YNOT – Girlfriends Films has been named the recipient of the Free Speech Coalition’s 2010 Leadership Award. The award will be presented Feb. 10.“We’ve won awards for movies, but nothing can be more satisfying than this one,” Girlfriends Films President Dan O’Connell said. “There’s no higher honor than being so prominently recognized as being the leader in the kind of exemplary work and innovation that the award stands for.

“This is a big industry, and to be the company that receives this year’s award is just the best,” he added. “I couldn’t be happier or more proud.”

The FSC Leadership Award annually goes to an adult entertainment company that exemplifies excellence and innovation in business practices. Founded in 2002, Girlfriend Films has a history of fair businesses practices and philanthropy, according to FSC Membership Director Joanne Cachapero.

“Over the last several years, Girlfriends Films has not only created movies that are popular with consumers, but have incorporated better practices and ethics in the way that they do business,” Cachapero said. “They have hosted many fundraisers for various charities and continue to be great role model for the adult community.”

O’Connell said the company considers fair play and respect essential parts of doing business. The studio instituted its own anti-piracy efforts in response to distributors’ concerns over declining sales, and in the past nine months has taken down more than twenty thousand URLs infringing on copyrighted content. Girlfriends Films also has earmarked a portion of annual revenues as donations for various charities, in addition to hosting fundraising events for several benevolent organizations.

“We’ve made every effort to be a good neighbor to our business partners, models and fans,” O’Connell said. “As a company, Girlfriends Films has always made an effort to put a positive foot forward when it comes to our marketing, products, customer service and business dealings. In short, we’ve made a continuous effort to treat everyone with appreciation, consideration and respect.”

The company also is a staunch supporter of the First Amendment, especially when it comes to protecting the rights of adults who enjoy adult entertainment.

“Though the adult industry’s mission is to make people happy and satisfy their private desires, there are always other people and groups who want to deny anyone’s access to our products, even though they are most often used in privacy,” O’Connell said. “With attitudes held over from the Dark Ages, these folks have appointed themselves as Taliban-style ‘thought police’ and are never content to leave the rest of us alone. The Free Speech Coalition is the one group that is front and center in fighting for the rights of our industry and fans, and all of us should be actively supporting them.

“Girlfriends Films thanks the FSC for this award as well as what they’ve done for this industry,” he added. “Surely this industry would have been outlawed out of existence without the FSC’s educational, lobbying and judicial efforts. It’s important that any of us who make or use adult products give them our support.”