Through collaboration with John Stagliano's Evil Angel studio and then his own Budapest-based Rocco Siffredi Produzioni as both a performer and director, Siffredi became one of the most powerful and recognizable personalities in pornography. 'Rocco has far more power in this industry than any actress,' Stagliano commented in 2001. Siffredi has credited Stagliano with being his mentor through all 30 years of his career. In June 2004, Siffredi declared that he would retire from performing in porn for the sake of his children, and instead focus on direction and production. 'My children are growing up,' he said, 'and I can no longer just say 'Dad is going to work to make money for the family.' They want to know more.' Regarding Siffredi's long career, Axel Braun commented, 'The problem is that he's been trying for years to find an 'heir to the throne', but it's no easy task. He thought he found him in Nacho Vidal, but then Nacho went his own way'. Siffredi, while continuing to direct, was largely absent as an on-screen performer for nearly five years. However, sexual frustration and disappointment as a director with his male talent and the state of the porn industry overall led Siffredi to return as a performer in 2009.
