WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. - Raul Cristian, owner of Budapest-based content provider Cruel Media, visited Porn Valley last month to shoot 18 scenes with local talent, a step he hopes will pave the way for a permanent presence in the U.S.
"It's been my dream for years to shoot in L.A. with American starlets, and this is the beginning. I hope we will succeed, and then we will come more often," the Romanian-born Cristian told AVN.
Cristian was accompanied by actress Clara G., his business partner and former companion, who directs about a third of the 600 scenes Cruel Media turns out each year (the rest are divvied up between Cristian and German producer Freddy Dalton).
For five years Cristian has been partners with the affiliate network PerfectGonzo.com, supplying exclusive content for their 10 sites. He selects the best scenes for DVD distribution through Evil Angel and Jules Jordan Video. His DVD lines-he'll have five with each company by the end of the year-bear the names of the various sites: AssTraffic.com, AllInternal.com, TamedTeens.com, the solo site GiveMePink.com, and others.
Although frequently identified with over the top, rougher than rough sex scenes, Cristian's first sets with American talent were only solo and girl-girl, some of the latter featuring Clara.
"We choose to not shoot hardcore stuff," he said, "even though we could. But we wanted to see the reaction of what they [fans] would like. Next time we'll do crazy stuff with the girls, really aggressive, maybe also boy-girl sets, and then we will see. Now I'm testing."
When AVN visited him at a Valley location, he had one day of shooting left and was pleased with what he'd achieved. The solo scenes were with Amy Ried, Priva, Kina Kai, Alexis Love, Tanya James, Marie Luv, Angie Savage, Sophia Santi and Jana Cova.
In girl-girl action he shot Brooke Bell and Carlie Banks, Jenaveve Jolie and Audrey Bitoni, Mya Luanna and Lana Croft, plus Savannah Stern, Santi and Cova each with Clara G.
Cristian's core company is Floyd Agency, "the biggest casting agency in Eastern Europe." He took the Cruel Media name for his production company when he signed his DVD deals. Earlier this year he started his own affiliate program, CruelBucks.com, as well as a Clara-G.com site.
He's spent several years laying the groundwork for an American presence. "I worked hard to become official here," he said. "Now I have a company here, I pay taxes here, I have a green card, now I can start to shoot. As a green card holder it's much easier to do anything. That's the plan I had many, many years ago, even though I was shooting in Europe. I knew I had to at least come to this country to shoot."
He will by no means quit Budapest. "There are the most beautiful girls in Eastern Europe and that's it. What I want is to have Europe and U.S. as two of our headquarters."
His U.S.-shot scenes, he said, would start appearing online almost immediately. "18 scenes is enough to update the site for the next 3½ months. So for 3½ months to see the reaction, and if it will be very positive, directly we come to shoot again. If not, then we'll go back, combine a bit with European girls, and then we'll see. That's the plan."
Visit www.cruelmedia.com, www.perfectgonzo.com, www.raulcristian.com, www.cruelbucks.com, www.clara-g.com.
