CANOGA PARK, Calif. – Critically acclaimed performer Marco Banderas joins Mercenary Pictures’ celebrated roster of performer/directors with The Darkside of Marco Banderas, his first title for the company.

The Darkside of Marco Banderas stars Annette Schwartz, Gia Paloma, Lacey Duvalle, Ice La Fox and Mika Tan as well as John Strong, Jerry, Mercenary owner and three-time AVN Male Performer of the Year Lexington Steele andBanderas.

“I’m very happy to be working with Mercenary and Lex,” Banderas said. “I think Mercenary is the best company for me to work with, because they do real porn. This is a great opportunity and I’m very happy.”

Banderas joins Steele, who currently directs Lex Steele XXX, Black Reign, Pole Position: Lex POV, Silverback Attack, Top Guns, Ebony XXX, Nightstick: Black POV and ManHammer, and Tina Tyler, director of Fresh Out the Box,Black Moon Risin, SuperWhores and IronHead, in the company’s lineup of directors with extensive experience in front of the camera, as well as Jimmy Scaffnetti, gonzo director of White Man’s Revenge and Nasty Universe.

“Mercenary is pleased to add Marco’s talents as a director to our company,” Steele said. “Marco’s always impressed me as one of the hardest working men in the industry, who consistently delivers some of the best scenes in thegonzo arena. He showed me a sample of his work behind the camera and I immediately made him an offer to direct for Mercenary — The Darkside of Marco Banderas is the first production to come out of our association.”

Steele added that The Darkside of Marco Banderas is also the first title from Mercenary to use two cameras during the shoot.

“Marco’s experimented with some familiar angles fans of gonzo will be used to and mixes it up with POV shots. It’s something new that brings the best of POV and gonzo shooting together.”

For more information, visit LEXINGTONSTEELE.COM. Distributors may contact Hank at (818) 718-1462 or (866) 289-1414, or email him at [email protected]. For foreign sales, contact Dani at [email protected].

Interview with Marco Banderas, with his companion, Lisa Lee.

Tell me about your background.

Marco Banderas: I started about four years ago doing some work on the Internet — it didn’t pay well — and doing live shows with Lisa Lee for about two years, every night, three times a day in Barcelona. Toni Ribas worked there as well, and pretty much every other Spanish guy in adult had worked there.

What made you decide to come out to the US?

MB: Money. (Laughs) I was working three times a day, and out here you can work much less. I like to travel too.

What else do you like about the American industry?

MB: Things in the American industry are done quickly.

Lisa Lee: People know what they’re doing here. They don’t know what they’re doing in Spain. You can be there all day — literally all day.

For a sex scene?

LL: They don’t know what they’re doing and they’re into more conventional (feature) films and they don’t know how to shoot gonzo. Out here, it’s really professional. You show up, you got your call time, and you know what you’re doing and who you’re doing it with. Marco’s told me that’s the difference he likes most — other than the money.

MB: And when you work out here with a director who was an actor, he has a better understanding of the performers.

Did your past work doing live shows help out?

MB: Yes, very much. It was a good way to learn how to perform — you need to be hard and pop all to the beat of music in front of about 200 people, three times a day and when we do the convention in Barcelona (the InternationalErotic Film Festival of Barcelona), we’re doing it in front of thousands of people while being shown on video on big screens. It’s a very good school for porn.

LL: The Barcelona show’s interesting because you have live sex shows. It’s so much fun but it’s very difficult for the guys. You’ve got the cameraman right in there, and you have the big screen.

Who have you worked for in Europe?

MB: Antonio Adamo, for Private in Budapest and the Dominican Republic.

How long have you been working in the US?

MB: About a yearÅ  before that, we’d come out three months, then go back, then come back for another three months. So in total, about two years.

What are you shooting for Mercenary, and how would you describe working for them?

MB: I’m doing The Darkside of Marco Banderas. I’m very happy to be working with Mercenary and Lex. I think Mercenary is the best company for me to work with, because they do real porn. This is a great opportunity and I’m very happy.

What other projects would you like to do?

MB: I want to do features and what I’d like to direct and perform in is The True Legend of Zorro. It’s just an idea, and I haven’t approached anyone about it yet.