Category: News

The 2022 AVN Award Nominations

And here we go with the granddaddy awards show – the one they call The Oscars of Porn. On January 22, 2022 the porn world will virtually gather to celebrate the work done by members of the adult film community. And we’re here to bring you our annual annotated guide.

This is not the exhaustive list of nominees – it’s just a subset of the performers and titles in categories that we track in the database.  The full list of nominees can be found at the AVN Awards site.

(Disclosure: we’re voters again this year. Please, no wagering.)

Our breakdowns of the nominees:

Acting Awards

Best Leading Actor

Best Leading Actress

Best Actor – Featurette

Best Actress – Featurette

Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actress

Best Thespian – Trans/X

Best Non-Sex Performance

Directing Categories

Director of the Year

Best Directing – Banner/Network

Best Directing – International Production

Best Directing – Narrative Production

Best Directing – Non-Narrative Production

Best Movies

Grand Reel

Best Featurette

Best Anal Movie or Limited Series

Best Anthology Movie or Limited Series

Best BDSM Movie or Limited Series

Best Curve Appeal Movie or Limited Series

Best Group Sex Movie or Limited Series

Best Gonzo/Compendium Movie or Limited Series

Best Ingenue Movie or Limited Series

Best Lesbian Movie or Limited Series

Best MILF Movie or Limited Series

Best Mixed-Age Fantasy Movie or Limited Series

Best Niche Movie or Limited Series

Best Star Showcase

Best Taboo Relations Movie or Limited Series

Mark Stone Award for Outstanding Comedy

Performers of the Year

Female Performer of the Year

Male Performer of the Year

Best Male Newcomer

MILF Performer of the Year

Lesbian Performer of the Year

Niche Performer of the Year

Best New Starlet

Trans Categories

Trans Performer of the Year

Best Trans Group Sex Scene

Best Trans Movie or Limited Series

Best Trans Newcomer

Best Trans One-on-One Sex Scene

Best Trans Series or Channel

International Categories

Best International Production

International Female Performer of the Year

International Male Performer of the Year

Best New International Starlet

Best International Anal Sex Scene

Best International Boy/Girl Sex Scene

Best International Group Sex Scene

Best International Lesbian Sex Scene

Production Categories

Best Art Direction

Best Cinematography

Best Editing

Best Makeup

Best Screenplay

Best Screenplay – Featurette

Best Soundtrack

Clever Title of the Year

Mainstream Venture of the Year

Best Scenes

Best Anal Sex Scene

Best Blowbang Scene

Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene

Best Double Penetration Sex Scene

Best Foursome/Orgy Sex Scene

Best Gangbang Scene

Best Girl/Girl Sex Scene

Best Lesbian Group Sex Scene

Best Oral Sex Scene

Best POV Sex Scene

Best Solo/Tease Performance

Best Tag-Team Sex Scene

Best Three-Way Sex Scene

Best Virtual Reality Sex Scene

Most Outrageous Sex Scene

Exxxotica New Jersey 2021

The largest adult convention this year and possibly the largest one that Exxxotica has held in New Jersey, you wouldn’t think there was a pandemic by the attendance and the behavior of the attendees. Like the previous Exxxotica shows this year, most of the attendees did not wear mask nor did they bother to obtain the wristbands that designated them as vaccinated. People didn’t care and the performers signing did not discriminate. One thing I also noticed was that there wasn’t any alcohol on sale on the premises. Since it had been two years since the last show, I couldn’t remember if that was always the case in New Jersey

  • Violet Myers
  • Kenzie Reeves

Again, like in Miami, Violet Myers and Kenzie Reeves had the longest lines at the show with people waiting over an hour to greet them. Luckily, Violet let me skip her lines for a couple of snaps. Kenzie consistently wore a mask that coordinated with her outfit, but I never did ask her why she chose to do so while scores of attendees breathed upon her. Instead, I wore a mask myself around her out of respect for if she was concerned about her own health. Both Violet and Kenzie maintained their long lines through Sunday when the crowd thinned out.

  • Alex Coal
  • April O’Neil

The after-parties at the host hotel were also raucous every night. Both Alex Coal and April O’Neil hosted trivia night with the theme of “Are You Smarter than a Porn Star?” However, the team that beat them were mostly comprised of porn stars. Heh. Looking forward to Exxxotica DC in December.

For the rest of the photos…

Exxxotica Miami 2021

The second adult convention since the pandemic started, this year was the busiest Miami show I’ve attended. Not the crowded madhouse that Chicago was, but a steady stream of attendees kept the performers busy especially in the evening hours. There were very little mask-wearing attendees or wristbands denoting their vaccination status. Kenzie Reeves was the only performer I saw who consistently wore a mask.

  • Hime Marie
  • Jade Baker
  • 19Honeysuckle &
    Tom Christian

The front of convention hall were dominated space-wise by the webcam companies, Chaturbate and MyFreeCams. I saw 3X AVN Favorite Cam Couple, 19Honeysuckle and Tom Christian, and popular performers like Hime Marie and Jade Baker webcamming. I even saw Sabina Rouge several times webcamming without recognising her. Being that this was Miami, there were a lot of beauties walking around, and I didn’t approach many of them because my reluctance to photograph non-industry people out of respect for their privacy. I missed out on meeting a lot of east coast talent as a result.

