AVN voting is a horrible process to go through which may be surprising to the casual fan. You can’t just pick your favourites to watch and vote from there, you basically have to watch everything to be at least fair to the nominees since AVN and most other awards I know of use a ranking system to voting.
Watching this much porn makes me want to claw my eyes out. I use a hybrid clinical approach in judging the technical aspects in the production and director categories and an overall feel for the scene and performer categories. When I mean feel, I don’t mean touch myself because porn reviewing is like wine tasting. Not only are there not enough hours in the day, can you properly assess the next item if you already blew your load? This is the reverse There’s Something About Mary dilemma!
With that said, for the sake of transparency, here are some of our picks for the 2020 AVN Awards:
Movies
Best Action/ Thriller: Derelict, Kink/Digital Sin
Best Comedy: Babysitter Auditions 2, BurningAngel/Exile
Best Drama: Adelaide, MissaX
Best Parody: The Gang Makes a Porno: A DP XXX Parody, Digital Playground/Pulse
Best Romance: Holding Out & Giving In, Bellesa/Mile High
Best Star Showcase: Angela White: Dark Side, Jules Jordan Video
Joanna Angel and company (Burning Angel) make underrated comedy. Angel has been called the Sarah Silverman of porn, but the problem was I didn’t like Sarah’s neurotic comedy. I didn’t get Angel’s deprecating goofy hipster (ALT!) comedy when she first arrived on the scene, but 15 years go by, and the irreverent satire now seems smart and relevant.
Directing
Best Director – Comedic Production: The Gang Makes a Porno: A DP XXX Parody, Digital Playground/Pulse; Vic Lagina
Best Director – Dramatic Production: Drive, Deeper/Pulse; Kayden Kross
Best Director – Foreign Production: Rebecca, An Indecent Story, Marc Dorcel/Wicked; Alis Locanta
Best Director – Gonzo/Anthology Production: Angela Loves Women 5, AGW Entertainment; Angela White
Best Director – Web Channel/Site: Miles Long, BangBros.com
Director of the Year: Manuel Ferrara
Director of the Year was a toss-up between husband/wife, Manuel and Kayden, the latter picked for Dramatic Production. I just preferred Manu’s RAWer body of work.
If it wasn’t for these award nominations, you would never know many of the directors behind some of the most popular web channels since they don’t go out of the way to promote the directors of their particular scenes. I appreciate Miles Long’s technical proficiency at Bangbros, and he understands the heat of the action without being glossy or abstract.
[Miles also goes out of his way to keep us in the loop of what he’s produced and released. We would love to see more producer/directors credited for their web content. We are curious to the reasoning behind leaving these credits out. – Jeff]
Acting
Best Actor – Featurette: Nathan Bronson, Dibs on Mom, Pure Taboo/AdultTime.com
Best Actress – Featurette: Joanna Angel, Maid of Honor (Dysfunctional Marriage | DVD), Pure Taboo/Pulse
Best Leading Actor: Danny D., Uninvited, Digital Playground/Pulse
Best Leading Actress: 4 way tie between Lacy Lennon, Kristen Scott, Angela White, and Whitney Wright
Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Pistol, The Gang Makes a Porno: A DP XXX Parody, Digital Playground/Pulse
Best Supporting Actress: Nina Hartley, Confessions of a Sinful Nun 2: The Rise of Sister Mona, Sweetheart/Mile High
I think there is some irony that the two best actors in porn, Tommy & Nina, were our picks for best supporting actor and actress. We couldn’t find consensus for Best Leading Actress.
Performing
All-Girl Performer of the Year: Charlotte Stokely
Best Male Newcomer: Alex Jett
Best New Foreign Starlet: Jia Lissa
Best New Starlet: Gianna Dior
Female Foreign Performer of the Year: Anna de Ville
Female Performer of the Year: Angela White
Male Foreign Performer of the Year: Danny D.
Male Performer of the Year: Manuel Ferrara
MILF Performer of the Year: Tie between Cherie DeVille & India Summer
Niche Performer of the Year: Lance Hart
Transgender Performer of the Year: Natalie Mars
Speaking of irony, we chose an American in Anna de Ville as the best “foreign” female performer because she is indeed the best performer outside the United States. We also chose Lance Hart as niche performer of the year, because he does everything and then goes home to (service) a loving wife in Charlotte Sartre.
We picked Gianna Dior out of a competitive field for Best New Starlet just like she would always pick Auburn over Alabama in the Iron Bowl. I believe she would represent the industry well in years to come.
You would think we were Warren Buffet, with tried and true picks like Stokely, Ferrara, and White to repeat as performers of the year. I just like their experience and professionality in putting forth a great scene in such a volatile industry and world today.
 
 
 
