The Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, from New Line Home Entertainment, is the top contender in the 7th Annual DVD Awards with Leonard Maltin, leading all entries with six nominations.
Mr. Maltin will preside for the fifth consecutive year at the DVD Awards Ceremony, the August 30 opening night event of the new Entertainment Media Expo (EMX), at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel here, August 30 through September 1.
In addition to Leonard Maltin -- "The Most Watched Film Critic in America" on TV's Entertainment Tonight -- guest presenters at The DVD Awards are scheduled to include filmmaker Mario Van Peebles of "Baadasssss!," Traci Bingham of Baywatch, female wrestling star Chyna, and director Eli Roth of Lions Gate Entertainment's Cabin Fever.
Sponsored by CMP Information and International Recording Media Association (IRMA), EMX includes the DVD Entertainment Conference, Media-Tech Conference, Surround 2004, Entertainment Packaging Summit and Entertainment Asset Management Conference, all of which combine to make it the nation's #1 trade event for packaged media professionals. The Expo is expected to attract 120 exhibitors and 3,000 attendees.
The DVD Awards nominees and winners are selected by a blue-ribbon jury of technologists and journalists.
The Walt Disney Company's Buena Vista Home Entertainment by far claimed the most nominations at 24, with five each for Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Caribbean, and another seven between Lion King 1-1/2 and Lion King Platinum Edition. In all, nearly 150 DVD titles were entered in 300+ categories.
There are 16 categories plus, new this year, Netflix Viewers Choice Award, based on a poll of the online DVD rental company's members, and Best of Show, conferred by the jury.
A major addition to the Ceremony is the first annual Leonard Maltin Award, with George Feltenstein of Warner Home Video the inaugural recipient of the eponymous honor personally chosen by the DVD Awards' emcee.
Fast rising filmmaker Brett Ratner will be presented the DVD Content Pioneer Award by DEG: the Digital Entertainment Group. The director of both Rush Hour films, Family Man and Red Dragon is in post production on his new romantic adventure due this November, After the Sunset, with Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson.
Pioneer Awards are being presented at the EMX opening business session Tuesday morning (Aug. 31) to Netflix and its founding CEO Reed Hastings, for retail innovation in being the first online DVD rental service; and to Microsoft Corp. and Lions Gate Entertainment, for technology innovation, releasing high-definition DVDs for playback on selected computers.
Also new is a separate category called Blockbuster Theatrical, defined for the Awards as films grossing more than $200 million at the U.S. box office. For all other releases, there's the Major Theatrical, mainly big Hollywood films, and Independent Theatrical classifications, for which all independently financed productions, including those distributed through major studios, are eligible.
For the complete list of nominees log on to http://www.entertainmentmediaexpo
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