LOS ANGELES—Renaissance man Will Ryder—aka Jeff Mullen—sent a correspondence to AVN on Christmas Eve expressing his appreciation at having been inducted into the Hall of Fame, but also using the occasion to send his thanks to those in the industry who have helped him over the years. As noted in the Hall of Fame announcement, Ryder's ride in adult entertainment has highlighted his many impressive talents; as a director, producer, screenwriter, publicist, cameraman and composer, he has truly done it all. A few days late, but hopefully not too late, we republish his comments here in their entirety, minus the part about buying "every one of you AVNers a drink when we meet in Las Vegas." Oops!
Thank you so much for this AVN HOF honor as it means so much to me. I never thought back in 1983 when I took the train from Milwaukee to Chicago for the CES show at McCormick Place convention center that I would one day be inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame. I remember being so overwhelmed as I walked the adult section of the show mustering up the courage to talk to the various companies owners and porn stars about writing music for their movie productions. I recall Amber Lynn befriending me and introducing me to some industry people which lead to work in the business. Directing legend Roy Karch was a very important piece of the puzzle for me so I will always be grateful to him for hiring me and inviting me on-set for my first visit to a movie shoot back in 1983. I could not believe what I saw when I watched two people that did not even know each other make love like boyfriend and girlfriend right in front of me. It blew my mind.
I am also grateful to Scott Taylor of New Sensations for allowing me to work with him and his company and showing me how he runs his business which was invaluable to my success. I want to thank Bob Christian, Peter Reynolds and the team at Adam & Eve for supporting my vision and believing in what we were attempting to do but it was Drew Rosenfeld and Larry Flynt of Hustler that gave me my first chance to become a real movie director believing that I had a vision well before anybody else did. Bo Kenney of SexZ Pictures also was a very important person in my rise.
I really appreciate everybody at AVN past and present including Paul Fishbein, that have been such a wonderful support crew helping me promote our product. Without them and the many other media members that have come and gone through the years, there is no way we would have had any of the success we enjoyed.
Lastly, my business partner Scott David was essential in organizing our path to the success and it was exciting as hell when we struck upon the modern porn parody and led a revolution as others jumped on the bandwagon. It has been a very exciting journey and I look forward to going to Las Vegas to congratulate the other HOF members, of which I am so honored to be in the same conversation. Without all of these people and the great actors, actresses and my loyal crew members, I would never have had the chance to succeed. Wow, this is awesome.
Thank you,
Jeff Mullen AKA Will Ryder
