CHATSWORTH, Calif.—AVN is pleased to announce the nominees for the 2012 AVN Awards Show, taking place Saturday, January 21 at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
The complete list of nominees can be found at AVNAwards.com or downloaded as a pdf file by clicking here.
The 2012 AVN Awards will be co-hosted by adult luminaries Bree Olson and Sunny Leone—both up for Crossover Star of the Year—with comedian Dave Attell taking his second turn as the evening's funnyman.
A committee of 10 AVN critics spent close to a month and a half compiling nominations in over 130 categories recognizing companies, talent, technicians and creative professionals across the spectrum of the adult entertainment industry. Several new categories were created to reflect the ever-evolving market trends of the business; these include Best Studio Website, Best Solo Girl Website, Best All-Sex Release - Mixed Format, Best Director - Parody and Best Celebrity Sex Tape.
Vivid Entertainment dominated the latter with six contenders from its Vivid Celeb line, but Dream Zone Entertainment and new imprint Exquisite Celebrity scored nods as well. Vivid founder Steven Hirsch also received special recognition of his own in another brand-new category, the AVN Visionary Award, honoring him for his singular achievement in bringing adult into the mainstream sphere.
Leading the pack for overall nominations, as it frequently does, was distributor Evil Angel, with its stable of directors collectively earning 114 mentions. The newest member of the Evil Angel team, performer/director Bobbi Starr, made a particularly impressive showing, earning a total of 16 noms for her work in front of and behind the camera, including Best Actress (for New Sensations Romance's A Little Part of Me), Best Anal Sex Scene (in her own Shut Up and Fuck), Best Director - Non-Feature (for Shut Up and Fuck), Best Girl/Girl Sex Scene (in Elegant Angel Productions' Prison Girls), Best Oral Sex Scene (in Jessica Drake's Guide to Wicked Sex: Fellatio from Wicked Pictures), Best Supporting Actress (in New Sensations' Scooby-Doo: A XXX Parody) and Female Performer of the Year.
Starr's male counterpart would seem to be comback sensation and her Shut Up and Fuck scene partner Nacho Vidal, who picked up 12 noms encompassing the all-Nacho debauchery fests Nacho Invades America (Jules Jordan Video) and Nacho Vidal vs. Live Gonzo (Cruel Media/Evil Angel), as well as a Male Performer of the Year notice and induction into the AVN Hall of Fame.
Very close on Evil Angel's heels for overall mentions was Jules Jordan Video, with 112 total, including a nomination for Jules Jordan himself as Director of the Year (Body of Work). The reigning victor in that category, parody king Axel Braun, had arguably an even better year this time around, with his Vivid release Spider-Man XXX: A Porn Parody racking up 16 nominations, the Axel Braun Productions title Elvis XXX: A Porn Parody (distributed by Vivid) scoring nine, and his Hustler Video effort This Ain't Ghostbusters XXX 3D landing eight, just to name a few.
Fellow parody-smith Will Ryder didn't do too badly, either, earning 12 nominations for his New Sensations release The Flintstones: A XXX Parody, and another 12 between his X-Play/Adam & Eve Pictures projects Beverly Hillbillies: A XXX Parody and Rocky XXX: A Parody Thriller!.
The most nods for a single title went to Wicked Pictures' The Rocki Whore Picture Show: A Hardcore Parody, earning 18 total, including Best Actor (newcomer Mac Turner), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography (Jake Jacobs), Best Director - Parody (Brad Armstrong), Best Editing (Scott Allen) and two mentions in Best Original Song (for the ditties "Fuck-a-Fuck-a" and "Oversexed Porn Star").
"I am extremely pleased with the nominations list our committee produced this year," AVN senior editor Peter Warren said. "I've been a part of this process for nine years now, and I can honestly say I think this is the most thorough and rock-solid job we've ever done. I look forward to hearing everybody's response to the nominations, and on behalf of the entire committee, I extend our warmest congratulations to everyone recognized."
For information about tickets to the 2012 AVN Awards, go to AVNAwards.com or contact Bonnie LeBlanc at [email protected] or (818) 718-5788 ext. 101.
