Axel Braun Announces Retirement

LOS ANGELES—Axel Braun spent the last official day of his porn career with his son Rikki enjoying a couple of familiar activities. The AVN Hall of Fame director returned to the University of California, Santa Barbara on the morning of May 11th to speak to undergrads at Professor Constance Penley’s Topics in Film and Popular Culture class. They took DVDs of Exposed—Rikki’s 2017 feature directing debut that was written and produced by Axel for Wicked Pictures—and also screened the non-sex version of Axel’s final movie, SpideyPool XXX: An Axel Braun Parody for Wicked Comix.Afterward, the father-son duo fielded questions from the assembled film students for 90 minutes at the state-of-the-art Pollock Theater. “It’s always really fun for me to do,” says Axel, who has been a guest speaker at the class more than any other adult personality in the past decade. “My son actually graduated from film school, so he has a lot more perspective coming from their world. “Most of the questions were from girls…It was very cool. And it was the same day of XRCO. So that was the end of my career in the industry. “It was a good feeling, a good moment.” He picked up two more trophies for SpideyPool, winning Best Parody and Best Director - Parody later that evening at the 39th annual X-Rated Critics Organization Awards at Boardner’s in Hollywood. The occasion placed a fitting bow on a storied XXX career that started in 1990 when the Italian filmmaker shot the behind-the-scenes footage for VCA Pictures’ Fantasy Nights. The 56-year-old Braun, who has been the head of production for Wicked since 2020, tells AVN he has decided to retire after 33 years, more than 350 credits and a lifetime of memories.The only four-time AVN Director of the Year winner is stepping away as the most awarded director in the history of adult. “I’ve always felt that when I make a movie what stays with me is the experience of making that movie,” Axel says. “To the point that it doesn’t matter how successful the movie is—if the experience was bad, I can’t be connected with it. If the movie is OK but the experience was great, I bring it with me forever. “And that happened most of the time.  … There’s a bond that is created with the crew and the cast when it happens.” Braun says there were countless times when he felt that kind of kinship during a project, but nothing compares to the magic that happened on the set of The Possession of Mrs. Hyde in 2018. Axel started writing the psychological thriller in 1988 with his late father, Golden Age porn pioneer Lasse Braun, and completed the script with Rikki. Co-produced by his namesake production company and Wicked Pictures, the movie was the first original feature Braun had directed in 15 years. With Avi Love and Seth Gamble anchoring his ensemble cast, Braun shot the feature in black-and-white CinemaScope 2.35:1, expanding the narrative of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while staying true to the original characters. The project went on to win 2019 AVN Awards for Best Action/Thriller, Best Screenplay and Movie of the Year, among other honors. “I first thought of retiring in 2019 after winning Movie of the Year for the fourth time, with what I consider my masterpiece, The Possession of Mrs. Hyde,” Braun tells AVN, recalling his moving acceptance speech at the 2019 AVN Awards at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “I thought it would be the perfect movie to go out with, but I just couldn’t do it. Because there was another project that I was really passionate about, and then another. There would always be another, because I just love making movies.”While he weighed many different factors in his decision to bow out now, Braun says by far the biggest was the desire to spend more time with his family. He has three young daughters in addition to his son, Rikki, who is 30. “This takes me away from my family way more than I want,” Axel tells AVN. “It’s a silly thing to say that I don’t need the money because everybody needs the money. I’m walking away from a lot of money. “But what the money does for me compared to what it takes from me—I’m not going to do it anymore.” Braun continues, “I gave 33 years of my life to the adult industry, and I’ve received much more than I ever hoped for. I am forever grateful for all the amazing memories, the wonderful people I have met and had the pleasure to work with, and I am immensely proud of everything that I accomplished, but no amount of professional or financial gratification can make up for missing out on your children. “My priority is, and it always was, to spend as much time as possible with my family, and as my daughters continue to grow, I found myself unwilling to miss even a single day with them.” In 2019, after 29 years in Los Angeles, Braun made the decision to move his primary residence to a quiet suburb of Atlanta “in order to raise my kids in an environment where they could thrive.” That meant having to travel back to LA every month—sometimes two or three times—to handle business. “After the Gamma acquisition of Wicked in 2020, as I was appointed Head of Production, my responsibilities grew exponentially and I started to spend more and more time away from home,” Braun says. “After two-and-a-half years, I realized it was simply no longer sustainable. "I leave Wicked grateful for 10 incredible years, thankful for Gamma’s faith in me, and knowing that I have assembled an extraordinary group of people who will take