LOS ANGELES—Wicked Pictures contract director Axel Braun has earned 55 nominations for the upcoming AVN Awards, an all-time record for the reigning and four-time consecutive AVN Director of the Year.
"I am genuinely spellbound," said a clearly ecstatic Braun. "I couldn't have thought of a better way to celebrate my first amazing year with Wicked. I feel incredibly blessed to be part of a company that allows me all the creative freedom and the support I need to make the movies I want, and I am truly grateful for all the recognition that my work is getting."
Braun's Wicked Fairy Tales accounted for almost half of his nominations, including for Best New Series, while the TV show spoof 24 XXX: An Axel Braun Parody earned 8 nods, including for Best Parody, Best Screenplay-Parody, and Best Actor for Kurt Lockwood's uncanny portrayal of Jack Bauer, the character made famous by Kiefer Sutherland. Axel Braun Productions contract girl Riley Steele's showcase movie Riley Goes Gonzo landed 6 nominations, including Best Director-Non-Feature for Braun, Best Star Showcase, and Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene.
"Yay! I'm so happy," said Steele, who is currently shooting Barbarella XXX: An Axel Braun Parody in the lead role. "I just love being under contract with ABP, Axel is the best, and shooting Riley Goes Gonzo was simply an otherworldly experience. Thank you AVN, and to all my awesome loyal fans I wanna say: stay tuned, the best is totally yet to come!"
With a slew of high-profile projects in the works, Braun seems to show no sign of slowing down.
"Right now I'm focusing on the launch of Wicked Comix, a new line of comic-book parodies," he said. "And later in the year I'll be tackling a big-budget original feature that I wrote with my friend Henri Pachard right before he passed away. It's a project I've been wanting to shoot for many years, and that I am deeply attached to on an emotional level, so I'm really looking forward to it."
For a complete list of Braun's 2015 AVN Award nominations, visit AVNAwards.com.
