SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA -- A local man has helped turn sex into a multimillion-dollar-a-year business.

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Special Assignment

While you may not like what he sells, chances are good that sales will keep booming.

In Wednesday night's Special Assignment, NewsChannel5's Paul Kiska traveled to Southern California to reveal Cleveland's sex connection.

Southern California in the winter has sunshine and ocean breezes, but beyond the mountains and before the desert, it's really heating up.

Vivid Entertainment is the world's largest producer of adult videos.

So who is making millions marketing adult video to the mainstream by producing erotic movies geared toward couples?

"When you come from Cleveland, you come from a hard-working city, and that never leaves you," said Steve Hirsch, creator of Vivid. "Just the way you're brought up, (the) sense of who you are and (your) work ethic."

Although the movies are still about sex, business boomed when Hirsch shied away from hard-core stag party pornography like the business his father started in Cleveland in the 1970s.

Hirsch capitalized on the VCR boom, then cable, satellite TV, in-room movies, and now DVDs. Vivid's pay-per-view channels alone reportedly gross $28 million per month.

"I think people are sexual individuals, and I think for a long time there was an embarrassment factor that went into an adult bookstore and renting an adult movie," Hirsch said. "Now you're able to watch it on TV."

More behind the scenes on the big business of making steamy adult videos mainstream later.

Hirsch lives a lavish California lifestyle in the spectacular San Gabriel Mountains -- a long way from his childhood home in Lyndhurst.

Some of Hirsch's odd jobs growing up in Cleveland included selling ice cream cones in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter for extra cash. These days, he drives a Rolls Royce.

His hobbies include collecting amber-fossilized insects that are millions of years old, and he also has an impressive collection of presidential photos and signatures.

"I've always been intrigued by presidents and the amount of power that they have and the charisma," he said.

Hirsch's home has high ceilings and a lot of space. His daughter has a playroom and he has his own gym. His master bedroom has a large bathroom and a walk-in closet nearly as big as the master bedroom.

Flat-screen televisions give Hirsch and his fiancee, Lori, a constant picture of their 2-year-old daughter.

"We always have a picture of the baby," he said. "We know where she is at all times."

His multimillion-dollar home is complete with a manicured landscape and a resort-like pool.

"It's amazing," Lori said. "(We're) very fortunate and very lucky."

"We have a great life together," Hirsch said.

Since graduating from UCLA, Hirsch is known out in the area as a driven businessman. He even lectures college students at a USC business class.

The adult video entertainment business on the West Coast might seem like it's a long way from northeast Ohio, but one of Vivid's largest distribution centers is located in Cleveland.

Howard Levine also grew up in Cleveland. He now runs Vivid's huge warehouse in Van Nuys, Calif. The videos are shipped to distribution centers in cities like Cleveland and then sent to video stores.

The performers are sent to Vivid by agents. They reportedly make between $40,000 to $200,000 a year.

"Believe me, I've done plenty of Gonzo films and worked for other companies. With Vivid, you know you're (going to) be safe," said Brianna Banks, a Vivid performer.

Hirsch said he realizes that everyone from the area does not agree with how he makes his money.

"I respect that, and I'm not asking you to watch our movies," he said. "If you're uncomfortable, by all means turn it off. You have the right to turn it off, but you don't have the right to tell somebody else what (they can) watch."

When video-on-demand technology becomes a household item, it's possible that Hirsch's movies will be in even more homes, making the Cleveland native a billionaire, Kiska reported.