Eli Cross is a pornographic and mainstream movie director, producer, and actor. He was inducted into the
AVN Hall of Fame
The ''AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') Hall of Fame has honored people for their work in the adult entertainment industry since 1995.AVN''. Unlike many adult industry professionals, Cross does not keep his birth name a secret. He has won awards, and keeps a blog, under his own name. His mainstream work is performed under his birth name of Bryn Pryor.
He is best known for his films ''The Visitor'' (2003) from
Elegant Angel
Elegant Angel Productions is an independent pornographic film studio located in Canoga Park, California and owned by Patrick Collins. The company is considered one of the early pioneers of gonzo pornography, and its films have won numerous award ...
, ''Epiphany'' (2004) from VCA Xplicit, ''Corruption'' (2006), ''Upload'' (2007), and ''Icon'' (2008) from SexZ Pictures, ''The 8th Day'', which Cross produced for Adam & Eve Pictures, and ''Star Wars XXX: A Porn Parody'', which Cross wrote (as Mark Logan) and produced for
Vivid Entertainment
Vivid Entertainment Group is an American independent pornographic film production company,Axel Braun
Axel Braun (born September 22, 1966) is an Italian Americans, Italian-American adult film producer and director known for his productions of Pornographic parody film, pornographic parodies. He is the most awarded director in the history of adult ...
Productions (2012).
Cross' biggest films have received significant acclaim in the adult industry. ''Corruption'' won 7
AVN Award
The AVN Awards are List of movie awards, film awards sponsored and presented by the American trade magazine ''AVN (magazine), AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') annually to honor achievements in the global Sex industry, adult entertainment industry. ...
s including Best Video, with Cross receiving Best Director - Video. ''Upload'' received 22 AVN Awards nominations, including a Best Director - Video nomination for Cross, and another win for Best Video. Both movies also received similar nominations and awards from
XRCO
The X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) is a group of writers and editors from the American adult entertainment industry who each year present awards in recognition of achievement within the industry. After the controversy and criticism of the ...
,
XBiz
XBIZ is an American publisher of business news and business information for the sex industry founded in 1998 and based in Los Angeles.
In addition to its flagship "Xbiz.com" website, XBIZ publishes two monthly trade magazines, hosts winter and ...
, Adam Film World Guide, and Nightmoves magazine.
''Icon'' received the AVN Award for Best High-End All-Sex Video in 2009, with Cross winning Best Director - All-Sex. In 2010, the Cross-produced ''The 8th Day'' won 7
AVN Award
The AVN Awards are List of movie awards, film awards sponsored and presented by the American trade magazine ''AVN (magazine), AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') annually to honor achievements in the global Sex industry, adult entertainment industry. ...
s including Best Video.
In 2007, following the success of ''Corruption'', Cross became Head of Production for SexZ Pictures. However, a dispute between Cross and SexZ over his work on ''The 8th Day'' created stress between Cross and Bo Kenney, the owner of SexZ. Press releases were issued stating that the two parties had resolved their differences, but in 2009, as Cross was in pre-production on a film called ''Daughter of the Wolf'', SexZ abruptly released him from his contract. SexZ Pictures stopped producing videos soon after.
In 2010, Cross produced and directed adult features for French magazine
Hot Vidéo
''Hot Vidéo'' is a French trade journal that covers the adult video industry. It was founded in June 1989 by Frank Vardon and Gilles Bot. It is now part of VCV Communications. Its average circulation date to 2011 is about 50,000 copies per month ...
, including the comedy ''Kiss of the Strangler''. In 2011, Cross began writing and photographing adult features for acclaimed porn director
Axel Braun
Axel Braun (born September 22, 1966) is an Italian Americans, Italian-American adult film producer and director known for his productions of Pornographic parody film, pornographic parodies. He is the most awarded director in the history of adult ...
, primarily parodies of popular comic book and science fiction films. In 2012, Cross shared the AVN Award for Best Cinematography with Braun for their work on ''Spider-Man XXX: A Porn Parody''. In 2013, ''Star Wars XXX: A Porn Parody'', produced by Cross, won 8 AVN Awards, including Best Parody-Comedy, and Best Selling and Best Renting title of the year.
Cross' 2014
XBIZ
XBIZ is an American publisher of business news and business information for the sex industry founded in 1998 and based in Los Angeles.
In addition to its flagship "Xbiz.com" website, XBIZ publishes two monthly trade magazines, hosts winter and ...
'', January, 2015 ''Wetwork'' also won Best Epic from
XRCO
The X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) is a group of writers and editors from the American adult entertainment industry who each year present awards in recognition of achievement within the industry. After the controversy and criticism of the ...
in 2015.
His stage name comes from the character played by
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golde ...
in the 1980 film ''
The Stunt Man
''The Stunt Man'' is a 1980 American satirical psychological black comedy film starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback and Barbara Hershey, and directed by Richard Rush. The film was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and Rush from the 1970 nove ...
