January 17, 2013 | The Biz

RIP: Falcon director John Bruno

Earlier this week, it was revealed that well-respected director John Bruno had taken his own life. He was only 45.

Bruno was best known for his work with Falcon Studios and Raging Stallion Studios. In fact, he had directed 65 movies for Falcon between 2004 and 2010, including Best Men (parts 1 & 2), Fleet Week, Asylum and Roman’s Holiday.

Bruno also discovered many popular performers over the years. From Erik Rhodes to Adam Killian to Zeb Atlas, he seemed to know what it took to make a successful porn star.

"So sad the man who found me and brought me to the industry was lost yesterday," said performer Tom Wolfe. "John Bruno was a great friend, talented individual and an amazing person.”

“I had the privilege of working on nearly every production with John Bruno, and I can only speak highly of him, his friendship, his work ethic and his creative abilities," added Adam Q. Robinson, Falcon/Raging Stallion VP of production. "He was a warm-hearted caring person who will be greatly missed. It saddens me that he would take his own life, because he gave so much and he had much more to share with this world.”

According to blogger AJ Llewellyn, Bruno's struggle for work was a big part of the problem. Even though he had had so much success in the industry, he was no longer able to find work. "John Bruno died because his dreams not only didn’t come true, they were trampled once too often. He couldn’t get work in porn, in spite of his obvious talent  because the hot new thing is porn stars doing their own directing. He couldn’t get work in mainstream media, in spite of his prolific background in it, not to mention his awards, because executives would find out he’d directed gay porn.

"It happened more than once. He wouldn’t get the job."

Added Llewellyn, "John had a gun nobody knew about and drove to a park in Michigan where he’d been visiting his parents and sat for a long time with the weapon before turning it on himself."

So very sad ...