LOS ANGELES—Award-winning editor Claudia Ross has officially made her directing debut with The Hunger, a feature starring Emma Hix, for Wicked Pictures.
Claudia is now a second-generation adult director, following in the footsteps of her late father Ugo Ross, a renowned adult filmmaker whose lavish productions helped building the careers of many big European stars of the 80’s, including Rocco Siffredi.
“I am so happy and grateful for this amazing opportunity,” said a beaming Claudia. “I always saw Wicked as the highest point in any adult director’s career, and I am super honored to start this new chapter of my professional life at a company that means so much to me!”
A veteran editor with a stellar resume, Claudia worked exclusively with the AVN Hall of Fame legend Axel Braun, the most awarded adult director in history, up until his retirement in 2023, and it was Braun himself who encouraged her to start directing, even going as far as gifting her the script for The Hunger.
“Calling Claudia just an editor would be diminishing the profound impact she had on my career,” said Braun, who spent 10 years as an exclusive director for Wicked and the last three as Head of Production. “She always brought very interesting ideas and opinions to the table, and although she mostly operated behind the scenes, she was an incredibly precious collaborator for over 20 years, and remains a very close friend.”
An eight-time Best Screenplay AVN Award winner throughout his renowned 33-year career, Axel only gave one of his scripts to somebody else: his own son Rikki Braun, who made his directing debut in 2017 with Exposed, and received seven AVN Award nominations, including Best Director, a category in which he was pitted against his own father. A notable parallel is that Rikki’s debut was also for Wicked Pictures.
“Wicked was my home for the final and most rewarding part of my career, and Claudia is like family to me,” said Braun. “Giving her one of my unproduced scripts was the least I could do to thank her for everything she’s done for me over the years. And I’m thrilled to say that she truly did a phenomenal job with it…I saw The Hunger and it looks absolutely incredible. She’s going to get a lot of well-deserved attention, and I couldn’t be happier for her!”
The Hunger is the story of Lauren (Emma Hix), a beautiful young woman who seemingly has it all. Yet, despite being in a happy marriage, Lauren struggles with a compulsive sexual desire she calls 'the hunger', a craving which leads her to constantly seek out sexual encounters with complete strangers.
“Emma Hix was the perfect choice, because when I wrote this movie four years ago I only had her in mind for the lead,” said Braun. “I worked with Emma several times over the years, and I was always impressed with her professionalism, her discipline, her sense of humor, and of course her explosive sexual charge. I had been looking for a good vehicle for her, because I knew that on top of her ravishing beauty she had an emotional depth that would shine in a feature. Unfortunately, I ended up retiring before that happened, but I am very happy that Claudia was able to bring this project to the screen, and, as predicted, Emma killed it!”
“It was such an honor being in Claudia’s directing debut,” said Hix. “It was my first lead role in a feature and I couldn’t be happier with the character that Axel wrote for me. Bringing Lauren to life was exhilarating, and also quite liberating, as I felt her personality resembled mine a lot! I definitely do have a constant hunger for sexual pleasure, as well as similar fantasies from the script so I must admit the acting came very naturally.”
Having been around both her father’s and Axel’s big productions for such a long time prepared Claudia for the jump into directing. She approached the project with her well-known kindness and also with the confidence of a seasoned director, and cinematographer—AVN Hall of Famer James Avalon.
“James is the best,” said Claudia. “Not only he’s the nicest guy, but he has an eye for photography that is literally unmatched in the industry, as well as a very cinematic shooting style that perfectly suited the vibe of this movie. His Wicked Noir feature Dark is the Night, which Axel produced two years ago, is one of my favorite adult movies ever, and it was an absolute honor to have him as my DP.”
“As a cinematographer, I’m so proud to have been involved with The Hunger, a stark and gritty neo-noir from up-and-coming director Claudia Ross,” said Avalon. “The dark, simmering undertones of the visuals mix extremely well with the relentless sexual appetite of leading actress Emma Hix, all wonderfully choreographed by Claudia’s expert direction. She may be a newcomer, but I’m pretty sure you will hear her name a lot in the near future…especially during award season!”
“The entire experience was incredible, the crew started to feel like family after the first day of shooting,” concluded Hix, for whom The Hunger is also a showcase since she is featured in every sex scene. “We all really got along great, which I think is important for making a great movie, and Claudia’s directing skills were top notch! She was super prepared and orchestrated the entire movie incredibly well, so every day was very smooth and enjoyable to film! I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this project, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it!”
Beside Emma, the cast is rounded up by reigning AVN International Female Performer of the Year Cherry Kiss, multiple Best Acting winner Tommy Pistol, Ruby Moon, Lucky Fate, Jay Romero, and Victor Ray.
The first scene of The Hunger is available now exclusively here.