pride in furthering the company’s legacy.” He adds, “To the Gamma folks: Claude, Dominic, Jessica Jasmin…you guys were always great to me and I am full of gratitude and loyalty for the years we spent working together. I leave the industry full of pride, knowing that I always strived for excellence, and well aware that I was lucky to leave a footprint that surpassed my wildest expectations.” Axel, who won AVN Director of the Year four consecutive times from 2011-14, says he isn’t worried about “losing my identity”—or getting bored. "Luckily, my identity is I’m a dad,” he says. “That’s my main identity and it’s the one I want to have more time for.” One of the things Braun says he’s most proud of has nothing to do with accolades. In October 2013, he announced that every performer appearing in a sexually explicit role in any of his movies must be a minimum age of 21. “If the law says you are not old enough to handle alcohol responsibly, then you are probably not ready to make a career decision that will have such strong repercussions on the rest of your life,” Braun said at the time. “This may not be a popular choice, but it is a personal one, and it is what my conscience tells me to do. I simply don’t feel comfortable anymore shooting talent under 21.” Looking back on that decision, Braun says, “It wasn’t that I was doing this because I wanted to be the hero. It was just a thing that I did.” “And I did it from the day that I decided until the end of my career,” he continues. “I’m proud of it and I think that when I look back at the things I have done…I know how much the industry has done for me—plenty…What have I done for the industry? “This was something that I contributed to some degree.” Braun says he never expected anyone to follow his lead. “It was simply a decision based on experience, reflection, and the shift in perspective caused by the birth of my first daughter,” he reasons. “After more than two decades in the business, I had come to strongly believe that an 18-year-old fresh out of high school has a completely different perspective on life than he or she will have three years later, and I just wanted to allow them enough time to make a more informed, mature decision.  “…Did it prevent me from hiring popular girls that would have made my movies more successful? Absolutely. But it was the right decision, and not only do I still stand by it 100 percent, but I also see it as one of my biggest personal achievements.” Braun expresses gratitude for the opportunities he had to work for many of the titans of adult entertainment—industry leaders that influenced and inspired him in ways he could not have imagined. "I just want to acknowledge all these people that helped me,” he says. “Because there’s a lot of stepping stones to get certain places. Even certain things that seem negative at the time help you learn. “So I want to acknowledge a lot of people—where would I be without them?” He pointed to the late Russ Hampshire, who founded VCA Pictures, as the first to give him a shot at directing. And that was thanks to his dear friend, the late Tony Lovett, who was an executive at VCA and many years later became the publisher of AVN. “Russ was an awesome, no-nonsense guy, whom I had known for a while because I was shooting and editing my father’s movies and handling his distribution deals,” Axel says. “He called me in and said, ‘Tony says you’d like to direct a movie for me.’ “I replied, ‘Yes, of course, who wouldn’t?’ And he said, ‘That’s just the kind of answer I wanted, kid. How about you direct two?’ I was in the building for a total of three-and-a-half minutes and walked out with an $80,000 check. Not a bad way to start!” Braun called Elegant Angel founder Patrick Collins a “father figure to me.” It was Collins who offered him his first directing contract—and a year later made him the general manager of his notorious gonzo studio. On his first day of work as GM, Braun showed up at 7:30 a.m.—30 minutes before the office opened—wearing a suit and tie. It was while he was the GM that he directed Elegant Angel’s first and only feature shot on 16mm film, Compulsion, leading to Braun’s first AVN Award for Best Screenplay in January 2004. “That movie won awards all over the world, single-handedly changing the trajectory of my career, and I am forever grateful to Pat for taking a huge gamble on such an expensive project, but most importantly for his friendship and mentorship,” Braun says. “We traveled together all over the world and became very close. He was a remarkable guy and I learned so much from him. “The last time I saw him was at the AVN Awards in 2011, after I won a landslide of trophies, including my very first Director of the Year award… He came up to me with teary eyes, gave me a bear hug and said, ‘I always knew you were gonna get to the top, and you fucking deserve it. I’m so happy for you, kid!’ “His words meant so much to me, and I will never forget him.” Braun reveals that Scott Taylor, the founder of New Sensations/Digital Sin, was “instrumental in my growth as a filmmaker.” Axel shot six scenes a week as a contract director for New Sensations in 2004-05, noting that Taylor personally watched every frame of anything he ever turned in. “A very accomplished director himself, under the stage name Tyrone Shuz, Scott would critique everything in such a detailed way that it literally forced you to step up your game,” Axel recalls. “Making him proud became my goal, and thanks to him I gained a huge amount of experience that helped me tremendously later in my career.” Braun went on to thank Marc Kramer, his longtime friend and production manager, who was in charge of Hustler Video for a stint in 2006. After leaving New Sensations, Braun decided to take a few months off and during that time he got a call from Drew Rosenfeld—who six years later would be the best man at his wedding—saying that Larry Flynt wanted to talk to him about directing for Hustler. “Larry and my dad were old friends, and I always had plenty of admiration for him, so it was a no-brainer,” Braun says. “Marc interviewed me and I shot my first Hustler movie two weeks later. “After Marc left to run Teravision, Drew took up his position as Creative Director and we became close friends. Together we made some really awesome movies and had plenty of fun. His support and his friendship are something that I will always remember with fondness and will always be grateful for.” Braun says that Kramer, who was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame this year, “has been with me through more drama and craziness than anybody.” “And always found a way to use his producing skills and experience to put out any fires that would arise,” Braun adds. “He is the best PM anybody could ever have, and I am fortunate that we had such a long run together, full of important memories and achievements.” Axel lauded Steven Hirsch, the co-founder and CEO of Vivid Entertainment Group, for his “vision.” Vivid signed Axel Braun Productions to a distribution deal in June 2009 on the heels of successful send-ups such as This Ain’t Star Trek XXX 1-3 and This Ain’t Happy Days XXX for Hustler. “Steven Hirsch was a marketing genius, a really cool guy, and arguably the sharpest mind in the business,” Braun says. “When the people at Hustler got nervous about my request to shoot a parody of the ’66 ‘Batman’ TV show, I decided to shoot it myself and I went to Vivid to see if they would distribute it. “Steven jumped at it, and that was the turning point of my career. Blessed by an incredible cast led by Dale DaBone, who came out of retirement and delivered a phenomenal performance, and with the help of Marci Hirsch, Gayle Ertz, Shylar Cobi and all the awesome people at Vivid, I started parodying other comic book characters like Superman and Spider-Man. The awards came in like a flood, and I became known as ‘The King of Parody.’” Braun says “the parody bug” was something “that I owe to my old buddy Will Ryder.” “Will was having enormous success at Hustler with his parodies of The Brady Bunch and Bewitched, and Larry Flynt asked me to shoot a parody,” Braun explains. “At the time I saw the genre as a bit of a rip-off and wasn’t really interested, but Drew made it clear that Larry would not take no for an answer. Relenting, I asked him if I could parody something of my choice and he said yes, so I picked Happy Days, a TV show that I loved as a kid. Because I was so emotionally invested, I went all in and meticulously recreated costumes, sets and camera angles. “I even got Alan Stafford, who played Richie, to dye his hair red like Ron Howard, and Tommy Gunn to shave his trademark goatee (that he’d had since he was 17) to play The Fonz. “Recreating an iconic show with such extreme attention to detail was an exhilarating experience, and putting my beloved characters in sexual situations that most people had always fantasized about proved wildly successful. And just like that, I was hooked. “I ended up shooting a total of 62 parodies and winning 10 consecutive AVN Best Parody awards, plus two consecutive Outstanding Comedy awards.” The most elaborate undertaking of Braun’s career happened to be a parody of Star Wars in 2012. “And I could have never done it without Eli Cross,” Braun says. “I met him in 2003 when I was GM of Elegant Angel and he came to sell a movie he had shot, called The Visitor. “I started watching it, and I was blown away by how good it looked. Within 10 minutes I offered him a producing/directing deal and we’ve been friends ever since. “He is a super talented and incredibly knowledgeable writer/producer/director, and his approach to adult filmmaking was, and still is, as close to mainstream as can be. “He is definitely one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met, a gifted storyteller and, bar none, the wittiest texter on the planet, and we ended up collaborating on dozens of very successful movies for many years. He was instrumental to my success, and I owe him all the gratitude and respect that he deserves.” The auteur also singled out Chris Streams, whom he considers "a true standup guy who is largely responsible for many of my all-sex projects," while adding that Hank Hoffman delivered "exceptional camerawork and unbelievable photography that always made my movies stand out." Along the way Braun had a year-long stint at Sin City, a company that was founded by his father’s former partner and close friend, the pioneering Reuben Sturman. When Braun was there he met “the most talented gaffer in the industry,” Shaun Rivera, through Scott Justice, who was running Sin City. Rivera became the director's personal friend, working on just about every movie he shot. “It’s a shame that there was never an award category for Best Lighting Design, because Shaun’s mantle by now would be overflowing with trophies,” Axel says. Speaking of unsung collaborators, Braun tells AVN that one in particular played a critical role in his success. “As a director, I always