The AVN Awards are film awards sponsored and presented by the American

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular tradesman, trade or industry. The collective term ...

'' AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') annually to honor achievements in the global

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industry. The awards are often called the "

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of porn". The award ceremony occurs in early January during the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in

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. ''AVN'' sponsored the first AVN Awards ceremony in February 1984. Since 2008, the show has aired in a form edited for time on Showtime, which is usually broadcast in a 90-minute time slot. 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

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film and video. 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 The GayVN Awards are film awards presented annually to honor work done in the gay pornographic industry. The awards were sponsored by '' AVN Magazine'', the parent publication of ''GAYVN Magazine'', and continue the recognition for gay pornogra ...

, an annual adult movie award event for gay adult video.

Design and categories

Award design

The design of the AVN Award changed several times before and is in its present form since 2013 when it was redesigned as part of the 30th anniversary of the awards show. The redesigning was led by Michael Krasun, and supervised by AVN CEO Theo Sapoutzis. Krasun was a veteran with 25-plus years experience in designing, fabricating and building of restaurants, nightclubs, airport facilities and theme fixtures around the world. The makers aimed to create an artifact that represented "sexual expression, integrity and exotic flair", and after months of work arrived at a figurine that showcased "two people in a very erotic embrace, yet without any explicit details of the bodies on display". The impressive resultant figurine was conferred as the official AVN award going forward. All the trophies are hand-poured and custom mixed containing 40 percent

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and 60 percent ground

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, making them very sturdy. An epoxy coating with mix of bronze powders is applied as final finish. A solid black stone base with award winners details is engraved on front side. The artifact, from inception to fabrication, was accomplished entirely in the US.

Award 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 (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...

(CES) in

, 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 ''

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'' 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

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. n agencyclient once presented dolls of herself to editors and writers. Another baked cookies". In 2013, actress

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'' 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".

Listed 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

, 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

2020–2024

2025–2029

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

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and Janet Zicari, Extreme Associates * 2007 Paul Cambria, Clyde DeWitt and Louis Sirkin * 2011 John Stagliano * 2013 Lasse Braun

References

External links

*
''Adult Video News'' Awards
. ''

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''.
"The History of the Porn Awards and Las Vegas"
(archived 2 December 2016) {{Authority control 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