''.
Mainstream work
In 2012, under his birth name Bryn Pryor, Cross was the director of photography on the mainstream horror film ''iKllr''.
In 2013, Cross, along with producers
James Deen
Bryan Matthew Sevilla (born February 7, 1986), known professionally by the stage name James Deen, is an American pornographic actor and film director, director.
Deen entered the porn industry in 2004 at the age of 18. He gained attention due ...
and Charles Mead, mounted a successful
Kickstarter
Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
campaign that raised nearly $115,000 to finance a short film called ''Cowboys & Engines''. Described as a "Steampunk Western," the short starred
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is an English actor. He first became known for portraying Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's ''if....'' (1968), a role he later reprised in ''O Lucky Man!'' (1973) and ''Britannia Hospital ...
,
Walter Koenig
Walter Marvin Koenig (; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. He began acting professionally in the mid-1960s and quickly rose to prominence for his supporting role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in '' Star Trek: The Original ...
and Richard Hatch. According to the film's website filming was completed in early June, 2013, and the film's trailer premiered at the 2013
Comic-Con
A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events h ...
. The film had its cast & crew premiere at the Landmark Theater on January 14, 2015. The official ''Cowboys & Engines'' trailer was released online in February 2015, and according to the film's blog, ''Cowboys & Engines'' had been accepted by several film festivals to be screened in 2015/2016.
In February 2015,
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
premiered the Pryor-directed ''X-Rated: The Greatest Adult Movies of All Time,'' a documentary profiling a handful of major adult films from '' Deep Throat'' in the 1970s through the modern era. In 2016, Pryor, along with
Sarah Goldberger
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...
co-wrote the screenplay for ''
Diminuendo
In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending on ...
'', a feature film starring several actors from ''Cowboys & Engines'' including Hatch (in his final film role before his death) and Koenig. Also starring in the film were
Chloe Dykstra
Chloe Frances Dykstra (born September 15, 1988) is an American cosplayer, model and actress. She produced and co-hosted the web series ''Just Cos'' for the Nerdist Industries' YouTube channel and is a cast member of the SYFY show '' Heroes of Cos ...
,
Leah Cairns
Leah Cairns (born June 2, 1974) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson in ''Battlestar Galactica'' and as Kathryn MacLaren in the TV series ''Travelers''.
Early life
Cairns was born ...
and
Gigi Edgley
Gigi Edgley (born 16 November 1977) is an Australians, Australian actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Chiana (Farscape), Chiana on the series ''Farscape'' and Lara Knight in ''Rescue: Special Ops''.
Early life
E ...
.
''Diminuendo'' had its world premiere at the 20th Annual
Sarasota Film Festival
The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-long ...
on April 20, 2018
Personal life
Cross is married to actress and filmmaker
Casey Calvert
Casey Calvert is an American pornographic actress and film director. She has won several awards in the pornographic film industry, and has written about it in mainstream media publications. Calvert entered the adult media industry with early w ...
.
Awards
*2007
AVN Award
The AVN Awards are List of movie awards, film awards sponsored and presented by the American trade magazine ''AVN (magazine), AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') annually to honor achievements in the global Sex industry, adult entertainment industry. ...
– Best Director, Video – (''Corruption'')
*2007 AVN Award – Best Screenplay (with Alvin Edwards) – (''Corruption'')
*2007 AVN Award – Best Editing, Video (as Mark Logan; with Robin Dyer) – (''Corruption'')
*2007 Adam Film World Guide Award – Best Director – (''Corruption'')
*2007 Adam Film World Guide Award – Best Screenplay (with Alvin Edwards) – (''Corruption'')
*2007 NightMoves Award – Best Director – (''Corruption'')
*2007 AVN Award – Best Non-Sex Performance (as Bryn Pryor) – (''Corruption'')
*2008 AVN Award – Best Non-Sex Performance (as Bryn Pryor) – (''Upload'')
*2008 AVN Award – Best Screenplay (with Alvin Edwards) – (''Upload'')
*2008 Adam Film World Guide Award – Best Director – (''Upload'')
*2009 AVN Award – Best Director, Non-Feature – (''Icon'')
*2012 AVN Award – Best Cinematography (with Axel Braun) – (''Spider-Man XXX: A Porn Parody'')
*2015
XBIZ Award
XBIZ Awards, renamed as XMAs Awards from 2025 onwards, are given annually to honor "individuals, companies, performers and products that play an essential part in the growth and success of adult films". They have been described by XBIZ publisher ...
– Director of the Year, Feature Release – (''Wetwork'')
*2015 XBIZ Award – Best Cinematography (with Nic Danger and Alex Ladd) – (''Wetwork'')
*2015 XBIZ Award – Best Editing (as Robert April) – (''Wetwork'')
*2015 AVN Award – Best Screenplay, Parody (with Alex Braun) – (''24 XXX: An Alex Braun Parody'')
*2015