AVN to Honor Founder Paul Fishbein With Visionary Award

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—AVN Media Network announced today Paul Fishbein will receive the prestigious Visionary Award at the 2016 AVN Awards.  Fishbein was one of the original founders of AVN back in 1983, and headed the organization for nearly 30 years before selling the company. The award will be presented at the 2016 AVN Awards at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Saturday, January 23. "The choice of Paul Fishbein as this year’s Visionary was an easy one,” said Tony Rios, CEO of AVN Media Network. “Paul is someone who understood very early on the importance of the adult film industry, and that it was going to be a moving force in the consumer marketplace in those early days of home video. He has continued to deal with adult entertainment in a serious way, and as creator of AVN and all that followed, he has always remained the gold standard. He’s not getting this award because he’s family—he’s getting this because he truly deserves it.” AVN’s Visionary Award recipients all have certain attributes in common—ethics, civic responsibility, an eye for quality and innovation, and a compassionate understanding of adult entertainment and its place in mainstream society. Fishbein certainly embodies all these attributes and values. “I am truly humbled and a bit embarrassed about receiving this award,” said Fishbein. “We created AVN and eventually this award as well because we felt there was a need for it. I’m not sure I’m a visionary, but I am a supporter of the adult industry and if I helped get the business some respect over the years, then I’m pleased about that.” After graduating from Temple University, Fishbein, along with two friends and $900, created the Adult Video News in 1983.  An eight-page newsletter that reviewed the latest X-rated releases that were becoming popular on the burgeoning VHS format,  AVN was unlike any guide out there. It was Fishbein who realized early on the importance of giving consumers a publication that covered and critiqued the adult movie trade with seriousness and professionalism, something that had eluded it up until this point. With AVN, he would give the business of adult a true business publication, not only reviewing the latest releases, but as it grew, reports on sales, insider gossip and stories on the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers and the deals they made. With his first AVN Awards ceremony in 1984, Fishbein again showed his forward-thinking about the business of adult filmmaking and gave the industry an awards show that not only honored excellence in the field, but gave the talented people involved a night to unapologetically celebrate their work and themselves. Under his direction, the event crossed into the mainstream with its airing on Showtime.  The annual event is still one of the hottest tickets in Las Vegas.   Since selling AVN Media Network, he launched Plausible Films, a full-service production company based in Southern California. The company produced one of Showtime’s top-rated documentaries , X-Rated: The Greatest Adult Movies of All Time, and is heading into its second season of the unscripted series Sex with Sunny Megatron.  A second documentary is currently being shot for Showtime, titled X-Rated 2: The Greatest Adult Stars of All Time. Fishbein is also working as executive producer on a scripted television series called Submission, which was written and directed by Jacky St. James and is currently in post-production. Fishbein has been a staunch free-speech defender, always ready to speak up for the industry and the rights of filmmakers and performers when unfairly under attack.   The 2016 AVN Awards Show will be hosted this year by comedian Kate Quigley and adult superstars Joanna Angel and Anikka Albrite. The gala will be held Saturday, January 23, at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. Known as "the Oscars of porn,” the annual AVN Awards Show is the premier gala of adult video and recognizes titles, individuals, and companies for contributions to and excellence in the industry.   For more information, visit the official AVN Awards site at AVNAwards.com. Hotel rooms are available at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas here.  Tickets are available here.