Interview – Axel Braun of Vivid Superhero

Editor’s Note: While the following article does not include any nudity or explicit language, it may not be appropriate for those under 18 years of age. Please be advised.

Last month Vivid Entertainment released Batman XXX: A Porn Parody. Produced and directed by Axel Braun (who previously made porn parodies of Happy Days and Star Trek for Hustler), it has garnered an outsize amount of attention due to the unusually high production values and the audacity of how closely it mimics the original source material. Now, Vivid Entertainment (who aren’t the worldwide leader in adult film for nothing), have announced an entirely new imprint, Vivid Superhero, dedicated solely to production of porn parodies of the most popular comic book heroes.

Recently, I was able to talk with Italian director Axel Braun about this new endeavor.

So, you directed the notorious Batman XXX.

Yes I did.

I read that as a young man, you were originally interested in being a cartoonist.

I was, I was, yeah.

So is it safe to assume you were a comic book fan too?

Huge comic book fan! Not only that but I grew up in Italy, and my father was friends with the Italian distributor of all the Marvel and DC comic books. So I had- I still have most of them- full collections since I was a kid, like of everything that was ever published. It was awesome.

And you are now the Lead Director for the new Vivid Superhero imprint. Will you be directing each new installment, or just serving in a producer capacity?

Yes, I’ll be directing them. Superman is what I’m working on right now.

How’s that going?

It’s going great. The guy that I cast in the lead, his name is Chris Johnson, and he’s a skydiving instructor. So you know where this is going. We’re actually going to have a few shots of him jumping off a plane in the costume and get like- you know, most of the stuff will be green screen regardless- but we’ll have a couple of really cool shots that are real.

Amazing. That brings me to my next question. Your previous productions, particularly Batman, have gotten a lot of attention for how closely you’ve been able to recreate things like sets and costumes. I understand you had costumers from the original Batman TV show working with you, is that right?

Some of the people that were involved in the original TV series were involved with this too. But not only that; I went after specific fabrics and specific dyes that are not available anymore on the market, so it was really difficult. But you see, I’ve always been detail oriented in everything I do, but in this kind of stuff specifically it’s because I really wanted to please the fans because I am a fan. If it’s good for me, it’s going to be good for the fans, because I’m one of them, you know?

All photos are courtesy of Axel Braun Productions.

And are a lot of those same people working on the Superman production?

I’m following the same model, basically. I’m going after people that were involved with the original source material. So whether it’s people who fabricated shoes, that made the boots, this kind of stuff, I’m going after as many of the same people as I can because I want to replicate it as closely as I can. Superman is the first one. I’m already also in pre-production for Spider-Man. I’m getting the costume made as we speak, but that’s going to take a while. I think we’re going to shoot Spider-Man probably in September. It’s going to be released in maybe November or even January, I’m not sure. But you know, the point is not to get them out as fast as I can, it’s to get them done as good as I can. Batman was pushed several times. It was originally supposed to shoot in November and it ended up being shot in April because until I see that everything is exactly how it’s supposed to be, I’m not satisfied. And Vivid shares my belief too. It needs to be right. That’s why it’s really good to be working with them because they understand that quality is the first thing and we don’t cut corners. And we try to get things done the way they should be done.

You directed This Ain’t Happy Days XXX. Was that your first foray into the parody genre?

Yeah, Happy Days was my first parody. That was for Hustler. I’ve always tried to stick to parodies that are easily replicated. You know, Superman will be more of a challenge because the actual movie, there’s a lot of exterior shots, there’s a lot of…you know, much higher production value put into it. But Happy Days was shot in a Studio, you know? Batman the TV show was shot in a studio. All this stuff is easily replicated and it’s going to have the same look and feel. Superman, of course, I’m going after the same thing. So I’m going to parody the specific parts that don’t require to have Superman saving a jet that’s falling, or stopping a train.

The Parody genre has been around for a few years now and has become somewhat prolific. Usually they stick a title on the box like “It’s Not…[insert title]” and that’s basically the end of any serious attempt at parody. But your productions painstakingly strive to recreate the characters and images of the original. It must be incredibly expensive, considering adult films are not known for their large budgets. How do you pull it off financially? Did you ever come up against a producer that said “Are you crazy?”

What I did with Happy Days, I pulled a lot of favors. And, thank God, I’ve been in the industry twenty years and I have a lot of people that owe me favors. So Happy Days I pulled favors and was able to turn it in at a very, very reasonable budget. Based on the success of that one, my next one was Star Trek and I was able to get more money because they saw how well we did with Happy Days. On the Vivid stuff, that’s not really an issue. Well first of all, Batman was my movie and Vivid distributed it. So that was my money- I didn’t have to ask anybody for a budget! But regardless, on all the other productions, again, Vivid understands that the quality is important and it’s never an issue.

Do you go about casting a parody much differently than you would an ordinary adult film?

