Not to be outdone, Vivid took home three awards, with two for “The New Devil in Miss Jones” for Best Feature DVD and Best DVD Commentary. Vivid’s “Where the Boys Aren’t” grabbed Best Classic DVD. Winning their first ever Empire Award was Evil Angel with “Aurora Snow vs. Gauge” for Best Compilation DVD. The Best Fetish DVD went to Club Jenna for “Jenna Loves Pain.”
Other notable winners from the 2005 Empire Awards include "Neo Pornographia" from Ninn Worx, taking home the award for Best All-Sex DVD, Platinum X Pictures’ "Baker’s Dozen 6" for Best Gonzo DVD and Devil’s Film's win for overall Best Compilation DVD Studio.
While Digital Playground is happy to receive any accolades bestowed on it, the Empire Awards have a special meaning for a company known for its early work with DVDs. The Empire Awards, sponsored by Adult DVD Empire, was the first awards show to specifically recognize the DVD format.
“It’s always an honor to win and break records,” Adella O’Neal, director of public relations for Digital Playground said. “In this case, it’s great to be recognized by a retailer known for selling a format we helped to pioneer.”
Howard Levine, LFP’s national sales manger for Vivid, was equally pleased with his company's showing. “We’re delighted with these honors," he said "which are yet another acknowledgement of the great job director Paul Thomas did with 'The New Devil in Miss Jones' and the power of our 'Where the Girls Aren’t' franchise."
The awards, which are nominated and voted on by a panel of Adult DVD Empire staff and other industry aficionados, have 19 total categories, nine of which are DVD specific. In addition to taking home all the DVD awards, Digital Playground broke another record with “Pirates” by winning six awards, the most by any title in the history of the Empire Awards.
While some of Digital Playground’s victories include such categories as Best Selling DVD for “Island Fever 3” and Best Interactive DVD for “Virtual Sex with Teagan Presley”, the company is especially pleased to have won The Viewer’s Choice Award with “Pirates”.
“Winning that awards [Viewer’s Choice] is always special because it means that fans really appreciate the work,” O’Neal said. “Getting 77 percent is amazing; we’re all beaming over that one.”
All of Digital Playground’s award winning titles were created and directed by company founder, Joone.