Adult Movies Filmed at YWCA Building : Pornography: The film maker says the nature of 47 videos shot in downtown mansion was no secret. Others disagree, and he’s being investigated by police and sued.

When a film executive asked the Los Angeles YWCA last summer if his company could use the association’s stately Clark Residence downtown for a production, YWCA officials gave the go-ahead, under the impression that it was for a documentary with Elizabeth Taylor.

Instead, the four-story building was used to film a “pornathon” of adult videos that has embarrassed the YWCA.

“This has been a very unpleasant, unhappy situation,” said Ethel Sanford-Smith, associate director of the YWCA in Los Angeles.

The building at 306 Loma Drive is a city cultural monument, built in 1913 and used to shoot the TV miniseries “Winds of War” and “Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years.” This summer, however, it was the setting for films with such titles as “Wanda Does Transylvania” and “Wives of the Rich and Famous.”

By the time the filming was over, 47 adult videos were finished, according to John Laolagi, the owner of now-defunct Stallion Productions in North Hollywood. Laolagi said four film crews shot sex scenes simultaneously over a period of four weeks, beginning July 7. The production came to be known in the industry, according to Laolagi, as the Stallion Extravaganza, or the “pornathon.”

Laolagi said some low-level YWCA officials knew what was going on in the building. Sanford-Smith insisted, however, that she found out about the adult filming only at the end of the shooting schedule, when it was too late to stop the production.

While the filming was legal, Los Angeles Police Detective Greg Jones said, he is investigating the incident and added that “there are charges pending” that could include fraud, forgery and writing checks with insufficient funds. A number of performers and crew members have complained that they were paid only a small amount of what was owed them.

Sgt. Donald Smith of the Police Department’s administrative vice division said the losses may add up to $320,000. Yeehorn Shuai, an attorney for Trans Pacific Marketing, an Orange County videotape and cassette company, said his firm filed suit last month in Orange County Superior Court against Stallion Productions and Laolagi. The suit asks for $894,000 in damages for fraud, alleging that Laolagi failed to pay for tape he ordered.

Even though Sanford-Smith claims that the YWCA is owed as much as $20,000 for use of the building, the agency has turned down appeals to join in a lawsuit with other alleged victims, fearing the notoriety it would bring. “It isn’t anything we want advertised,” said Sanford-Smith.

Sanford-Smith said the YWCA was paid early on for use of the building. But payment was stopped on a second check after the shooting was completed, she said. Sanford-Smith said that when the YWCA was first approached for use of the building, she had no suspicions.

“Other companies have used our building and we never had problems before,” she said. “They fooled or finagled us into believing it was very legit.”

A filming permit filed with the city of Los Angeles states that the purpose of the production was to make a documentary.

Sanford-Smith said that after the shooting started and rumors about the production began filtering back, she visited the building and asked to see a script. What she was shown, she said, was the story of a “harmless video” about the troubles of a new arrival in Los Angeles.

In fact, said a production crew member who uses the stage name Dean Hart, crews were shooting a succession of X-rated videos with as many as 40 actors and actresses. Another crew member, who uses the name Karen Murray, said that whenever Sanford-Smith appeared, the performers stopped working.

The Clark Residence, designated a cultural monument in 1976, once housed up to 142 poor women. After the Whittier Narrows earthquake in October, 1987, the building was deemed unsafe for habitation.

Despite the building’s condition, Hart and Charlotte Leigh--the stage name given by one of the film’s performers--said that cast and crew members lived there around the clock during filming. Armed guards were stationed around the building to keep performers in, said Hart, Leigh and another actress.

Laolagi agreed, saying he feared that if the performers left the building during shooting, they might not return, jeopardizing completion of the video. Performers were allowed to leave on weekends, he said.

The YWCA’s Sanford-Smith said she doubted that the performers and crew could have stayed there without anyone knowing, but added that “these people were capable of doing anything.”

Laolagi, who uses the stage name of John Stallion in his films, said there was no intent to defraud anyone, adding that production costs simply spiraled out of control.

The Clark Residence downtown, where the adult movies were shot, is an official city cultural monument.