The crowd of more than 1,000 arrived dressed to impress, and there was a palpable feeling of excitement in the air as the venue filled up for the adult industry’s most glamorous hometown awards show, sometimes referred to as the Golden Globe Awards of adult.
The red carpet arrivals kicked off with adult megastar Tera Patrick and rocker husband Evan Seinfeld.
Digital Playground contract performer Stoya, there to support awards hostess, Digital Playground’s Jesse Jane, followed. Contract stars Adrianna Lynn and Shay Jordan also attended.
“We’re going to do way crazy things,” Jane told XBIZ as she posed for the cameras with co-host Kevin “K.B.” Blatt.
“I’m going to circumcise a pig,” Blatt joked. “That’s why I wore my rabbi outfit.”
Former Digital Playground contract performer Teagan also made an appearance, looking lovely in a flowery yellow gown. She told XBIZ she is about to complete production on her directorial debut, as well as kick off of a feature dancing tour.
Performer Charlotte Stokely, star of several Vivid-Alt titles, looked ethereal for the photographers and was accompanied by mainstream director Huston Huddleston. Stokely is currently working on a mainstream project with Huddleston titled “Snuff Queen.”
“It’s so exciting,” Stokely said. “It’s my second R-rated film, but this is my first lead role. It’s hard to remember that I’m not actually going to be fucking anyone in this movie. But there will be a lot of snuffy-ness.”
Channel 1 Releasing founder and legendary drag queen director Chi Chi LaRue arrived in full regalia, nominated for Best GLBT Feature Movie of the Year, C1R’s “Link: The Evolution,” which took the trophy later in the evening.
Rocker-turned-adult-director Dave Navarro stopped for photographs and said that he was excited about attending the awards for the first time. He revealed a little about plans for his second adult film after debuting as an adult director with last year’s “Broken,” produced for Teravision.
“We’re looking at March to start production,” Navarro said. “The story is written, so that’s great. I don’t have a title yet — that usually comes to me somewhere in the process. It’s like naming a child before it’s born.”
Performer Jack Lawrence arrived to present the Award for Best Gonzo Director.
“It’s a prestigious award, and I’m looking forward to giving it because I’m sure it will be well-deserved. It’s an extremely competitive field tonight and the nominees are all well-qualified,” Lawrence said.
ClubJenna’s Lela Star attracted attention from the cameras as a nominee for Best Starlet.
“I think there are only five nominees,” Star said, “so just to be recognized is a big honor.”
Several super-starlets lit the night as they posed for cameras.
Vivid contract star Sunny Leone was radiant in a silver and gold sequined dress, and spoke to XBIZ about recently being cast in a mainstream "Bollywood" movie. The film will be shot in Oman, Jordan; it will be her first time to travel in the Middle East.
"I'm leaving for Oman on Saturday," Leone said. "I'm so excited because we get to wear saris and Indian dresses and it's very exciting."
Adam & Eve contract performer Bree Olsen posed in a pretty lavender-colored dress.
Star of SexZ Pictures' “Upload” Eva Angelina, dressed in yellow, later took home the trophy for Best Female Performer of the Year.
Founder of Lucas Entertainment Michael Lucas came from New York to present the Award for Best GLBT Feature Movie of the Year, and ended up picking up an award for Best GLBT Director, an honor he split with Tony Dimarco for last year’s “The Intern” and “Gigolo.”
“I think it’s great that they’re recognizing gay people at this time. It’s wonderful because we are all in this fight together. That’s a great thing,” Lucas said. “We are all fighting the bigotry of the world and it’s very important that we are together, gay and straight.”
Several personalities from the gay industry were on hand to enjoy the festivities, including Titan Media’s Keith Webb and legendary director Bruce Cam, Mark Kliem of LavenderLounge.com, COLTStudio Group director Kristofer Weston, FPG Entertainment owner Marco Guerra, videographer Mr. Pam and NakedSword.com’s Jack Shamana.
Hot House Entertainment founder Steven Scarborough arrived with several of the studio’s crew and then later took home the GLBT Lifetime Achievement Award.
C1R contract performer Blake Riley was there to present an award. Nervous, he said he was warming up for making another presentation at next week’s GAYVN Awards show in San Francisco.
At times, several celebrities crowded the media wall, adding to the excitement and posing in twosomes and threesomes.
XBIZ Premiere Magazine Editor-in-Chief Steve Javors arrived with three lovely starlets in tow: Sunny Lane, Penny Flame and Trisha Uptown.
Newlyweds Wayne Static and Pleasure Productions contract performer Tera Wray happily posed for the cameras with matching purple streaks in their hair.
Performers Trina Michaels and Nicki Hunter arrived together.
“It’s been two years since I was at an XBIZ Awards,” said Hunter, looking especially lovely in a black pants suit with spikey, short black hair. “So I’m just excited to be here and I’m ready to have some fun.”
Nominated for Best Male Performer of the Year, Tommy Gunn was accompanied by Ashlyn Brooke.
Classic performer Nina Hartley arrived on the carpet after appearing on a panel at the XBIZ Hollywood Conference earlier in the day.
“I’m having fun. It’s low-key and no stress. It’s the first one that I’ve been to one, so I’m looking forward to it,” Hartley said.
The mysterious and busy performer Sasha Grey arrived. Currently working on several mainstream and adult projects, she was able to attend because other plans had cancelled out for the evening.
Once inside the venue, attendees enjoyed refreshments from several open bars, including a Mojito bar sponsored by World Wide Content, with lots of mingling happening in the various spaces throughout the venue.
Webcam portal Video Secrets broadcast the happenings live via webcast.
The casual atmosphere was enjoyed by crowd of celebrities that included Hustler’s Theresa Flynt and Michael Klein, Evil Angel’s John and Karen Stagliano, AIM founder Sharon Mitchell, Mercenary Pictures founder Lexington Steele, Mercenary director Tina Tyler, director/producer Jules Jordan, Pussy Party’s Cousin Stevie, Digital Playground director Robby D, SexZ Pictures director Tee Reel, photographer Holly Randall, Wicked’s Heth Mares, Shane’s World's Megan Stokes, XPlay’s Jeff Mullen and Scott David, director/performer Tom Byron, director Erik Everhard, director Max Hardcore, director Wit Maverick, VCX director Roy Karch, director DCypher, Teravision’s Sancho, director/performer Marco Banderas, director Andre Madness, publicity agent/performer James Bartholet, blogger Gram Ponante and talent manager Monstar, among others.
Performers that brought star power included Amber Lynn, Kayden Kross, Aria Giovanni, Monica Mayhem, Jenny Hendrix, Brooke Haven Flower Tucci, Heather Silk, Torri Black, Puma Swede, Shy Love, Nautica Thorn, Gianna Lynn and Jayden James, among others.
Also in attendance were InterClimax’s Ben Jelloun, Epoch Communications Director Rand Pate, FlashCash’s Halcyon, Mansion Production’s Oystein Wright and T3Report’s Brandon Shalton.
ClubJenna’s Jay Grdina took a moment to talk about XBIZ and the blending of the web and video industries, and said, “It’s one of my favorite magazines out there. I love what they’ve done for the industry and turned into a really great B2B magazine. We’ve done a lot of strong advertising and I think they’ve been a great partnership for us. I look at it from their infancy to now and think, ‘Wow, these guys have done really well.’
“We started ClubJenna as a web company and turned it into a DVD company,” Grdina said. “I think that today in the marketplace, you have to be a strong multimedia company, and I think this award show is the convergence of what is really happening. It’s smart.”
