MUMBAI: The winners of the eight edition of the DVD Entertainment Awards were announced a few days ago in the US.
The competition honours creators and marketers of digital video recordings. Selected by a blue-ribbon jury of technologists and journalists, the DVD Entertainment Awards are open to movie, music and game labels, distributors, producers and authoring houses vying for the coveted trophy in a wide variety of categories.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King special extended DVD edition got six awards. It with The Ultimate Matrix Collection for best of show and best blockbuster theatrical and also won awards for authouring design, video presentation, audio presentation and the Viewers' Choice vote through the web site Grab.com. Additionally the comedy Elf won for best PC support.
During the ceremony, William Friedkin who directed The French Connection, The Exorcist was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
For the first time in any home entertainment competition, the DVD Awards included categories recognising excellence in DualDisc and in the Universal Media Disc (UMD) pioneered by Sony for its PlayStation Portable (PSP).
Also new for the 2005 DVD Awards was an opportunity for DVD producers not affiliated with Hollywood studios to enter their own categories to create a more level playing field. For Achievement in Technical Design awards - such as authoring, PC support, video and audio presentation - there is a new classification reserved for theatrical titles with up to $10 million in box office or non-theatrical product. Those titles will not compete directly against Hollywood movies with more than $10 million in box office grosses.
Dwelling on LOTR's performance New Line Home Entertainment president and COO Stephen Einhorn says, "This is a great honor. It represents the very hard work of a great many people at New Line and we are proud of them. Clearly, the judges felt that Return of the King took the DVD experience to a whole new level." DVD Entertainment Awards executive producer Bruce Apar said. "One judge noted that 'no other DVD comes close —Hollywood is no longer in the business of making movies but is now in the business of making DVDs.' "
The DVD Awards drew more than 220 entries in 31 categories. The ceremony was hosted by film critic Leonard Maltin and presented by the International Recording Media Assn. and CMP Entertainment Media.
