AVN Awards

AVN Awards
The AVN Awards are film awards sponsored and presented by the American adult video industry trade magazine AVN (Adult Video News) to recognize achievement in various aspects of the creation and marketing of American pornographic films. They are often called the "Oscars of porn".
The awards are divided into over 100 categories, some of which are analogous to industry awards offered in other film and video genres and others that are specific to pornographic/erotic film and video.
AVN sponsored the first AVN Awards ceremony in February 1984. The award ceremony occurs in early January during the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since 2008, the ceremony has aired in a form edited for time on Showtime, which is usually broadcast in a 90-minute time slot.
Awards for gay adult video were a part of the AVN Awards from the 1987 ceremony through the 1998 ceremony. The increasing number of categories made the show unwieldy. For the 1999 ceremony AVN Magazine began hosting the GayVN Awards, an annual adult movie award event for gay adult video.
Categories
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Male Performer of the Year
Female Performer of the Year
Male Foreign Performer of the Year
Female Foreign Performer of the Year
Transgender Performer of the Year
Director of the Year
Best New Starlet
Best Director
Best Non-Sex Performance
Best Cinematography
Best All-Sex Video
Best Renting Title of the Year
Best Selling Title of the Year
Best Film
Best Video Feature
Best Foreign Feature
Best Tease Performance
Best All-Girl Sex Scene
Best All-Girl Feature
Best Newcomer – Gay Video
Best Bi-Sexual Video
Best Gay Video
Best Actor – Gay Video
Best Supporting Actor – Gay Video
Best Director – Bi-Sexual Video
Best Director – Gay Video
Best Screenplay – Gay Video
Best Sex Scene – Gay Video
Best Non-Sexual Performance – Bi, Gay, or Trans Video
Best Gay Alternative Video
Best Gay Solo Video
Best Gay Specialty Release
Best Videography – Gay Video
Best Alternative Adult Feature Film
Most Outrageous Sex Scene
Best Sex Comedy
Breakthrough Award
Best Performer of the Year – Gay Video
Best Male Newcomer
Best Director – Foreign Release
Best Classic Release
Best DVD
Best High Definition Production
Unsung Starlet of the Year
Best High-End All-Sex Release
Best All-Sex Release
Best MILF Release
Best Director – Feature
Best Director – Foreign Feature
Best Boy/Girl Scene
Best All-Girl Couples Sex Scene
MILF Performer of the Year
Honorary award
AVN Hall of Fame
Reception and review
Originally, the awards show was part of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, but it grew and garnered more attention over time, allowing it to be established as a separate event in the 1990s. The event started out as the "Adult Software exhibition" of the show, which attracted as many as 100,000 visitors in addition to those attending CES. When the show became a separate event, it initially moved to Caesar's Palace, but it has since moved to other Las Vegas venues.
A writer from Los Angeles magazine made the claim in 2006 that awards often go to consistent advertisers in AVN magazine. In his article, the writer stated: "Imagine the editors of Variety choosing the Academy Award nominations—then handing out Oscars to the winners—and you have a pretty good idea of how much manipulation can go on behind the scenes during the run-up to the AVNs. [...] Actresses trying to secure a nomination stop in to schmooze at the magazine's Chatsworth offices. [An agency] client once presented dolls of herself to editors and writers. Another baked cookies". Similar allegations have been made regarding the Academy Award nominations and influencing Academy member voting that date back to at least 1988 with regard to movies such as Rain Man.
In 2013, actress Tanya Tate offered some insights into the industry in an interview with the Huffington Post about the 30th AVN Awards at which she was nominated for an award. She stated: "If you are more popular with the fans, companies are more likely to book you for their production", "Being nominated for awards help build your recognition with your fan base. People that win male and female performer of the year are generally solid consistent talent that are open to many 'levels', and some of these performers already have higher basic rates than others".
AVN Award winners
Listed below are the winners of the AVN Award in various major categories over the following years:
(f) - film
(v) - video
1984–1989
1990–1994
1995–1999
From 1999 onwards, AVN Magazine began hosting the GayVN Awards, an annual adult movie award event for gay adult video.
2000–2004
2005–2009
The category, introduced in 2007, was first called "Underrated Starlet of the Year (Unrecognized Excellence)". It has since been renamed to "Unsung Starlet of the Year".
2010–2014
2015–2019
2020–2023
Hall of Fame
Reuben Sturman Award
2000 David Sturman, General Video of America West
2001 Ed Powers, Ed Powers Productions
2001 Mark Kernes, Senior Editor, AVN
2002 Gloria Leonard, Past President, AVA and Free Speech Coalition
2002 Elyse Metcalf, Retailer Elyse's Passion
2003 Mel Kamins, General Video of America, Cleveland
2005 Harry Mohney, Déjà Vu Showgirls
2006 Robert and Janet Zicari, Extreme Associates
2007 Paul Cambria, Clyde DeWitt and Louis Sirkin
2011 John Stagliano
2013 Lasse Braun
See also
Transgender Erotica Awards
Pornhub Awards
XBIZ Awards
Venus Award
Sexual Freedom Awards
SHAFTA Awards
F.A.M.E. Awards
XRCO Award
References
External links
Adult Video News Awards. . IMDb.
"The History of the Porn Awards and Las Vegas" (archived 2 December 2016)
Pornographic film awards
1984 establishments in Nevada
20th-century awards
21st-century awards
American annual television specials
American pornographic film awards
Annual events in the United States
Awards established in 1984
Culture of Las Vegas
Playboy TV original programming
Pornography in Nevada
Showtime (TV network) original programming