The challenge with that is that the talent pool in the adult industry is not that big. And you need to have people that can actually perform [When Mr. Braun uses the word ‘perform’ here, and elsewhere, I believe he means sexually -Hagop] and that can act, and now they need to also look like the characters, so it’s not really easy. It’s very challenging. There’s a handful of really excellent actors, you know we’re talking about Evan Stone, Randy Spears, Dale Dabone, I mean these guys are just incredible and they’re also great performers. So I just like to go after people that look as close as they can, resemble as close as they can, the original ones. Otherwise, the whole point of selling a fantasy- you know what I mean?-We’re selling a fantasy. You need to actually see the characters that you grew up with in the actual situation. If they don’t look like them, if it’s like just people with some wigs on, it’s not going to work. Know what I mean? So with Batman there was some, I guess, inspired casting because Tori Black was an incredible Catwoman. She was the only one that from day one I’ve always known was going to play Catwoman. She’s a dead ringer for Julie Newmar. She’s really sexy, she’s an incredible performer. And then Dale Dabone- his impersonation of Adam West gives Nic Cage a run for his money.

Indeed.

And yes, I’m very demanding of my actors, but I also try to inspire them. And projects like Batman or Superman, all these superhero projects, everybody’s so excited about it that it’s easy to pull long days and to do a million takes. Everybody’s really into it. Nobody comes to me and says like, “Come on it’s just porn.” It doesn’t happen. I treat it as a matter of life and death and so do they.

All photos are courtesy of Axel Braun Productions.

The porn industry has gone through many cycles over the years, in terms of what types of movies are popular at a given time. What do you think is appeal behind the parody genre?

The cycle that triggered the parody genre is more of a necessity because you know, obviously, the adult industry has been hit by the amount of porn available on the internet for free. So you gotta give people a reason to buy a DVD. And I think, you know – Batman – you just want to have it. You don’t want to just go online and download bits and pieces from a torrent or look at a scene. You just want to own it because it’s fun. You know what I mean? The parody has a different appeal and a different target audience. You can get like the friends that are going to laugh watching it together, you get the husband that takes it home to the wife; “Oh my god look at this it’s really funny!” There’s so many different – The demographic is different from the people that just want to rub one off and go online and find another scene shot on a couch with a couple of lights behind it. You know what I mean?

The feedback on Batman has been unbelievable the amount of interest has been, like, mind blowing. And all these fans- I mean, I have like maybe fifty, a hundred people a day that write me. And mostly it’s people that tell me, “I’ve never watched a porn in my life and I’m gonna buy this”. So that says something, you know what I mean? A guy-a stranger flagged me down in the street the other day (well that’s because I’m a cheese ball and I have my name on my license plate). He flagged me down! And I wasn’t sure what he wanted and my windows are really dark, and I rolled down the window and he goes, “Hey man! I can’t wait for Batman XXX”, and drives away. And I’m like, “Oh my God.” It’s really something, man. It’s exciting. And the fact that I’m such a huge comic fan makes it so worth going through all this. Again, they’re challenging productions, they’re very difficult, they’re very time consuming, but I’m passionate about it, so it’s great.

A lot of people are surprised at how you’ve gotten away with mimicking names, likenesses, and properties so closely. I’ve seen more than one internet comment predicting you’ll be shut down any day. Can you give a simple overview of how the Parody law works and why you’re not in court with Warner Brothers or Disney or whomever?

I’ll just tell you this; we, both myself and Vivid Entertainment, have a pretty extensive team of entertainment lawyers behind us. Anything we do, regardless if it’s a parody or not but especially with the parodies, we do our due diligence and we’re always a hundred percent within the boundaries of the parody law. But if you want to know the details of the parody law, you gotta ask my lawyers. (laughs) They dictate what we can do and what we can’t.

So what’s on tap after Superman?

Aside from Spider-Man, we’re going to follow the release of the mainstream movies. So Green Hornet, the Seth Rogan movie, comes out I think- they keep pushing it- but I think that’s now January 2011. And we’ll come out the same day with our version. And then I think Thor is next in May and then Captain America in June or July, I’m not sure, but we’ll follow the exact schedules. It’s going to be very, very exciting.
And just so you know, in Spider-Man I’m going to have Electro as a villain. It’s something that I always wanted and I heard that in the new one they were going to do the Vulture and I went, “No! I need Electro!” So I’m going to use Electro. It’s going to be an origin story and I’m rebooting the franchise and put my spin on it. (laughs)

According to Vivid’s press release, fans should brace themselves for adult versions of Wonder Woman and the Hulk as well. I’d like to thank Axel Braun for taking the time to speak to Fwoosh.

Batman XXX: A Porn Parody starring Dale Dabone, James Deen, Tori Black, Lexi Belle, and Randy Spears is available now. For more explicit trailers and pics, check out Vivid.com. But only if you’re over 18!

All photos are courtesy of Axel Braun Productions.

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