Tom Hanley graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Social Anthropology, was in Military Intelligence in the Army Reserve, and had worked as a Marin County deputy sheriff before deciding - with no background or experience - to make a film. And not just any film, but an erotic film in the early 1970s, prior to the mid-70s "porn chic", when porn was completely underground. Investigated by the military and arrested several times for obscenity (charges ultimately dropped), Tom sold the rights to the film and left the business.