Hentaied Videos: 2024 Adult Empire Creativity Award
Known for its groundbreaking approach to blending mainstream cinematic techniques with adult entertainment, Hentaied has redefined what’s possible in the industry. For years ‘hentai’ has maintained its place among top searches across porn sites. Founder and director Romero has elevated the popular genre to a level that competes with modern-day sci-fi cinema. Hentaied has carved a niche in the industry we didn’t know we needed and continues to shock consumers with ever-evolving concepts, branching from tentacles and aliens into new worlds with parasites, time freezing, plant fucking, cumflation, and so much more. In this interview, Romero gives us a look into what earned Hentaied the 2024 Adult Empire Creativity Award. Read on to delve into the influences behind the director, the intricate process and the challenges of bringing these visions to life, and much, much more.
Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Adult Empire: What’s your reaction to receiving the 2024 Adult Empire Award for outstanding creativity?
Romero: I’m surprised I did not win the weirdest porn site of the century, but I’m getting there! haha. That was unexpected and cool to receive this award. We put a lot of effort into creating this and it’s so cool to get such strong feedback about it!
This award honors creators who produce one-of-a-kind content. In general, do you think porn relies too heavily on familiar tropes and scenarios?
To be honest, I’ve no idea. I do not follow at all mainstream porn. All I know is that I was renting one of my villas to major mainstream porn companies and the directors, crew and models were almost falling asleep as bored as they were always doing the same thing. Our approach is completely different in the way we put down things and there’s a lot of work looking for new things to do.
Talk about your background. How did you become part of the adult industry?
I come from a poor family and I could not afford cinema university, so I needed a plan when I was 18 to learn how to do movies/videos and make some bucks together. 17 years later, I continued into my mission, things became entwined and we started to actually work as movies but in porn. A definitely unexpected turn for me.
When did you first become familiar with hentai? What were your initial impressions of it?
I was always into animes, so my literal first impression was like – oh, those girls in those cartoons can be lewd! I guess that’s how get close to hentai at first, to then discover all the multiple faces of the genre.
How did you come up with the idea to start shooting live-action hentai?
The idea actually came from market research. The top keywords when I started Hentaied on pornhub were Asians, Japanese, Lesbian, and Hentai. I’m like – I can do the first 3, but not the 4th. Oh wait a minute 🙂 Then collaborations started to ramp up when I started to make tentacle porn, Toshio Maeda, the creator of modern tentacle porn (we are talking of 1980-1990) and much more.
Take us through a brainstorming session for a typical Hentaied scene. Where do the ideas come from?
The brainstorming, for a long time, was between me and me. It’s important that a vision is of a single person or it might lose meaning. The main question I ask myself if I write it – or the writer if he writes – is what the new idea can bring to the table, the second being to myself is if my idea is morally acceptable and then if the billers might make me some issues for any reason. I’ve a clear idea of what I want to see, what emotions I want to see, and find a new way to portray this feeling of corruption into a new genre or into a new movie. Then I brainstorm with the models but the usual reaction I get is “That’s so cool let’s do it”.
You told AVN you were influenced by the work of mainstream directors like Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, and Park Chan-wook. What most appealed to you about them?
I think every director has their own strengths, and the appeals are different for the 3 of them. I love the first, Peter Jackson, for his ideas of making practical effects in an over-the-top manner, even for comedic effect. (Lord of the Rings is epic, but you should see the first 2 movies of him to understand). Sam Raimi, the man, what he was doing in the 80’s is what I think defined his style the most. The Evil Dead series was probably one of the most contrasted series of the century, having horror, comedic effects and over-the-top genius reactions and one-liners. Park is just a genius of storytelling and a master of style. Anything he does, even the most violent scenes, are so classy and beautiful. He’s by far my favorite director worldwide.
Are there any other directors, mainstream or adult, who have influenced your style?
Of course, Takashi Miike is one of them, the creator of Audition and Ichi the Killer, between the most extreme Japanese movies in the market. And my favorite person, Robert Rodriguez, influenced my style in how to see things. “I made a series and no one bought it, so I bought a TV and aired it”. That’s a genius.
AVN once described Hentaied as “without question one of the most edgy sites in adult entertainment.” Do you agree? Was it your intent to create a brand that pushed the envelope?
I don’t think it’s too edgy, it’s VISA and MASTERCARD who do. The phone calls with them are funny sometimes. I don’t think I’m particularly pushing any envelopes. We shoot fantasy movies which clearly are fantasy movies. If someone thinks it’s problematic to shoot plants fucking girls, I think they are the problematic people. But well, if aliens come to the planet or trees start fucking girls, then you know who to blame.
Did you ever worry that Hentaied might be too extreme or unusual to gain wide popularity?
I do not think it’s extreme at all. The image looks extreme because of the contrasty dark style, but we are talking of a plastic piece of dildo fucking a girl. With all that happens in porn, I would not call that extreme. The fact is unusual…well that’s cool.
