Source: Vivid Entertainment
By: Company Press Release
Geek Community Helps Determine Success or Failure of Movies, Says Star Wars XXX Parody Adult Film Director Axel Braun
(LOS ANGELES, CA) — As mainstream movies turn toward sci-fi and comic book heroes the “geek” community has suddenly become “A very important audience” that “can literally make or break a movie,” says Axel Braun, the award-winning adult film director known for his blockbuster porn parodies and his legendary attention to detail. Braun made the remarks in a hilarious yet insightful interview with Dan Cheek of the comic book fan blog www.die- screaming.com/axel-braun-interview.
Braun, whose most recent film is the newly released “Star Wars XXX: A Porn Parody,” was interviewed about the recent rise in popularity of adult film parodies of super heroes and comic book characters. His “Spider-Man XXX: A Porn Parody,” distributed by leading adult studio Vivid Entertainment, was this year’s clear favorite among the judges in the all-important parody category at the 2012 AVN Awards , winning top honors in the Best Parody, Best Parody Drama, Best Cinematography categories. Braun won the Director of the Year (Body of Work) award for the second year in a row.
“The geek community is heavily tied to science fiction, comic books, and superheroes,” said Braun in his Die-Screaming interview. “With the mainstream movie industry focusing on these types of projects in recent years, geeks suddenly became a very important target audience. They are incredibly dedicated fans, excellent critics, and their massive networking can literally make or break a movie,” he added.
“When the proliferation of the Internet killed DVD sales, I decided it was time to stop trying to lure back the typical porn consumers from the dark side of free adult content, and I went after a different demographic,” Braun said. “Geeks were an ideal target, and being one of them myself it was fairly easy to know what they wanted: parodies of cult movies, TV shows, comic books, or superheroes, infused with obvious deep knowledge of the subject matter, tons of nerdy references, and obsessive attention to detail. And boobs. How could I lose by being so totally awesome?”
Braun concedes that he’s got a dream job: “I get to shoot movies with my comic book heroes, fulfill every geek’s dirty fantasies, and pretend that I’m a real director. Can’t beat that!”
He noted that he first brought the idea of porn parodies of super hero classics to Steven Hirsch, founder/co-chairman of Vivid. “He jumped at it. Before I was done with Batman (Batman XXX: A Porn Parody) we were already in pre-production with three different superhero projects. No wonder he (Hirsch) won the AVN Visionary award this year.” He added that “Superman vs. Spider-Man XXX,” which comes out in July from Vivid, is “quite possibly the best movie ever made.” He confirmed that he currently is working on porn parodies of X-Men and Wolverine with plans to make parodies of the Dark Knight Rises, the Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, James Bond, Fantastic Four, Thor, She-Hulk, and Daredevil.
When asked if he saw the adult parody trend as a lasting one or just a fad that will run its course and burn out eventually, Braun’s parting shot was “The geeks shall inherit the earth!”
Disclaimer: The Films Noted in This release are Parody Movies. They are not sponsored, endorsed by, or affiliated with any person or entity owning any intellectual property rights in the original movies or any person appearing in the original movies. The parody movies are intended to spoof, parody, satirize, roast, lampoon, and otherwise poke fun at the original movies and characters appearing therein.
About Axel Braun:
The son of legendary porn-pioneer Lasse Braun and grandson of a diplomat, Axel Braun was born and raised in Italy, where he received a privileged upper-class upbringing. Fluent in five languages, a member of Mensa, a film-school graduate, and the bearer of a Ph.D. In psychology, Axel has a unique cultural background that definitely sets him apart from the many other directors in the adult industry. A second-generation AVN Hall-of-Famer, over the span of his career he has won awards all over the world for Directing, Producing, Screenwriting, and Editing. For more information visit www.axelbraun.net.
About Vivid:
Founded in 1984, Vivid has always placed heavy emphasis on high quality erotic film entertainment and has created wide brand-name awareness through its films and the www.vivid.com website, an innovative marketing and a licensing program that extends to advertising, apparel, book publishing and a range of other products. Co-founder and CEO Steven Hirsch was honored in 2012 with the first AVN Visionary Award as a leader who “Has propelled innovation and taken his company and the business as a whole to new heights.” In addition to its Vivid-Celeb imprint famous for celebrity sex tapes, the company is known for its Vivid SuperXXXHeroes parodies and award-winning feature films. Vivid has the industry’s largest archive of adult films.
About Die-Screaming:
Die-Screaming is a blog about comic books, movies, porn, video games, films and television, Internet tech and geek culture, founded by writer Dan Cheek. Related Google+ and Tumblr blogs are found at plus.google.com/109438079354219198050/posts and www.die- screaming.com/die-screaming-tumblr-blog/.
