CHATSWORTH, Calif. - Reactions came strong and heavy today after the nominations for the 2007 AVN Awards were revealed this morning.
"Wowowow,” said Jenna Jameson, who was nominated for Best Director for her directorial debut, Jenna’s Provocateur. “I'm jumping up and down and I don't have a bra on. This hurts. … I am so excited that I was nominated for Best Director for Provocateur… I put every ounce of my being into this film. … I am so ecstatic that everyone loved what I did.”
John Stagliano, owner of Evil Angel, told AVN.com, “I’m happy that we were well represented. ... I just wished we were nominated in the music category for Fashionistas: Safado. I worked on that for over a year with a music guy and made it an important part of the movie, so it’s really too bad.”
But Stagliano’s disappointment was tempered by the fact his studio, like Vivid Entertainment Group, received more than 100 nominations in various categories.
“I can’t even imagine the incredible task that AVN has to go through all those movies and develop this list of nominees… I’m basically happy that we did this well,” he said.
Likewise, Michael Ninn, owner of Ninn Worx was especially happy that his new contract star Heather Vuur and performer Nick Manning were nominated for their work in Sacred Sin.
“I’m happy that I was nominated… But I’m also really happy that Heather and Nick were recognized. I’m going to really pull for them because I think they deserve the award.”
Adam Glasser, whose Pure Play-distributed Butt Pirates of the Caribbean, received a nomination for Best Gonzo Release could only smile and quip: “I am glad to see AVN still has good taste.” Moments later, he was off to an appointment.
Meredith Christopher, executive producer with Adam & Eve, was particularly pleased at her studio’s high-end release Tailgunners, nominated for Best High Definition Video and several other categories.
“We all worked really hard on this movie and it was really a collaborative effort by all of us here,” she said.
Likewise, an ecstatic Stefani Morgan, who received a nomination for best new starlet, could hardly contain her joy.
“Somebody was telling me yesterday that I would be nominated, but I didn’t really believe it. I just thought it was crazy, but now, I can’t help but cry a little bit. I’m just so happy,” said Morgan, who joined Vivid just last year.
Paul Thomas, veteran Vivid director nominated for Best Director and Director of the Year, also expressed his pleasure by simply saying: “We’re always very competitive here at Vivid. Even if you’ve won this award a bunch of times, you still want to win and I hope people that vote will vote for the best and not because of anything else.”
Meanwhile, Kick Ass Pictures president Mark Kulkis, whose Teen Power! grabbed nominations in the highly-contested Best Vignette Series and Best Vignette Release categories, said that he’s honored to get the nods.
“It’s exciting and an honor to get nominated,” said Kulkis. “There really is a similar type of excitement in the air as to when they announce the Oscars.” Kulkis went on to say that his company’s size — which he sees as ranking somewhere in the middle of the pack — has never made a difference to it garnering awards. “We always do well, because we know that it’s quality and not quantity that the reviewers are looking for.”
This year’s categories number 119, up from last year’s 104, and most have 15 nominees in each. “I’ve been in that room before during this time,” continued Kulkis, “so I have great respect for what the reviwers do.”
Kick Ass has been around since 1999 so Kulkis and the company have somewhat acclimated to the recognition around this time of year. Slightly different, is the feeling of getting nominated as a brand new company. Such was the case with Dion Giarrusso and his gonzo production company, Combat Zone.
“Mike Metropolis pulled off a great release with some great camera work on Grand Slam…as a matter of fact, I need to talk with him soon about doing another one,” said Giarrusso. Combat Zone’s Grand Slam is up for Best Hard-Edged All-Sex Release, one of this year’s new categories, as well as Best New Company.
“We’re very honored to receive the nominations,” continued Giarrusso. “As a company, you always feel like there’s something better to put out there, and so you just need to keep plugging away and putting out better and better product.”
Some nominees were struck with a little bit of disbelief at their nominations, like directing newcomer Winkytiki. His project Rebelle Rousers, for the newly-launched Vivid-Alt., garnered more than it’s fair share of technical awards, as well as a nod for Best Director — Non-Feature. “It’s cool. I was very happy to hear the news, though I couldn’t really believe it,” said Winkytiki. “I’m a photographer and the adult industry recognizes different aspects when it comes to directing, and so I’m really glad that someone recognized what I was trying to do, regardless of how I got there.”
Other nominees were audibly ecstatic, like Best New Starlet nominee Gianna Lynn. Lynn, who will battle it out with the likes of Charlotte Stokely, Amy Ried, Naomi and Sasha Grey, among others, was completely elated. “That’s so cool,” Lynn shouted. “It’s been a really good year…I’ve had a lot of changes in my life and I’ve learned a lot.
“This is such a great honor…it’s awesome!”
Evil Angel director Jonni Darkko, who is up for another new category, Director of the Year — which recognizes a helmer’s entire body of work over the given year — said its always cool to have people recognize his work. “I really appreciate it,” said Darkko.
“You have your fans that like your work and then you have people like AVN that have this huge presence, where they look through everything and check it out and weed it down, through the massive amounts of product that are released every year…and slim it down to 10 or 15 things in a category. So to get into that category is pretty impressive.”
“I’m glad that the Director the Year Award was included in this year’s nominations, because a director’s complete body of work speaks for itself,” said Jules Jordan, who is also up for the coveted award as well as Best Director — Non-Feature for his Jenna Haze Dark Side. “A director can direct one great movie a year, albeit a great movie, but I think the best directors in this business are the ones who have a proven body of work behind them.”
Jordan’s company, Jules Jordan Video, and its stable of directors like Mike John and Erik Everhard, also got in on the nominations. “It was a great year for the nominations for us…I’m up for 15 awards,” continued Jordan, “Mike John is up for five and Erik Everhard is up for four. “Our company got 24 nominations, if you include the Erik Everhard titles we’re going to be distributing.
“And I think the variety of nominations we got really shows the diversity in what we do.”
Additionally, Jordan’s Jenna Haze Dark Side is up for seven awards. “It’s probably one the best movies I’ve ever shot,” said Jordan. “I hope it’s the big winner this year.”
Female Performer of the Year nominee Jenna Haze remarked, "I'm really flattered...I haven't been nominated for anything major in a long time. ... And the Female Performer of the Year nomination is amazing. It looks like I have some pretty stiff competition, but just being nominated is a huge compliment."
She added, "I worked really hard on Jenna Haze Dark Side, so it's nice to see that being recognized. I counted six different nominations for it."
