Categories, Eligibility Requirements Released for 2016 AVN Awards

The 2016 AVN Awards Show will take place Saturday, January 23 at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The presenting sponsor is Chaturbate, and this year's co-hosts are Anikka Albrite and Joanna Angel. Never let it be said that the AVN Awards team is afraid of change. Last year, as always, AVN added some new categories and tweaked others. But more significantly, for the first time content released solely on VOD was eligible for AVN Awards consideration. Now, AVN is taking another step toward greater inclusiveness by opening up four high-profile scene categories to include content released solely for membership sites. This change is being made to better reflect what should be the most important concern in judging an award-winning sex scene: the skills of the director and the performers, rather than how the scene reaches fans. In these four categories only, AVN will now accept pre-nominations of scenes produced for release on membership sites: Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene Best Girl/Girl Sex Scene Best Oral Sex Scene Best Anal Sex Scene “This is a step we have thought through very meticulously and from every angle possible, and we feel certain that now is the time to implement it,” AVN senior editor Peter Warren said. “There has been a fundamental shift in the way both industry members and consumers think about how the core element of adult entertainment—sex scenes—most commonly reach their audience. These being the four most basic and popular types of sex scenes, we felt they were the ones to best lead the way for the AVN Awards in this key transition.”  As with all contests, some restrictions apply. See below for details on eligibility for the 2016 AVN Awards. Eligibility PeriodTo be considered in any of the video categories, including the aforementioned scene categories, a title and/or scene must have been made available commercially during the eligibility period, which runs from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2015. If a scene in one of the four eligible categories is released as both a standalone web scene and as an entity of a movie released either on DVD or VOD, the scene will by default be considered an entity of the movie. For consideration in all other categories, a movie must be released in its entirety as of September 30, 2015. Any scene individually considered for a 2016 AVN Award will be void from consideration in all future years if included as an entity of any movie released after September 30, 2015. DVD/VOD EligibilityTo be considered for nomination, movies released via DVD/VOD must either fit AVN’s traditional distribution requirements of being stocked with five wholesale distributors and/or 100 retail outlets (on DVD), or be made available for VOD download and/or streaming as follows: • Must be available through a minimum of two (2) major for-pay VOD providers, defined as ones carrying movies from at least 100 active labels/studios. • Must have clearly marked post dates falling within the eligibility period across all qualifying VOD platforms carrying it. • Companies wishing to submit VOD-only titles to AVN for consideration in the 2016 AVN Awards must provide links showing that said titles meet the above requirements. Standalone Web Scene EligibilityTo be considered for nomination in the one of the four eligible categories, scenes must be released on a site that has members who are paying a monthly fee to access the site’s content. As with producers of content that is distributed on DVD and VOD, membership sites must also maintain 2257 records. At the beginning of September, AVN will begin accepting pre-nominations for the 2016 AVN Awards. Check AVN.com for details on accessing the pre-nomination website. The site will remain open until midnight on September 30. AVN has redefined some of the categories for the 2016 AVN Awards with an eye toward making it easier for studios, directors and performers to nominate their work. Particularly notable are changes in the feature and non-feature movie category. Directors and studios can now nominate non-features in two categories. Best Gonzo Movie is for projects that employ a cinema verité style making the cameraperson a participant in the proceedings, which may or may not incorporate POV footage. Best Anthology Movie is for projects that include either vignettes or all-sex scenes or a combination of the two. There are also niche categories in which non-narrative movies can be nominated. Narrative movies can be nominated in the traditional arenas of drama, comedy and parody. Movies with storylines can also be nominated in niche categories when they fit the criteria. And AVN has added a new niche this year, Best Polyamory Movie, to recognize the wave of titles that derive their erotic charge from extracurricular sex of various flavors, from hotwife fantasies to swinger scenarios to cuckolding. VIDEOAll-Girl Performer of the YearBBW Performer of the YearBest ActorBest ActressBest All-Girl Group Sex SceneBest All-Girl MovieBest All-Girl SeriesBest Amateur MovieBest Amateur/Pro-Am SeriesBest Anal MovieBest Anal Sex SceneBest Anal SeriesBest Anthology MovieBest Art DirectionBest BDSM MovieBest T/A Movie (Big Butt and/or Big Bust)Best Boy/Girl Sex SceneBest CinematographyBest ComedyBest Continuing Series Best DramaBest Director – FeatureBest Director – Foreign FeatureBest Director – Foreign Non-FeatureBest Director – Non-FeatureBest Director – ParodyBest Double Penetration Sex SceneBest EditingBest Ethnic MovieBest Ethnic/Interracial SeriesBest Foreign FeatureBest Foreign Non-FeatureBest Girl/Girl Sex SceneBest Gonzo MovieBest Group Sex SceneBest Ingenue MovieBest Interracial MovieBest MakeupBest Male NewcomerBest Marketing Campaign – Company ImageBest Marketing Campaign – Individual ProjectBest MILF MovieBest New ImprintBest New SeriesBest New StarletBest Non-Sex PerformanceBest Older Woman/Younger Girl MovieBest Oral MovieBest Oral Sex SceneBest Orgy/Gangbang MovieBest ParodyBest Polyamory MovieBest POV Sex SceneBest Pro-Am MovieBest ScreenplayBest Screenplay – ParodyBest Sex Scene in a Foreign-Shot ProductionBest Solo MovieBest Solo/Tease PerformanceBest SoundtrackBest Special EffectsBest Specialty Movie – Other GenreBest Specialty Series – Other GenreBest Star ShowcaseBest Supporting ActorBest Supporting ActressBest Taboo Relations MovieBest Transsexual MovieBest Transsexual SeriesBest Transsexual Sex SceneBest Three-Way Sex Scene – Boy/Boy/GirlBest Three-Way Sex Scene – Girl/Girl/BoyClever Title of the YearDirector of the YearFemale Foreign Performer of the YearFemale Performer of the YearMainstream Star of the YearMale Performer of the YearMale Foreign Performer of the YearMILF Performer of the YearMost Outrageous Sex SceneMovie of the YearTranssexual Performer of the Year WEB & TECHNOLOGYBest Affiliate ProgramBest Alternative WebsiteBest Dating WebsiteBest Live Chat WebsiteBest Membership WebsiteBest Porn Star WebsiteBest Solo Girl WebsiteBest Web DirectorPLEASURE PRODUCTSBest Condom ManufacturerBest Enhancement ManufacturerBest Fetish ManufacturerBest Lingerie or Apparel ManufacturerBest Lubricant ManufacturerBest Pleasure Product Manufacturer – SmallBest Pleasure Product Manufacturer – MediumBest Pleasure Product Manufacturer – LargeBest Product Line for MenBest Product Line for WomenRETAIL Best BoutiqueBest Retail Chain – SmallBest Retail Chain – LargeBest Web Retail StoreFAN AWARDSFavorite Female Porn StarFavorite Male Porn StarFavorite Trans PerformerFavorite Webcam PerformerHottest MILFHottest NewcomerMost Amazing Sex ToyMost Epic AssMost Spectacular BoobsSocial Media Star