LOS ANGELES—Giana Taylor remembers the feeling she had before that history-making first show.
“My biggest fear was nobody was going to show up—really it was,” Taylor recalls. “Then limos started coming and before we knew it we were at capacity at that spot we were at. And everybody was there. It was kind of crazy.”
It was June 2008 at Platinum Live in Studio City, Calif., where the show that would later become the Urban X Awards came to life. Called the Urban Spice Awards initially, it was the first adult industry awards event to focus solely on excellence in ethnic adult entertainment.
The gala continued to honor the best in ethnic-themed porn through 2012 before going on a hiatus that is coming to an end this August, when the Urban X Awards will make its anticipated return.
Urban X is back with its original founder Taylor at the helm again with help from Alexander DeVoe, the show-runner, poised to bring the industry together on August 20 at Stars on Brand in Glendale.
“We’ve looked at several different venues and we ended up back where we left off. It’s remodeled, completely different. It’s really, really nice in there,” says Taylor, who kicked off the marketing campaign in the Spring by announcing the hosts of the show—Ana Foxxx, Luna Star and the comedian Speedy, along with Misty Stone heading up the red-carpet arrivals.
“We’re starting early because we’ve been gone and it’s not something that’s already been on people’s schedule because it hasn’t happened in so long,” she adds.
This week Urban X announced the fan pre-nom period has begun and will continue until June 16 at urbanxawards.com/voting.
The organizers intend to ramp up the promotional campaign leading up to the show with FM radio spots, viral video content across several social media platforms and exposure on Jamie Foxx’s “The Foxxhole” show on Sirius XM.
Plans call for expanding Urban X into an entire weekend experience, a companion news site and eventually an Expo in the years to come.
“It’s just building and expanding that brand so there is a clear path for people that are coming into the business, from doing scenes to the awards show to being able to exhibit at a trade show,” DeVoe says. “That’s the goal of how we want to grow the Urban X brand.”
This year’s Urban X weekend will kick off with an industry mixer on Friday, followed by a yacht party on Saturday and the awards show on Sunday night.
The team behind the show got together for the first time in January to begin orchestrating this year’s festivities.
“We were all kind of on the same page and it just felt like we never really left,” DeVoe says. “So it’s been nothing but positive coming back.”
Since the announcement was made the show is returning DeVoe says that several people have reached out. “They’ve been hitting us up and saying, ‘How can I be a part of this in some kind of way?’ So many people want to be involved in Urban X coming back this time.”
In addition to Taylor and DeVoe, the Urban X Awards committee also includes Nyomi Banxxx (Social Media VP) and James Bartholet (Public Relations).
According to Taylor, what makes Urban X special is “everybody all comes together—like everybody.”
“People you haven’t seen in years. Some people that just don’t attend awards shows. They come out and it’s just one big party reunion,” she adds.
DeVoe agrees.
“I also think it’s the experience of being part of something that is a part of adult entertainment history," he says. “Overwhelmingly, that has been the sentiment coming from people who missed the show for so long.”
Both DeVoe and Taylor say the timing just feels right—so when it came time to greenlight the comeback, things just clicked.
“It was a positive thing to have thought about it at the same time, at the same place and in the same year in 2017,” DeVoe says.
“It kind of took me back to when we first started, when Giana first came up with the idea to do it. 2017 was kind of the same way. It was like, ‘OK it’s time to bring it back and let’s do it now.’ Let’s not even think about it not happening because she put so much work and effort and energy into that show. She would always be physically exhausted because she put so much into it. It takes a lot of work to grow things.”