  • Violet Myers
  • Taylor Blake
  • Alex Coal

Even though there were many attendees, I couldn’t pinpoint which performer had the busiest lines between Kenzie Reeves and Violet Myers. I think the crowd love was just spread out, and I think they were most likely to be enjoying the stage shows. I was pleased to see my friends, Taylor Blake and Alex Coal, again and having a grand time. Taylor was bouncing around from booth to booth while Alex was doing the chicken dance in an appropriate onesie. Onward to New Jersey, the home of IAFD and the next Exxxotica.

Flickr for the rest of the photos

Exxxotica Chicago 2021

The first convention since the pandemic started, Exxxotica Chicago was a madhouse this past weekend. Tons of pent up energy in the air, a rampant amount of people that attended combined with less exhibiting talent made the event less casual than in previous years and more hectic like an AVN expo.

Mask wearing and social distancing were almost virtually nil, and I doubt the attendees were all vaccinated. Chaturbate was the only booth that took precautions with plastic screens separating the cam models and public. Exxxotica provided wristbands for those who could prove their vaccination, but the talent did not discriminate against greeting those that didn’t have wristbands. So I did not understand the point unless it was an insurance or local requirement. Even though I wore a mask when I could, I realised it was impossible to have a conversation with the performers without their being able to also read lips due to the noise.

  • Vicki Chase
  • Alex Coal
  • April O’Neil

Seeing many performers like Vicki Chase, Alex Coal, and April O’Neil again was a pleasure. Violet Myers easily had the longest lines at the convention and made me curious whether the fans lined up because of her obvious looks, her scenes, or some other online notoriety since I was not familiar with her performances. Some performers like Cadey Mercury, Madi Collins, and Jade Baker were at the webcam booths while others like Kaitlyn Katsaros were just walking around and visiting. Fiona Frost was even one of the Exxxotica Hotties, go-go dancers for the con.

  • Violet Myers
    Violet Myers
  • Cadey Mercury
    Cadey Mercury
  • Madi Collins
    Madi Collins
  • Jade Baker
  • Kaitlyn Katsoros
  • Fiona Frost
    Fiona Frost

For the rest of the photos…

Our Picks for the 2021 AVN Awards

Oh, it’s been quite a year. I’m not talking about the pandemic but the actual amount of reviewing that it takes to vote for the AVN Awards. As AVN founder, Paul Fishbein, once said, “It is a very long, horrible process”. You would think that with production stoppages this year there would be less things to vote on, but there seemed to be even more categories with 10-15 nominations in each. Apparently, everyone on the nomination committee worked for Oprah at one time, but you can’t please everyone. Sure, we have the option of not voting in every category – this year we voted in 69 of 89 categories – but you still have to watch all 10-15 nominees in order to fairly rank them in that category!

AVN doesn’t give us guidelines on how to vote so every voter has a different criteria on what they look for. As I mentioned last year, and for all of you analytic-minded masturbating prognosticators out there, 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. People have asked whether voters have biases based on their experiences with the industry, and the answer is of course we do. Experience does impact how we view a product. No one has offered us blowjobs or even a handjob for a vote though, but that’s a lot of work to coordinate even for those that have publicists. Most of the performers just know me as a photographer while the producers/directors tend to be more savvy in their discussions around me.

But for the sake of transparency and further rumour mongering, here are some of our picks for the 2021 AVN Awards:

Movies

I wish Rocco would come to America more. He is a legend and his performing prime may be behind him, but you get see the excitement of the American performers that get to work with him which we don’t see as much in his European work. Jane Wilde is such a filthy performer and Jonni Darko, who I believe is the most technically adept director out there, make a great pairing for her showcase.

Directing

I realise that feature directors have a very difficult job juggling more factors on their sets than their gonzo, umm I’m sorry, non-narrative counterparts. However, I still place a lot of weight on the heat of their scenes/movies which is why I favour someone like Miles Long or Chris Streams who show a workmanlike approach to their craft; technically proficient in capturing the heat without being glossy or abstract. I also find that female directors/producers like Casey and Scarlett are stronger at answering the “Why are these people having sex?” premise beyond “THEY ARE HOT & HORNY!” and bridging the “Why are they taking so long to have sex?” filler that differentiates features from gonzo non-narratives.

Acting

Angela White would have made an excellent phone sex operator in the days before we had camming. Her dialogue and charisma would turn a eunuch on. I think it’s the Australian accent. Penny Pax has shown great range in the movies I’ve watched over the years. She can go from shy housewife to goofy nerd to seductive vixen. Even though Mainstream Venture is not a traditional acting category, Lily Labeau was the only nominee there for her acting. I found her acting chops and comic timing appropriate in the series where she switches between being the straight woman and comic foil.

Performing

After the year we had, I didn’t want to repeat any winners from 2020 so we voted for a new group of performers. Mary Moody is the first performer chosen that I knew mainly from camming. Every time I see her in public at the conventions, her delighted interactions with her cam colleagues also translated into her partnerships in scenes. She is very easy on the eyes and incredibly nice to boot. Anna de Ville and Erik Everhard, both veterans of American porn, continue to put out great scenes in Europe. I would be hanging out at my buddy’s house all the time as a kid if Sarah Vandella was his mom. Last, I am a big fan of Kenna James’s scenes. They do not involve much theatrics, but there is something about how her squinty eyes, the curl of her lips, and crooked smile contribute to her girl next door charm and accessibility. Her costars, men or women, all seem to be really into her. I may be clumsy compared to say Don Juan DeMarko in describing her appeal, but there was a reason why she was Penthouse Pet of the Year and why we feel she should be Female Performer of the Year.

Good luck to all of the nominees we supported.