TobyRossTLV

Toby Ross is an American film director who made gay pornographic films in the 1970s and 1980s and later on went to produce non sexual and cult films. Many film aficionados consider Ross the only missing link between Adult films and commercial independent films, as Ross calls it The Antarctica of the film business. He was born in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. At the age of eight, his mother having remarried an Austrian Jew, he moved with his mother and stepfather to Israel. He served two years in the Israeli army. After studies in Los Angeles, attracted by stories of the freedom in San Francisco, he moved there in the 1970s.

Before Ross made feature films he made loops, which were shot on silent 8mm or 16mm. His earliest feature films were partially composed of some of his loops with added soundtracks. Some of his later films were very successful in underground gay film circles. These films include Do Me Evil, Cruisin' 57, and Schoolmates.

His earlier theatrical features were released under Cinema Mirage. In 1980 he started a company called Hornbill Films which he used to release his hard core films onto VHS and in 1995 his regular general audience films some shown in various festivals.

In the early 1980s he began making movies on video instead of film.

He no longer makes hardcore porn movies, only "erotic story movies."

On October 8, 2008 Canadian film maker and experimental klezmer/hip hop musician Josh Dolgin showed Cruisin' 57 at the Pop Montreal music festival; the film was accompanied by a live band and played to a packed house with standing room only.

In the winter of 2010 Josh Dolgin released his Film "Socalled The Movie" in which parts of a documentary he made with Ross profiles Toby Ross as one of his influences.
In 2005 s he began making regular comedy films which include Bowser Makes a Movie, Get a Life, and Father Knows.... In 2007, he and Joe Rubin directed the movie Live For Sex, Die For Love which was a departure from Ross' comedies into dark and semi-surreal drama. It was a success.

In the spring of 2008 he started working on a spy thriller called "Moon over Hong Kong", an all-male homage to the James Bond genre. "Like a Moth to a Flame" in 2009 has reunited Ross with Rubin and was available on DVD November 30, 2009. One of the trilogies of Moth was shot on 16mm and directed by Joe Rubin. 2011 was the year he released his dark erotic crime documentary "Payton Collins Serial Rapist", the film spent 3 weeks as #1 best seller on www.tla.com and was a success. Payton Collins was nominated as the best gay thriller for 2012 TLA GAYBIES award.
In 2019 Ross moved back to Israel to produce Bill Eld American Pop Culture Icon whi hit #1 on Amazon's GLBT list. His fame and fortune he had in the USA did not translate well into the new home in Israel.