The 2016 AVN Awards Show will take place Saturday, January 23 at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The presenting sponsor is Chaturbate, and this year's co-hosts are Anikka Albrite and Joanna Angel.
Never let it be said that the AVN Awards team is afraid of change. Last year, as always, AVN added some new categories and tweaked others. But more significantly, for the first time content released solely on VOD was eligible for AVN Awards consideration. Now, AVN is taking another step toward greater inclusiveness by opening up four high-profile scene categories to include content released solely for membership sites.
This change is being made to better reflect what should be the most important concern in judging an award-winning sex scene: the skills of the director and the performers, rather than how the scene reaches fans.
In these four categories only, AVN will now accept pre-nominations of scenes produced for release on membership sites:
Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene
Best Girl/Girl Sex Scene
Best Oral Sex Scene
Best Anal Sex Scene
“This is a step we have thought through very meticulously and from every angle possible, and we feel certain that now is the time to implement it,” AVN senior editor Peter Warren said. “There has been a fundamental shift in the way both industry members and consumers think about how the core element of adult entertainment—sex scenes—most commonly reach their audience. These being the four most basic and popular types of sex scenes, we felt they were the ones to best lead the way for the AVN Awards in this key transition.”
As with all contests, some restrictions apply. See below for details on eligibility for the 2016 AVN Awards.
Eligibility Period
To be considered in any of the video categories, including the aforementioned scene categories, a title and/or scene must have been made available commercially during the eligibility period, which runs from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2015. If a scene in one of the four eligible categories is released as both a standalone web scene and as an entity of a movie released either on DVD or VOD, the scene will by default be considered an entity of the movie. For consideration in all other categories, a movie must be released in its entirety as of September 30, 2015. Any scene individually considered for a 2016 AVN Award will be void from consideration in all future years if included as an entity of any movie released after September 30, 2015.
DVD/VOD Eligibility
To be considered for nomination, movies released via DVD/VOD must either fit AVN’s traditional distribution requirements of being stocked with five wholesale distributors and/or 100 retail outlets (on DVD), or be made available for VOD download and/or streaming as follows:
• Must be available through a minimum of two (2) major for-pay VOD providers, defined as ones carrying movies from at least 100 active labels/studios.
• Must have clearly marked post dates falling within the eligibility period across all qualifying VOD platforms carrying it.
• Companies wishing to submit VOD-only titles to AVN for consideration in the 2016 AVN Awards must provide links showing that said titles meet the above requirements.
Standalone Web Scene Eligibility
To be considered for nomination in the one of the four eligible categories, scenes must be released on a site that has members who are paying a monthly fee to access the site’s content. As with producers of content that is distributed on DVD and VOD, membership sites must also maintain 2257 records.
At the beginning of September, AVN will begin accepting pre-nominations for the 2016 AVN Awards. Check AVN.com for details on accessing the pre-nomination website. The site will remain open until midnight on September 30.
AVN has redefined some of the categories for the 2016 AVN Awards with an eye toward making it easier for studios, directors and performers to nominate their work. Particularly notable are changes in the feature and non-feature movie category.
Directors and studios can now nominate non-features in two categories. Best Gonzo Movie is for projects that employ a cinema verité style making the cameraperson a participant in the proceedings, which may or may not incorporate POV footage. Best Anthology Movie is for projects that include either vignettes or all-sex scenes or a combination of the two. There are also niche categories in which non-narrative movies can be nominated.
Narrative movies can be nominated in the traditional arenas of drama, comedy and parody. Movies with storylines can also be nominated in niche categories when they fit the criteria. And AVN has added a new niche this year, Best Polyamory Movie, to recognize the wave of titles that derive their erotic charge from extracurricular sex of various flavors, from hotwife fantasies to swinger scenarios to cuckolding.
VIDEO
All-Girl Performer of the Year
BBW Performer of the Year
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene
Best All-Girl Movie
Best All-Girl Series
Best Amateur Movie
Best Amateur/Pro-Am Series
Best Anal Movie
Best Anal Sex Scene
Best Anal Series
Best Anthology Movie
Best Art Direction
Best BDSM Movie
Best T/A Movie (Big Butt and/or Big Bust)
Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene
Best Cinematography
Best Comedy
Best Continuing Series
Best Drama
Best Director – Feature
Best Director – Foreign Feature
Best Director – Foreign Non-Feature
Best Director – Non-Feature
Best Director – Parody
Best Double Penetration Sex Scene
Best Editing
Best Ethnic Movie
Best Ethnic/Interracial Series
Best Foreign Feature
Best Foreign Non-Feature
Best Girl/Girl Sex Scene
Best Gonzo Movie
Best Group Sex Scene
Best Ingenue Movie
Best Interracial Movie
Best Makeup
Best Male Newcomer
Best Marketing Campaign – Company Image
Best Marketing Campaign – Individual Project
Best MILF Movie
Best New Imprint
Best New Series
Best New Starlet
Best Non-Sex Performance
Best Older Woman/Younger Girl Movie
Best Oral Movie
Best Oral Sex Scene
Best Orgy/Gangbang Movie
Best Parody
Best Polyamory Movie
Best POV Sex Scene
Best Pro-Am Movie
Best Screenplay
Best Screenplay – Parody
Best Sex Scene in a Foreign-Shot Production
Best Solo Movie
Best Solo/Tease Performance
Best Soundtrack
Best Special Effects
Best Specialty Movie – Other Genre
Best Specialty Series – Other Genre
Best Star Showcase
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Taboo Relations Movie
Best Transsexual Movie
Best Transsexual Series
Best Transsexual Sex Scene
Best Three-Way Sex Scene – Boy/Boy/Girl
Best Three-Way Sex Scene – Girl/Girl/Boy
Clever Title of the Year
Director of the Year
Female Foreign Performer of the Year
Female Performer of the Year
Mainstream Star of the Year
Male Performer of the Year
Male Foreign Performer of the Year
MILF Performer of the Year
Most Outrageous Sex Scene
Movie of the Year
Transsexual Performer of the Year
WEB & TECHNOLOGY
Best Affiliate Program
Best Alternative Website
Best Dating Website
Best Live Chat Website
Best Membership Website
Best Porn Star Website
Best Solo Girl Website
Best Web Director
PLEASURE PRODUCTS
Best Condom Manufacturer
Best Enhancement Manufacturer
Best Fetish Manufacturer
Best Lingerie or Apparel Manufacturer
Best Lubricant Manufacturer
Best Pleasure Product Manufacturer – Small
Best Pleasure Product Manufacturer – Medium
Best Pleasure Product Manufacturer – Large
Best Product Line for Men
Best Product Line for Women
RETAIL
Best Boutique
Best Retail Chain – Small
Best Retail Chain – Large
Best Web Retail Store
FAN AWARDS
Favorite Female Porn Star
Favorite Male Porn Star
Favorite Trans Performer
Favorite Webcam Performer
Hottest MILF
Hottest Newcomer
Most Amazing Sex Toy
Most Epic Ass
Most Spectacular Boobs
Social Media Star
