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January 21, 2019

Meet the 2019 AVN Hall of Fame Inductees

Every January, AVN Media Network inducts a new batch of adult industry members and former members into the AVN Hall of Fame, celebrating their achievements in the industry. Performers and directors enter AVN’s original video-based Hall of Fame, but there are other branches, too. The Internet Founders Branch celebrates those who built the online sector, and the Pleasure Products Branch is for manufacturers, distributors and retailers of sex toys. And the Executive Branch is populated by those who work behind the scenes in the C-suite or excel in other capacities—for example, in sales, marketing or education. In all branches, a minimum of 10 years in the business is required for consideration. And in many cases, the inductees have served much longer. The AVN Hall of Fame Class of 2019 will be officially inducted at the 2019 AVN Awards Show, which takes place January 26. And they’ll also be celebrated at the kickoff event to the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE), which will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas tomorrow (January 22), the night before AEE begins. The Welcome Industry Cocktail Party runs 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Center Bar in the main casino area, and is open to all trade attendees of AEE and the AVN Novelty Expo. Drink tickets are available from AVN staffers. The 2019 AVN Awards will be hosted by adult str Romi Rain and cam star Bailey Rayne. The AVN Awards are presented by MyFreeCams. Fans may purchase general-admission tickets, VIP table seating options, or various packages. For more information, visit AVN.com/awards. Hall of Fame – Video Branch Asa AkiraThe 2013 AVN Female Performer of the Year made her adult film debut in 2006, becoming one of the winningest Asian stars of all time. The popular native New Yorker, whose Twitter bio accurately states “I have an award-winning asshole,” has performed in more than 700 adult films and has won more than 20 AVN Awards during her glittering career. The former Wicked Pictures contract star became Pornhub’s brand ambassador in 2018. The daughter of Japanese immigrants, Akira was only 19 when she was approached on the street in New York and asked whether she wanted to be a dominatrix. She then had a stint performing at a now-defunct sadomasochism club called the Nutcracker Suite before becoming a stripper at Manhattan's Hustler Club. When she later moved to Tampa, Fla., she became a regular on Sirius XM's “Bubba the Love Sponge Show,” where she performed light masturbation scenes on camera for a website set up by the radio program and became known as the “Show Whore.” It was on the show that she met fellow Hall of Famer Gina Lynn, who helped her get her her start in porn. Thanks to her stunning looks, athletic body and uninhibited performances, Akira made a steady ascent before reaching new levels of stardom in January 2011, when she crushed the 28th annual AVN Awards, taking home trophies for Best Anal Sex Scene, Best Three-Way Sex Scene (G/B/B) and Best Douple Penetration Sex Scene, all from Elegant Angel's Asa Akira Is Insatiable, as well as Best All-Girl Three-Way Sex Scene from Elegant's Buttwoman vs. Slutwoman. In addition, Asa Akira Is Insatiable won the Fan Award for Favorite Movie. After co-starring in Brad Armstrong's Underworld, which was later named Movie of the Year at the 2014 AVN Awards, Asa Akira formally joined the Wicked family. A Fleshlight Girl since 2011, Asa is the author of two best-selling books—Insatiable and Dirty Thirty. (Read more about Asa Akira here.) Gabrielle AnexEditor Gabrielle Anex started her adult career in 1997, after graduating from UCLA film school. She made an impression at once, earning a 1998 AVN Award nomination for editing White Angel, directed by James Avalon and starring Stacey Valentine. Avalon told AVN, "I hired her when I was running post-production at Metro Home Video, and we were expanding, looking for editors. She was right out of film school, and one of the most gifted natural editors we interviewed. Had a great sense for timing and putting shots together. I put her on all our A projects at the time. Gifted and fun to work with." During her two decades in adult, Anex has worked with many top directors, including Nic Andrews, Kelly Holland, Will Ryder, Andre Madness, Jacky St. James, Paul Thomas, David Stanley, Kayden Kross and Greg Lansky. "I always say that editing can make or break a movie," Jacky St. James said. "From her unconventional style in musical choices to her expert ability at understanding pace and timing, Gabrielle is easily one