LOS ANGELES — Trans studio Grooby is celebrating the 2021 XBIZ Exec Awards nomination earned by Kristel Penn, the company's creative and editorial director, as Community Figure of the Year.
Penn joined Grooby in 2008 when the company was based in Hawaii; their current duties also include serving as the Executive Producer of the annual Transgender Erotica Awards ceremony.
“It would have been an honor to be nominated in any category,” explained Penn, “but the Community Figure of the Year award holds personal significance to me. Grooby, in many ways, is a small business and can’t compete with the budgets of the big studios, but we utilize all of our resources and pour it back into our performers. This includes concrete things like creating more opportunities for performers shooting with us, but also extends to less measurable efforts like increasing the visibility and acceptance of trans performers in our industry and supporting the trans community as a whole."
Penn emphasized "a sincere debt of gratitude to [studio owner] Steven Grooby."
"Through Grooby, he has given me a platform to use my voice and encourages me to do as myself. Without him, there would essentially be no ‘Kristel Penn’ as a public figure in our industry," Penn noted. "To a certain extent, for anyone, it is a privilege to be able to live authentically both personally and professionally. For someone like me who grew up being bullied throughout high school for being gay and just honestly different than my classmates, being nominated for my work with Grooby and in the adult industry feels like being honored for my identity. Win or lose, I am grateful for the nomination and recognition from my colleagues and friends here.”
Follow Kristel Penn on Twitter.
The 2021 XBIZ Exec Awards, sponsored by Chaturbate, will be presented in January as part of the debut virtual edition of the XBIZ Honors ceremony. Voting is underway on XBIZ.net and continues through Wednesday, November 25.
Click here for a complete list of nominees.
Me as an adult who just received a nomination for @xbiz’s “Community Figure of the Year” award. ??? @sadbutradclubxo pic.twitter.com/0Qd51l4vGQ
— Kristel (she/they) (@thekristelpenn) November 12, 2020