got all the glory and recognition, but the truth is that there really is a village of people who have contributed immensely behind the scenes and without whom I could have never had such an extraordinary career. Above all, my editor Claudia Ross, who’s been working with me for over 20 years and is largely responsible for a lot more than she ever got credit for,” Braun says. The director tells AVN that landing at Wicked Pictures “was always the endgame” and that working for the legacy studio was “a dream come true.” “Steve Orenstein is somebody I had always admired, and when I started working at Wicked my respect for him grew exponentially,” Braun says. “He really is the nicest guy in the business, and a man who had a profound influence on me in many ways. “His quick wit and sarcasm are matched only by his honesty and utmost integrity, and I am honored to still call him a friend and to be able to see him regularly. He ran Wicked like a close-knit family, and as soon as I got there I felt like I was where I had always belonged.” The first movie Braun shot for Wicked was Snow White XXX, which was something he had been wanting to do for years. The reason he hadn’t was he believed that there was only one actress who could pull off the role of the Evil Queen—longtime Wicked Girl jessica drake. “I used to joke with my friends, ‘I guess I’ll have to try and get a deal at Wicked or I’ll never be able to shoot this movie.’ Luckily I did, and, needless to say, jessica delivered a monumental performance,” Axel says of the three-time AVN Best Actress. Braun would be the first to admit that working on one of his movies often meant “an excruciatingly” long day on set—some were 22 hours—but he is grateful for all the actors who were willing to go above and beyond. He says that despite what the outside world may think, there are some “very gifted” actors in adult. “And I was lucky enough to work with many of them,” Braun says. He refers to numerous standout performances over the years, such as former ABP contract girl Aiden Ashley’s portrayal of Catwoman in his Batman v. Superman XXX parody in 2015; Romi Rain as Wonder Woman in 2017 (Justice League XXX); Kenzie Taylor’s turn as Captain Marvel in 2019; Lacy Lennon’s Black Widow in 2021; Kleio Valentien’s Harley Quinn—which led to back-to-back AVN Awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress in 2016-17; and Asa Akira as Katana in Suicide Squad XXX in 2016. Several of Braun’s leading men left lasting impressions on him, too. Guys such as Dale DaBone, who became the actor Braun often wrote his movies for. DaBone played Batman, Elvis, Tony Stark and many other characters in Braun’s productions, winning Best Actor for Elvis XXX in 2012 in what the director calls “one of the highlights of my career.” “He retired because he fell in love, and in 2012 he turned down the $150,000 payday I offered him for Batman XXX 2,” Braun says. “I respected him immensely for that, and I decided to scrap the movie altogether. We are still friends to this day, and yes…he is still with the girl.” Braun says that Evan Stone is “the last living male porn superstar, and for a good reason.” “Behind his hyperactive jokester persona lies a deep, thoughtful, extremely intelligent human being who will take the shirt off his back for you,” Axel says. “The fact that he is an incredible actor, a top performer and also one of the funniest people on the planet almost makes up for the time he accidentally whacked me in the face full-force while playing racquetball. “We always had plenty of fun together both on and off the set, and I’m happy that I convinced him to star in one of the last projects I produced, the Seth Gamble series Privilege, where he absolutely hit a home run with his dramatic turn as family patriarch Alexander Nash.” Gamble made an instant impact on Braun with his “talent, focus, dedication and passion.” So much so that Axel began casting him in everything. “He could literally play anybody and look like anybody, I still don’t know how he does it,” Braun says. “But what I know is that he is a four-time AVN Best Actor for a reason, and the reason is that he is fucking phenomenal. “From Luke Skywalker, to Captain Boomerang, to Mr. Hyde, and of course his seminal portrayal of Deadpool, Seth has brought his A-game to everything he’s ever been involved in. He’s been my protégé for 15 years, and has appeared in more of my movies than anybody else, so when I became Head of Production of Wicked I immediately signed him as a contract performer.” It wasn’t long after that Braun recognized Gamble’s potential to call the shots on his own movies. “I saw the way he absorbed every aspect of the filmmaking process on my sets, and knew how much he loved telling stories,” Axel says. “I offered him my mentorship, and sure enough, as he had always done with everything he’d set his mind to, he threw himself headfirst into it and surprised everybody with Deranged, a cinematic masterpiece that immediately won him accolades and critical acclaim. “Today, Seth is not only the reigning AVN Male Performer of the Year, but also one of the top directors in the industry. Most importantly, he is one of my closest friends and an exceptional human being who will go on to leave an even bigger mark in the industry than he already has.” Many other porn super-studs delivered in key moments during Braun’s journey—namely versatile performers such as Ryan Driller, who played Superman for him no less than eight times; Ramon Nomar, who