TAMPA, Fla.—Axel Braun received the inaugural Industry Legend Award at the 33rd annual Nightmoves Awards Show on Sunday night, adding another accolade to his legendary career.
The retired director, who was in attendance, along with his son and fellow director Rikki Braun to accept the honor in person, drew emotional applause from a star-studded crowd of industry peers.
As the first-ever recipient of the new award, Braun extends his legacy that is synonymous with both groundbreaking artistry and sustained achievement—his late father, Lasse Braun, was an industry pioneer who built a European porn empire in the 60’s, and Axel has long carried forward that mantle.
Nightmoves’ Art Koch—in an email to Braun beforehand—captured the spirit and rationale behind the honor:
“We have known you for a little over 15 years, and while you have won a roomful of awards from us, including a Lifetime Achievement Award and our Nightmoves Hall of Fame, Paul and I felt it still wasn’t enough. So, we have come up with a brand new award, and as our very first recipient we will be presenting you with the first Industry Legend Award. We felt this was a fitting tribute to all you have meant not just to us, but the entire industry with all your dedication, hard work and creating new roads for adult.”
In accepting the award from Nightmoves owner Paul Allen and adult star August Skye, Braun delivered heartfelt thanks to those who shaped his journey and the industry itself.
“It’s been two and a half years since I retired, and I gotta say… I’m really enjoying doing nothing!” Braun quipped. “But while I may not miss working, I do miss many of the people who are here tonight. People who lent me their talent, their creativity, their time—and helped me make some very successful movies, but most importantly, create some unforgettable memories. Talent. Crew. Agents. Press. Colleagues. Collaborators and Co-conspirators, all the people that played a part in my career, I appreciate you immensely and I will never forget you. Thank you Nightmoves, for choosing me as the first recipient of this award, and thank you so much Paul, Tracy, and Art… as deeply honored as I am to receive this trophy, the real privilege is to call you my friends. And thank you all for keeping this industry alive.”
Braun, the most awarded director in adult entertainment history, has amassed hundreds of honors all over the world, including 48 Nightmoves Awards, four consecutive AVN Director of the Year awards, four AVN Movie of the Year awards, nine AVN Best Screenplay awards, and ten consecutive AVN Best Parody awards—the only director to accomplish any of those feats. His induction into the AVN Hall of Fame (2011), the XRCO Hall of Fame (2014), and the Nightmoves Hall of Fame (2014) attest to his influence and longevity.
And even long after retiring, Braun continues to bring home trophies. In January 2025 he won the AVN Best Editing award for the 20th Anniversary Director’s Cut of his seminal 2004 Elegant Angel feature, Compulsion, and last May he became the first recipient of the XRCO Lifetime Achievement Award.
Braun's enduring work has continually pushed boundaries—nurturing technical standards, blazing trails for future creators, and contributing to the legitimacy of the adult art form itself.
