Michael Stefano (born Michael Vito Menta; August 29, 1969) is an American
pornographic actor
A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinct ...
and director. He appeared in over 1,000 films and, by his own estimate, performed in over 3,000 scenes.
An injury forced Stefano to take a break from performing and in the interim he learned how to edit. He began his directing career with
Extreme Associates
Extreme Associates, formerly known as Extreme and Extreme 2.0, is an independent pornographic film production company, featuring a catalog of DVD titles and Internet content. It is owned by Rob Zicari ("Rob Black") and his former wife Janet Roma ...
in the mid-1990s under the name Luciano. In 2001, he started directing for Red Light District Video. In 2003, Platinum X Pictures was launched by Stefano and Jewel De'Nyle (whom he would later marry), bankrolled by Red Light. Platinum X featured directors
Manuel Ferrara
Manuel Jeannin (; born 1 November 1975), known professionally as Manuel Ferrara, is a French adult entertainer and director.
One of the leading actors in the porn industry, Ferrara has won over 64 adult industry awards including six AVN Awards a ...
, Brandon Iron, and Steve Holmes, and produced very similar content to Red Light. Around the same time, Red Light began distributing the films of Amateur District and Candy Shop, a studio headed by Stefano specializing in interracial content.
In 2010, Stefano announced his retirement from pornography, but in 2011 he announced his return to pornography full-time. In 2012, he again retired from the Adult Industry, but returned in 2013. He is still active in the industry as of 2025.
Awards
*1999
XRCO Award
The XRCO Awards are given by the American X-Rated Critics Organization annually to people working in adult entertainment and it is the only adult industry awards show reserved exclusively for industry members.
Once every calendar year, XRCO m ...
– Unsung Swordsman as ''Luciano''
*1999
XRCO Award
The XRCO Awards are given by the American X-Rated Critics Organization annually to people working in adult entertainment and it is the only adult industry awards show reserved exclusively for industry members.
Once every calendar year, XRCO m ...
– Best Group Scene as ''Luciano'' - ''Asswoman In Wonderland''
*2004
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. ...