Page 30 - AVN July 2013

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Elegant Angel Inks Toni Ribas to Direct
It’s all come full circle for Toni Ribas. After starting out his
directing career in 2001, he’s returned to direct for Elegant
Angel, the company where he made his directorial debut.
An accomplished director, Ribas has helmed close to 100 titles
for companies such as Private, Platinum X Pictures, Red Light
District, Penthouse and Sineplex. But for him, it all comes back
Ribas and his wife, 2013 AVN Female Performer of the Year
Asa Akira, are the two newest directors in the fold at Elegant
Angel. Ribas was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2010.
Ribas previously directed nine volumes of the Hardcore
Innocence series for Elegant Angel from 2001 to 2003.
“I’m very happy to be part of Elegant,” Ribas told AVN. “I
shot my first scene yesterday, so I’m excited. Elegant was the
company I started with, so to come back and work for
[company owner] Patrick [Collins] is very nice. We know each
other for a long time so there’s some comfort there. My movies
for Elegant earned Editor’s Choice distinction from AVN, so I
look forward to getting back in there.”
to where he got his start.
“I learned a lot from Patrick,” Ribas said. “I think my style is
perfect for what they like to shoot and what their fans like to
see. I love high-end gonzo and that’s what they do. Very strong,
sexual scenes but with a high-end look. When I direct a scene, or
even watch one, I want to fall in love with the girl first, and then
see her go crazy so I get a reaction, wow! I want to make it as
pretty as possible with very strong, strong sex.”
AVN’s 2010 Male Foreign Performer of the Year, Ribas also
has received AVN Award nominations for his directing.
With Ribas now joining his wife at the studio, the pair is the
new Elegant Angel power couple.
The first project Ribas is helming for the company is
Swimsuit Calendar Girls 2013, featuring, among others, Kortney
Kane, whose tease sequence Ribas shot in Malibu the day before
he spoke with AVN. Kane had never worked for Elegant before, and Ribas wanted to be
the first one to shoot her. Her sex scene was with James Deen.
Ribas also reported that Teal Conrad is part of the cast.
Ribas reports that he initially met with Collins while Akira was working out her
directing deal with Elegant, and the two began to talk. Since Ribas shoots camera for
Akira’s titles, his joining the company in an official capacity as a director was a natural
extension.
“As everybody knows, Asa is great,” Ribas said. “Besides the
fact that we’re married and I love her, I love working with her and
having this partnership. She has a lot of good energy; she knows
what it takes to make a scene work. She’s successful because she’s passionate about what
she does, she cares, she’s talented and she just ‘gets it.’ As an award-winning performer she
knows what fans expect to see and she gives it to them. She expects similar performances
from the girls she directs and I think that’s why she’s going to be successful as a director.”
As for future plans, Ribas hopes to continue existing lines within the company and
start some of his own. Regardless, he’
s excited about his future with the company that
first put him in the director’s chair.
ADUL T WHO’S WHO
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