Wicked Pictures to distribute the producer-director’s non-condom new releases and back catalog

Today Axel Braun announced he has signed an exclusive two-year deal with Wicked Pictures.

The three-time AVN Director of the Year, who recently ended his massively successful four year association with Vivid Entertainment, will both direct for Wicked and receive its distribution of his own Axel Braun Productions titles. Braun tells TRPWL, “Even though I’m going to diversify my output a bit, and shoot original features as well as high-end all-sex movies, I will definitely continue to make superhero parodies for ABP.”

“I really like the way Wicked operates and I genuinely respect the positive message that they send within the industry, so it was an easy choice,” Braun said today. “I’m very happy to have found both an awesome new home for my product and an exceptionally creative environment where I can make the movies I want.”

The multi-hyphenate will bring his large catalogue of ABP titles to Wicked as part of the deal, including the blockbuster Batman XXX: A Porn Parody, along with his contract performers, Aiden Ashley and Riley Steele. The Braun deal also comes on the heels of Wicked signing reigning AVN Female Performer of the Year Asa Akira, which she herself announced at last month’s inaugural presentation of The Sex Awards in Hollywood.

Braun tells TRPWL that Ashley and Steele are not Wicked Girls, however: “Aiden and Riley are ABP girls, but they will also be allowed to appear in the Wicked movies that I direct.”

“Being able to tap into Wicked’s roster of contract performers is pretty awesome,” Braun enthused, registering particular excitement about Jessica Drake. “I literally have at least half a dozen feature scripts that I wrote over the past few years where the lead is a ‘Jessica Drake type’ … now I can actually shoot them with the real one!”

Says Drake, “Axel is a great addition to the Wicked family. He is clearly the king of the parody genre, and I am looking forward to collaborating with him on many projects?from original features to parodies and beyond. I am always inspired by hard-working, creative people who love what they do, and I can’t wait to see what we can create together.”

The elephant in the room is the condom laws foisted upon the adult industry in Los Angeles County, which have led Braun and many others to shoot in locations such as Nevada. We asked Braun whether the added expense and production complications caused by shooting out of the area played a role in this move to a condom-only company.

“Not at all,” says Braun. “Wicked is a condom-only company and any movies I’ll direct for them will of course have condoms, but ABP releases will still be non-condom.”

Looked at another way, one of the very few condom-only companies is now adding non-condom new releases and catalog titles to its business model.

“Having Axel join the Wicked team is an exciting moment,” says fellow director Brad Armstrong. “We’ve always had a friendly competition between us. Most years, he and I have the lion’s share of the parody/feature nominations, and being under the same umbrella will make Wicked Pictures an unstoppable force in the adult industry.”

The first ABP release through Wicked will be the Riley Steele star showcase Riley Goes Gonzo, scheduled to street in December. His first Wicked feature is yet to be announced.