Slime is a signature Hentaied visual. What do you use for slime? What are the biggest practical challenges of shooting with slime?
The first issue we had was extreme cold, but we figured that out, mounting in all our sets heating from the floor. There are some issues here and there with sliding too much around or remaking the makeup 23942394 times, but usually it goes pretty fine. We learned from our mistakes 🙂
What are the other main challenges of shooting a Hentaied scene?
The pre-production can definitely be wild, as we create gigantic props or sets for our scenes. Then moving the props and having the girls interact correctly with them I guess is the biggest on-set challenge and the thing that most takes time for us. Having the right emotional rollercoaster from the girl is what makes it, and sometimes it’s really hard to get the effect that we want from the actress. The girls arrive to a set knowing what to expect, that it’s gonna be a challenging day for everyone. If they don’t know what to expect when they write me, I make sure they understand it from the first messages of our conversations. It’s a hard shoot.
What do you look for in a performer when casting Hentaied scenes?
The number one thing we look for is that the actress is into what we do. Being so challenging and long to shoot (a scene takes 20 to 50 hours to shoot) we need someone who really cares about it, knowing that when we do the right thing, that scene will go hyper viral. Acting and experience is definitely something I’m looking for as that’s what makes it possible. We mostly don’t work with new models as it’s improbable for us to risk a high-budget scene for a possible cancelation so we just invite the top performers in both the Porn and Fetish industry.
Jia Lissa has starred in many Hentaied scenes. What unique qualities does she bring to Hentaied shoots?
Jia’s something special. To be honest, she was the first person in the industry who gave me the feeling that I have to catch up with someone creatively. She’s an amazing creator and actress, and when put in the right conditions, she can give something that no one else can give. I’m sad she’s basically off the industry now, we miss her.
The scenarios in Hentaied are usually quite startling. Was there ever a potential Hentaied storyline that was actually too shocking or provocative to shoot?
You mean when we put girls into the toilets or when we make girls explode? Low IQ human cases? or Trentebeard anal banging Valentina? Electroshock? I don’t know, I don’t see them as too shocking or provocative. They would be extreme in other conditions, but not in the way that we showcase them. That’s one of the most interesting things of the project I guess, the ability to explore those areas without being too much. We are really careful about it. Imagine a video of a guy putting a girl into a toilet. It would be way different on screen.
Which Hentaied scenes generated the strongest reaction from fans?
Definitely when we brought a trans performer on Hentaied. That was when the outrage went over the top. Both the positive and the negatives.
What are some of your own favorite scenes from the Hentaied lineup?
The last year I think we got 3 bangers, my personal favorites being “A Shadow in the Room”, “Not Your Blood Type“, and “Unfinished Sympathy” from Roberto di Suna. And of course “The Good Girl” and “The Perfect Maid”, were the first 2 Hentaied scenes we made with friends, Talia Mint and Jia Lissa.
Talk about working with director Ricky Greenwood, one of your frequent Hentaied collaborators.
Well, let me start by saying I think he’s the best the US has to offer at the moment, by a long reach. You should see me and Ricky’s WhatsApp chat. It goes mostly around super cool creepy images that we exchange being like “We should definitely do this”. Both of us are into horror movies and weird stuff (not only that but he goes to dinners with my favorite directors!!!!!!!) so we speak the same language and share a similar vision into things. As two directors, I think there’s good respect between us two and a pretty friendly competition in who does the most epic shit. That’s a fun relationship I guess, and I think the best has yet to come.
Tell us how Parasited, Hentaied’s companion label, came about.
A customer just dropped me this idea of Parasiting my friend Amirah Adara for a video, and the reaction was so good that we created a separate production for that, and people seem to love it! It gives us new terrain in which to explore corruption and control kind of fantasies.
What can we expect from Hentaied and Parasited in the coming year?
Bigger, longer, and higher-budget movies. We built 2 new studios and a house for shooting that are crazy. Some of the props we have now are otherworldly.
Browse Hentaied videos >>
Pornstar Of The Year: Tiffany Watson (interview) | Movie of the Year: Fuck Angela (interview) | Best VOD Project: Arrow HD remastered classics (learn more) | Trans Performer of the Year: Brittney Kade (interview) | New Performer of the Year: Leilani Li (interview) | MILF Performer of the Year: Dee Williams | Male Performer of the Year: Zac Wild (interview) | Director of the Year: Angelo Godshack (interview) | Porn Clip of the Year: “9-Man Gang Bang Challenge” from Anna Claire Clouds: Dark Side | Lifetime Achievement: Axel Braun (interview) | Creativity Award: Hentaied (interview) | Comeback Porntar of the Year: Jessie Rogers (interview) | New Niche of the Year: Free Use (learn more)
