Page 40 - AVN March 2018

FEATURE | GAYVN AWARDS
FEATURE | By Brady Jansen
Top left and bottom, footage of Blake Mitchell, Brent Corrigan and Micah Brandt that was screened during the GayVN Awards Show opening. Upper right, Shangela and her dancers live on stage. Photos by JFK/FUBARWebmasters.com
unexpected—there’s a lot of great people, there’s a lot
of other films that were really good. And I had never
won an award before … that was my first award. I
didn’t even prepare, and it was the first award of the
night and I was caught off guard. I got excited and
emotional, I had tears in my eyes. It’s just nice to be
doing this for so long and to receive some recognition
for it.”
For mr. Pam, it was an equally validating evening:
Kiss and Tel Aviv earned her Best Director (Non-
Feature), and earned NakedSword the honor for Best
All-Sex Movie.
“I love shooting there … I have a sticker on the
camera that says ‘No fear,’” she shared on stage.
“I am blown away by how beautiful this award
ceremony is. I want to thank Tim Valenti, our fearless
boss at NakedSword and Falcon Studios Group, and
everybody for sending me there and all the boys in the
movie.”
Backstage, the director shared her love of Israel.
“It was so much fun. We were all there for a party for
Hustlaball, and so everybody was pretty pumped for
the sex party, and it was most of the guys’ first time
in Israel and the Middle East, so they were in this
brand-new country for them. Tel Aviv is amazing—
super sexual, super gay, and we were able to shoot all
four sex scenes outside. I love what I do, and I think
my energy is contagious. I’m thinking maybe I’m the
queen of gay porn,” she laughed. “People keep calling
me that lately; I can feel it. I lost about 80 pounds in
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the last two years, and I really feel like I’m on fire.”
Pam was also thanked by legendary director Chi
Chi LaRue, who picked up Best Director - Feature for
Falcon’s Earthbound: Heaven to Hell 2—a film made 12
years after the original. The award also came 12 years
after LaRue’s last GayVN directing triumph: Wrong
Side of the Tracks in 2006.
“A director does nothing without the people around
them … Earthbound, wow. mr. Pam, Tony Dimarco,
Tim Valenti, thank you,” he said as claps filled the
theater. “Do you remember when we used to make
movies, instead of scenes on a black couch that has the
cum stains on it from the day before? This is real. You
know what? It’s gorgeous, and movies are amazing,
and NakedSword and Falcon—they make movies, we
make movies. You can turn off all the sex, fucking mute
the sex, and it’s still a movie.”
But it wasn’t LaRue’s only time in the spotlight.
When Jake Jaxson was accepting the final award of the
evening—Best Feature for CockyBoys’ One Erection: The
Un-Making of a Boy Band—he called his co-collaborator
on stage. LaRue sent the praise right back: “This man
makes a feature like no one else … let’s hear it for
Jake!”
Backstage, Jaxson said he was almost speechless.
“It was truly unexpected. I really go into many
things with no expectation … I’m blown away. It was
a project that was a collaboration, and that doesn’t
happen a lot in the industry, and it was with Chi
Chi—and it was also a collaboration with a group of
guys that I absolutely adore—they’re funny, they’re
connected. What I can say about the awards tonight
is that what GayVN did made every one of these guys
that sometimes feels marginalized, or not just right,
or outcast in society—it made them feel special, and it
made them feel like what they do has purpose.”
Jaxson also gave a hug and shared a private moment
with Zevran backstage, where the performer was still
doing press for his win.
“I’m so proud of him and I’m proud to work with
him. He got up there and spoke about something that
had meaning, power and purpose, and he talked about
the essence, the reality, of what sex means to our
business. ... I think he spoke for a lot of young men
out there tonight, and I was proud of that, genuinely
touched.”
In his speech earlier in the night, Zevran—part of
the industry going on six years now—touched upon
the controversy late last year after the fallout from
the Best Ethnic Scene category, whose nominees were
soon added to the Best Duo Sex Scene category.
“We don’t get many evenings like this, and I
thank AVN for bringing back the GayVN Awards …
this is more than a celebration of just sex and our
accomplishments in the industry, it is a celebration of
gay culture and the progress our community has made
around the world.”
Two of Zevran’s own scenes were initially
nominated for Best Ethnic Scene.
“Many were accusing GayVN of racism and of