LOS ANGELES — Veteran industry editor Claudia Ross has made her directing debut with new Wicked Pictures feature “The Hunger,” starring Emma Hix.
“The Hunger” co-stars Cherry Kiss, Ruby Moon, Tommy Pistol, Lucky Fate, Jay Romero and Victor Ray. The first scene is out now.
With her directing debut, Ross — known for her work as Axel Braun’s go-to editor — is following in the footsteps of her late father, European director Ugo Ross. Braun encouraged Ross to start directing and wrote the script for “The Hunger.” Veteran cinematographer James Avalon lensed the feature.
“The Hunger” tells the story of Lauren (Hix), a beautiful young woman who seemingly has it all. Yet despite being in a happy marriage, Lauren struggles with a compulsive sexual desire she calls “the hunger,” a craving that leads her to constantly seek out sexual encounters with complete strangers.
Ross said, “I am so happy and grateful for this amazing opportunity. I always saw Wicked as the highest point in any adult director’s career, and I am super honored to start this new chapter of my professional life at a company that means so much to me.”
Braun said, “Calling Claudia just an editor would be diminishing the profound impact she had on my career. She always brought very interesting ideas and opinions to the table, and although she mostly operated behind the scenes, she was an incredibly precious collaborator for over 20 years, and remains a very close friend. Wicked was my home for the final and most rewarding part of my career, and Claudia is like family to me. Giving her one of my unproduced scripts was the least I could do to thank her for everything she’s done for me over the years.”
Hix added, “It was such an honor being in Claudia’s directing debut. It was my first lead role in a feature and I couldn’t be happier with the character that Axel wrote for me. Bringing Lauren to life was exhilarating, and also quite liberating, as I felt her personality resembled mine a lot! I definitely do have a constant hunger for sexual pleasure, as well as similar fantasies from the script, so I must admit the acting came very naturally.”
"The Hunger" is streaming on Wicked.com.