AVN Unveils First-Ever Movie of the Year Award

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—For the first time in its 29-year history, the AVN Awards ceremony will culminate this year in the presentation of an all-encompassing grand accolade dubbed Movie of the Year. Contenders for the Movie of the Year award will not be predetermined by committee the way nominees in other categories traditionally are; rather, they will consist of the winners in the following 10 top races: Best All-Sex Release, Best All-Sex Release – Mixed Format, Best All-Girl Release, Best Gonzo Release, Best Vignette Release, Best Comedy, Best Feature, Best Foreign Feature, Best Parody – Comedy and Best Parody – Drama. In kind, voting for Movie of the Year will not be conducted until just prior to the January 21 ceremony, and will take place in a secret meeting among only the core members of the AVN Awards committee, so as to maintain the highest level of confidentiality possible concerning the winners of these major honors. "I am very excited that we've decided to create the Movie of the Year award," AVN senior editor Peter Warren said. "Even since the beginning, when we presented separate awards for Best Film and Best Video Feature, there's been no definitive AVN Award equivalent to Best Picture. Now we have one." The notion to institute Movie of the Year arose during the weeks-long AVN Awards nominations process this fall, when it dawned on committe members that such an overall best-of-the-best prize was the one thing glaringly missing from the vast array of awards cateogories. "We knew, however, that we couldn't nominate just any title for the award, because what kind of sense would it make if a title was nominated for Movie of the Year but didn't even win in its respective category? So we came up with this method of determining what would be in the running," Warren explained. "I think this is going to set off a big stir in the industry and make for the most exciting AVN Awards Show we've ever seen." The 2012 AVN Awards takes place Jan. 21, 2012 at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, with Dave Attell co-hosting alongside Bree Olson and Sunny Leone. For more information on the AVN Awards, and for tickets, visit AVNAwards.com.