won an AVN Award for his scene with Avi Love in Mrs. Hyde; and a pair of three-time AVN Male Performer of the Year winners in Mick Blue and Lexington Steele—both of whom were go-to guys for Braun. He also notes the iconic Tom Byron, who starred in Fantasy Nights in 1990 and won a Best Supporting Actor award for Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars XXX in 2013. Meanwhile Braun calls Xander Corvus “the best live action Spider-Man to ever grace the screen”—and Tommy Pistol “easily the most versatile actor the industry has ever seen.” “And last but not least, my lucky charm James Bartholet, who has appeared in non-sex roles in quite possibly every movie I’ve ever made,” Axel adds with a smile. While Braun is calling it a career with a treasure trove of un-produced scripts in his briefcase, he admits there is one particular project that he wishes could’ve come to fruition. “Is there a movie I regret not making? Of course. One dream I couldn’t realize was to shoot a big feature with the best in the world, the greatest male performer of all time: Rocco Siffredi. Nobody like him, ever,” Axel says. “We’ve been friends forever, and we’ve both wanted to make it happen for a long time, it just needed to be the right project. At some point we got really close with a parody of Joker, which I had planned on making with him in the Joaquin Phoenix role. “We spent a lot of time on the phone talking about it and the energy was so electric…we both knew that was the one. I wanted him to win the trophy that had always eluded him, an AVN Best Actor award, and I bet he would have. “Unfortunately, when the mainstream movie came out, I just couldn’t crack the script. I loved that movie so much, but I didn’t find the right tone for a parody…if I tried to go dark it had to be darker than the original and it would have been too much for porn, and if I went light it would have been stupid. It is one of my biggest professional regrets.”Braun tells AVN he drew a lot of inspiration from the Canadian mainstream horror filmmakers known as The Soska Sisters—Jen and Sylvia—whose support of his career over the years he calls “absolutely incredible.” “They are huge Deadpool fans and even penned a phenomenal five-issue Black Widow miniseries for Marvel, Black Widow: No Restraints Play,” Axel says. “They inspired me and motivated me to write both Deadpool XXX and Black Widow XXX and they even flew in to support me at the 2019 AVN Awards, where I had one of the best nights of my career. They are some of the nicest, kindest, and most badass people I have ever known and I am very lucky to have them as friends.” *** Braun says one of the most pivotal moments in his life was when his mother told him who his real dad was during an argument. “I don’t know what my life would have been if my mom never told me that Lasse Braun was my biological father,” says Axel, who met Lasse for the first time when he was 14. “I probably wouldn’t have landed here…but life has a way of dealing you some strange cards, and it’s up to you to play them right. “Lasse was a fascinating character; we shared many common passions and being around him was a lot of fun. We had some crazy adventures together, and he taught me everything I know about filmmaking, despite the fact that I went to film school.” AVN honored Lasse with the Reuben Sturman Award in 2013 and Axel was asked to present it to him. “He was scheduled to fly in from Italy a few days earlier but at the last minute his doctor forbade him, so I put together a video montage of some of his accomplishments, which included inventing the peep-show machines and helping Denmark become the first nation in the world to legalize pornography in 1969,” Axel says. “He passed away in 2015, without ever being able to come back to the US. He was a pioneer and a genius, but most of all he was my dad. I owe him everything and I miss him every day.” Braun reveals he is working on a pair of novels. One of them is based on one of his original scripts and will be completed by August. Another—which has the working title “King of Porn”—is about his father. “It’s his life story,” he says. “It’s definitely interesting and definitely something I want to be at some point a statement and closure.” What he’ll miss the most is the filmmaking process—something he fell in love with at the beginning. “I love being able to tell a story and direct the actors—that’s it,” Axel says. But Braun says he has missed some of the small, everyday things that come with fatherhood even more. “Like reading them a story before going to sleep. This is time that you don’t get back,” he says. “I’m at the point where on the scale there is nothing that can be more important. “The real motivator is I have to have that time. I have to create those daily memories.” He’ll be able to do so wherever he wants—he owns a resort that sits on 180 acres in Florence, Italy, and also has a vacation home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in addition to his house in an affluent enclave of Atlanta. “I don’t know yet what the future holds, right now I just want to enjoy a very long vacation, travel the world with my family, and be the best dad and the best husband I can possibly be,” he says. “To my fans, thank you so very much for your love throughout the years, you have been tremendously supportive and I am honored that you walked alongside me through this long, exciting journey. “But also, you’re welcome.” Photography courtesy of Axel Braun & Jeff Koga