Less than a year after buying a home video studio franchise, Jeff and Kim Johnson of Moorpark have been honored with six international awards for excellence in production at a ceremony compared to a version of the Oscars.

As owners of Home Video Studio since April, the Johnsons entered 14 categories, were nominated for eight and won six Hanley Awards at the eighth annual Home Video Studio Getaway last month in Orlando, Fla.

"The Hanley Awards is a huge event put together by the Home Video Studio franchise, where owners from around the world submit their best work from the past year," Jeff Johnson said. "Winning a Hanley — let alone six — is a great validation of our studio and our ability to produce high-quality videos of all kinds for all occasions. It's a very big deal to be recognized by our peers for excellence in production."

The Johnsons competed against winning entries from about 60 other studios throughout the United States, Canada and Sweden, said Craig Peterson, chief of staff at Home Video Studio Corporate in Indianapolis.

"It's a little unusual that (Jeff Johnson) would win so quickly after becoming a Home Video Studio owner," Peterson said. "He's fast out of the gate, and we see nothing but continued success for him in the future."

Home Video Studios is considered a leading video production service franchise in the United States.

The Hanley Awards, named after Home Video Studio founder and president Robert Hanley, are awarded in recognition of a studio owner's work in the past year.

"To win six Hanleys in our first few months of business speaks to our abilities," Kim Johnson said.

They received the Dr. Strangelove Award for unique or innovative videos, the Cut & Paste Award for best editing, the Best Photo Keepsake Award for the top photo montage video, and the Best Rookie Video Award for the top video by a studio owner in the first year.

They won the Best Use of Humor category for a video called "Crops."

"It's a spoof of Cops' that I shot for an area church youth group," Jeff Johnson said. "Basically, it's shot exactly like Cops,' but we're following an officer that is assigned to protect the local crops from the rising veg-theft' problem. I've had many people tell me they thought it was the real thing when they watched it until they realized it was a parody."

They also received the President's Award for best overall video in the whole show — awarded by the president and chief executive officer of Home Video Studio Inc. — for a creation called "Little Boys."

"It's a photo keepsake, which is a video consisting entirely of still photographs; this video features about 200 crazy pictures of our two sons, ages 2 and 4," Johnson said. "It's very high-energy, featuring quick cuts to music, special effects, pictures flying around and high-end graphics. Although there is no actual video in the project, everything moves, and it's a lot of fun to watch."

In addition to the six awards, "we were also honored with a Quickstart Award, which is given to studios showing great promise in their first few months," he said.

Involved with video production for 15 years, Jeff Johnson has worked as a network TV camera operator for the past decade on such shows as "Deal or No Deal," "Opportunity Knocks," "The Tyra Banks Show" and "Best Damn Sports Show Period."

He bought the franchise after starting a family with three children.

"I wanted to look at a way to be closer to home and have more flexibility to be there for my family," he said. "I have all these skills that I've developed and when I found this franchise, it seemed like the perfect way to go into business for myself and use what I've learned.

"Video production is definitely a passion of mine and something I've always been good at."

Through the franchise, they offer a range of video services.

"We can transfer and preserve home movies and videos to DVD for the individual, or we can help businesses gain more exposure through video," Johnson said. "We can provide editing, production, transfers, audio sweetening, sports scholarship videos, photo keepsakes, and the list goes on and on. If it has to do with video, we can help. We also pride ourselves on great customer service, providing Hollywood-quality products without the Hollywood price tag."

"We have been told we have exceptional customer service, as well as final products that truly touch people's lives," his wife added. "We have been able to re-create moments for our customers, celebrate their family and friend's lives, and regain lost memories."