of the best editors ever to grace adult.” On the mainstream side, Anex's post-production editing work has been seen on Showtime, Spike TV, and KCAL, and she is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Women In Film, and Film Independent. She also invented Shi Shi, "the first sex toy for lesbian couples," for NS Novelties. Anex has received 19 AVN Awards nominations in her 21-year career, winning an AVN Award in 2016 for The Submission of Emma Marx: Boundaries. She was nominated this year for After Dark from Vixen/Jules Jordan. Anex told AVN, "I don't know how many other editors have been nominated 19 times but maybe it is a record," jokingly pointing out, "I believe I am losing my hearing due to 21 years of women screaming into my headphones." Lexi BelleLexi Belle, the quintessential girl next door turned porn teen dream, just about grew up in the adult business, debuting at 18 and giving her first blowjob, having her first girl/girl experience—and even getting naked for the first time with the lights on—all in Porn Valley. A native of Independence, La., about 60 miles northeast of Baton Rouge, America’s Porn Sweetheart got booked early and often during her first full year in adult in 2006, paving the way for a terrific career that saw her win eight AVN Awards, including Best Boy/Girl Scene in 2012 for her torrid session with Manuel Ferrara in The Bombshells 3 for Elegant Angel. Belle won Best Oral Sex Scene the following year for her blow-bang in Massive Facials 4 (Elegant Angel). More than a gonzo performer, Belle also captured Best Supporting Actress in 2011 for her turn as Batgirl in Axel Braun’s AVN Award-winning Batman XXX: A Porn Parody for Vivid. Now a resident of Denver, Belle continues to tour the country as an in-demand feature dancer. She is also an avid snowboarder and loves cooking and eating a vegan diet. Among her other honors are 2010 AVN Best New Web Starlet; 2010 Best All-Girl Couples Sex Scene for her hook-up with Tori Black in Field of Schemes 5 (Girlfriends Films); 2013 Best Tease Performance with Remy LaCroix in Remy (Elegant Angel); 2013 Best Three-Way Sex Scene with Ramon Nomar and Mick Blue; and an AVN Fan Award in 2014 for Social Media Star. Belle also was crowned Penthouse Pet of the Month for May 2013 and was named the 2014 Penthouse Pet of the Year. Frank BukkwydFrank Bukkwyd attributes his adult-industry career to "an act of God"—specifically, the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Adult-movie production shut down to recover from the damage, and when shooting started up again, writer Cash Markman enlisted Bukkwyd as a writing partner, creating Babewatch, a comic series parodying the mainstream TV show Baywatch. This led to his first screen credit under the Bukkwyd name and his first of many AVN Award nominations. When Markman moved into directing in 1996, Bukkwyd joined him as a production assistant, and when an actor didn’t show up for a bartending part, Bukkwyd stepped in. After that, his career as a non-sex actor grew as he earned a reputation as, Bukkwyd says, the "non-sex guy who could handle all that story-telling dialogue other performers found so annoying to learn." He worked steadily in four to six plot-driven productions a month, playing put-upon bosses, imperious generals, snooty butlers and mysterious authority figures. Writer/director Will Ryder told AVN, "Frank Bukkwyd is a must-have actor for all of my movies because he plays characters perfectly and adds life and stability to everything I write. He helps make my stories believable. Great actors make good writers shine." And writer/director Brad Armstrong concurs: "Frank Bukkwyd is an amazing addition to any script-driven movie. He’s a brilliant actor with an extraordinary range of characters and accents in his repertoire. Whether the role is well worked out or loose and unspecific Frank can polish it, build on it and deliver a nomination worthy performance." Spellings of Bukkwyd's name vary—the name was coined by Markman reflecting his joking statement that "we're only doing this for the money" using three names for money: franc, buck, quid—and the number of his credits varies as well, with IAFD listing 135 and IMDb listing 180, and Bukkwyd himself saying the number could be even higher, "as much as double that [180]." Along with the acting credits is an impressive number of award nominations for non-sex roles and an equally impressive "perfect win record of absolutely zero, enabling me to maintain my rightful crown as the Susan Lucci of porn.'" Bukkwyd has been nominated again this year for his performance in The Cursed XXX from Adam & Eve Pictures.

 
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