With his partner,
David Gold, Sullivan's first business venture was selling
soft pornography photos. They expanded into
sex shops, adult magazines and several low-budget
blue movies, making Sullivan a millionaire by the age of 25.
[6] By the late 1970s, he was in control of half of the adult magazine market, including major titles such as
Playbirds and
Whitehouse,
[7] 80% of the adult mail order market, and 150 shops.
In the late 1970s he produced several low-budget British sex movies including
Come Play with Me (1977) (directed by
Harrison Marks). This was followed by
The Playbirds (1978),
Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair (1979) and
Queen of the Blues (1979), all starring his then-girlfriend
Mary Millington. After Millington's suicide in August 1979 he continued with
Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions (1980) and
Emmanuelle in Soho (1981).
In 1982 Sullivan was convicted of living off immoral earnings and after a successful appeal was released after serving 71 days in prison.
[8] Sullivan explained that he did not feel embarrassed about the initial source of his early fortunes. "I've made a lot of people happy,” he said. “If I was an arms manufacturer or a cigarette manufacturer, and my products killed millions of my clients, I'd have a bit of doubt about the whole thing. I was a freedom fighter. I believe in the right of adults to make their own decisions."