(VAN NUYS, CA) -- Nectar Entertainment announced today that Damien Rossi has been signed to a six-month directorial contract that calls for the director to turn in three videos a month, one for Nectar and two for 1st Strike Entertainment.

Nectar Entertainment CEO Sean Logan was looking for new directors when adult producer Melissa Monet suggested that Damien Rossi might be a good match. "I need to send Nectar a huge 'Thanks,' for their vote of confidence," Rossi said. "I've dabbled in directing before, but I didn't really have anything to show them. They hired me solely on the basis of Melissa's recommendation and a portfolio of my stills."

Of course, since Rossi has a portfolio that includes stills from seven years worth of adult movie sets including his two year tenure as Vivid Entertainment's principle stills photographer, Nectar's gamble wasn't as risky as it might sound.

"Damien is a perfect fit alongside Marty Zion and Eric Avalon on Nectar's roster of eroticore directors," Logan said. "His work is the perfect balance of sensuality and raw sexuality."

Rossi admits that he relies heavily on his photography background when making a movie. "I'm not shooting dialogue movies. I'm still shooting pictures. I'm going from creating pictures to creating a series of pictures. Every single frame is a still, so for me it's like throwing stills together."

To that end, when shooting a movie for Nectar Rossi creates high-concept sets and prefers elaborate wardrobes that often reflect his penchant for fetish. "I began my career applying a fashion photography look to fetish - something that is commonplace now, but twelve years ago it was a novelty. I've carried that look over into my adult movies, and I like show the girls stills of themselves before they start their scenes and that always generates a positive reaction that ends up in their scenes."

Rossi puts a little more effort and polish into the bigger budget work he does for Nectar than he does for 1st Strike Entertainment movies, but still maintains a higher-than-average production standard. "Even when I'm shooting for 1st Strike I'm not simply throwing them against the wall and letting them go at it - I take the time to find the best lighting possible and get the best angles and I like to think my professionalism sets a standard that is maintained by everyone on my set, especially the performers.

"Working for Vivid was a great learning experience for me. I noticed that when performers come on to a set that they know is going to be high quality, they give more," Rossi said. "Women in particular seem to perform at a higher level when they realize it's not just another couch scene.

"Not that I have any illusions about what I'm doing. At the end of the day, I want people to jack off. I'm making porn - and that means my goal is to turn people on. I want the sex to be as real as possible, but the high-concept aspect of my work provides just a little more sexual tension that helps the performers to take it to the next level.

"I always tell talent to imagine that you met this person at the bar and you can't wait to get this person home to rip their clothes off and have great sex and then never see them again. Most of the sex scenes I've shot have really captured that.

"I like seeing extreme close-ups as compared to the standard wide shot of people having sex. Show me a woman's face during sex, her eyes rolling back in head or her lips opening in a groan - that's erotic, that's sexual tension, and that's what I want to see.

"If there is anything I've learned over the years, its shoot what you love. And that's what you're going to see on my movies for Nectar."

Rossi's first release for Nectar, Evil Bitches, has already begun shipping and streets on September 30. The Darker Side of Sin, Rossi's first project for 1st Strike, will street on October 12.

For more info on Evil Bitches or other Nectar Entertainment movies contact Sean Logan at 818.787.0000, or 866.763.2827; fax 818.787.0059.