned out to be great at other things.

SH: Did Ron Jeremy play a role in her [Alisha Klass’] introduction to you?

Glasser: No, but he did work in her very first scene.

SH: Now we move on to where you are right now, which is Mari Possa. Really, this is a relationship that has literally evolved on camera in the Family Business series. What’s your current relationship like? Did it take you by surprise?

Glasser: Yes, completely. She worked for me for quite a while. Maybe I was too consumed in my work, but I never really thought of her like that until I’ve actually seen her out and about on a date. All of a sudden, I looked at her in a different light. I always knew she was pretty, with a cute little body and great smile, et cetera. I guess because she worked for me—that’s generally off-limits.

SH: What were some of the jobs she did for you?

Glasser: She was my receptionist, then she moved on to be my assistant. Then she said to me she wanted to do the movies. I actually said no but she said, ‘If you don’t put me in YOUR movies, somebody will. Believe me.’ And I knew she knew everybody. She always goes to the parties. She could go out to a club, and if she wanted to be in a scene that night she could.

SH: So, she extorted you into putting her into film. She twisted your arm?

Glasser: Yeah, in a sense she did. I really wasn’t necessarily so “up” on the whole notion probably because of my experiences in the past.

SH: There was some buzz back in February that you and Mari are no longer an item. Is that still the case?

Glasser: No. She saw the errors of her ways. [laughs]

SH: No one wants to give you up that easily. Still, ‘Possa’ doesn’t sound like a nice Jewish girl’s name and yet your mother probably begged and pleaded with you.

Glasser: [laughs] Mari Possa is a stage name. Gretel Finkelburg is her real name.

SH: [laughs] Are you serious?

Glasser: No. [laughs]

SH: What does your mother think of your latest romantic attachment?

Glasser: I think she’s come to the realization, considering I think I’ve dated one Jewish girl in 26 years—maybe two—that it wasn’t going to happen. I think she’s just happy that I’m happy and that’s the bottom line for her. I think that’s enough for her.

She’s a realistic person. She doesn’t look at things through rose-colored glasses and while there are some people out there who can hope and hope and hope and hope, and set themselves up for disappointment… the odds are against it, if you think about it. Here in Los Angeles if you go out to a club, it’s gotta be 20 chicks to one Jew, unless you’re going to a temple function.

SH: [laughs] Somehow, I don’t imagine you going to a lot of those.

Glasser: Eh, the temples, you know. I don’t think I’ll be really comfortable.

SH: Let’s talk about People of the State of California vs. Adam Glasser. This is 2001 and someone’s upset with you over a scene in the film Tampa TushyFest. They cite you with a number of violations…

Glasser: …all centering around the one scene. That was the fundamental flaw in that whole case. First of all, the Miller test says you have to take what you’re looking at—the material—as a whole. You can’t single out bits and pieces and say ‘this is obscene’ and ‘this is not obscene.’ Either the entire thing is obscene or the entire thing is NOT obscene. That was the fundamental flaw in the case against me but it took them 18 months to realize that.

SH: At the end of the 18 months, you end up in a plea bargain situation.

Glasser: Basically, it was a save-face move for them. If I wanted to be a complete hard-ass, I probably could have pushed it to a complete dismissal. But on the other side of that coin, I was somewhat of a beaten guy myself; beaten in the sense financially. Those 18 months were grueling on me. Not only did I have exorbitant lawyer fees to pay and extra witness fees to pay, et cetera, et cetera, but also part of the adult committee became scared of my products because I was the first person prosecuted in such a long time that they decided they didn’t want to carry them. I was losing revenue and I was having increased expenses—not a good formula.

Hence, when they say to me I’m disturbing the peace [public nuisance] or pay a $1,000 fine to a victim’s restitution fund, compared to whatever it was we were talking about, no obscenity plea, no obscenity charge, no nothing that has to do with that… To me, it was a no-brainer. I pick and choose my battles. I’m learning as I get older. Again, I could have made a stand and probably had everything dismissed but as it stands right now, there was no precedent set, nobody else was hurt, I wasn’t hurt, I spent money, there was no way to recover my money either way. Even if I fought them and won, it’s not like I was going to get my money back. I had very minimal to win.

SH: What would you say if you could characterize your feelings and your insights, certainly your years of wisdom from being the target yourself, what would you say the current climate is right now?

Glasser: The climate is gloomy, and that’s because this administration has deemed fit to make the war on porn a high priority. Right now, as we speak, there are 16 regional units of 4-5 FBI agents—given it’s possible some of the agents are retired and not necessarily active—but still, 16 units of 4-5 agents that are charged with going around and checking companies’ paper work to make sure their [2257] compliance paper work—meaning their IDs and model releases—are in line.

SH: Do you think it’s going to get worse or can it only get better from this point on?

Glasser: Thankfully, I think we live in a pendu-listic society… in a sense that it’s constantly swinging. Sometimes it’s swinging slower, sometimes it’s swinging faster. To me, I’m seeing things swinging back towards the left. In my mind, it’s taken a long time for some people to realize this administration is full of hidden agendas—not just with its war on porn. That being said, is the pendulum going to swing to the left quick enough and far enough by the time of the next election? Well, that’s the question.

SH:Family Business, with four seasons under its belt, is not going on for a fifth season. Do you think the current environment had anything to do with it?

Glasser: In my mind, yes, although others have told me no. I don’t necessarily believe those others who have spoken to me. The reason being the show has always been somewhat of a political hot potato for the higher-ups at Showtime, Viacom, et cetera. From season one, day one, I remember 10 minutes before the premiere of the show, the president of Showtime walked up to me saying, ‘By the way, we decided to put a disclaimer on the show because our lawyers wouldn’t let us air it unless we did.’

SH: Now that Family Business is not being renewed for another season, tell us where you’re headed in terms of the Seymore Butts empire and so on?

Glasser: I’m in kind of a crossroads right now at exactly where my focus is going to be. I’ve gotten a lot of interest from other TV people to do various types of things. I know that I’m really going to have to commit, in a certain sense, to do certain things that people want me to do. There are some radio opportunities, there’s quite a bit. I’m just going to try to weed through that. I don’t think I’ll ever leave the adult industry completely. I make 8-10 movies a year, and that’s pretty much it. I’m focusing on my website; I’m actually thinking about redesigning it in the near future. I’m going to continue to do things I’ve been doing; I’m also thinking about writing a book. I’ve got somebody here that wants me to write a book with him on a certain subject. There are just a lot of opportunities; I haven’t necessarily got a concrete idea of what my mainstream plans are. We’ll see.