The XBiz Awards, now going on for 10 years, started out as an informal, ad hoc event that was always a good party, but was a bit of the "red headed stepchild" of the industry as far as awards show go.
What is wonderful to me is that Helmy has taken this show on as a personal passion, and, over the last several years, has turned it into a spectacular event. Having been an award presentor and recipient several times over the past years, this is the the most finely-tuned backstage organization I have seen outside of the Metropolitan Opera or Broadway. Stage Managers! Headsets! Timeline Schedules! I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful this is, and so unusual outside of professional stage theater or television programming.
This is all based on my rather strange alter-ego of being a broadway musical and opera director and producer over the past 30 years. Starting out as a catwalk techie at the Bolshoi Theater in the good old USSR back in the late 1970's, to, more currently, at Tanglewood, the Metropolitan Opera and a few hundred productions of "Carmen", "Annie", and lots of other things that might make me look like an Allan Ginsburg-type socialist.
Two Thumbs Up, XBiz, and specifically Alec Helmy for slowly but surely ramping this show up to a very professional, classy and well-groomed event. This is a great show to present to the world the adult industry in a well-heeled and snappy light. Good Job!
Last minute info on the show is here: http://www.xbizawards.com/
Colin
