Axel Braun Signs Rob Black to Exclusive Directing Contract

LOS ANGELES—Axel Braun has signed adult director Rob Black to produce six high-budget features for his studio Axel Braun Productions.  "I've known Rob for 15 years, and he is first and foremost a true artist and a passionate filmmaker, and it's an honor and a pleasure to have him part of the ABP family," Braun said. ABP titles are distributed by Vivid Entertainment and Black will begin principal photography on his first project later this month. "The films he will make for ABP will be unlike anything he has ever done before and will definitely show a much different Rob Black than what people expect,” Braun continued.   An award-winning director until his imprisonment on federal obscenity charges, Black owned and operated controversial adult studio Extreme Associates. In 2004 Black and his wife, Lizzy Borden, were arrested for distribution of material considered obscene by the U.S. Department of Justice. This led to a costly six-year legal battle, resulting in the couple pleading guilty to federal charges of "conspiracy to distribute obscene material" and each accepting one-year prison terms, which they both served and completed last year.   Axel Braun and ABP won 14 AVN Awards earlier this year, including seven for the blockbuster hit Batman XXX: A Porn Parody. Braun was inducted in the AVN Hall of Fame and won the trophy for Director of the Year—Body of Work, while his studio was named Best New Production Company.