ROBERT Pattinson and Eddie Redmayne met as struggling actors in London. PHOTOS BY RUBEN V. NEPALES
LOS ANGELES—Robert Pattinson and Eddie Redmayne laughed together a lot (they are longtime pals). Channing Tatum hammed it up for a selfie with two guests. Nick Jonas asked if the Philippines’ San Miguel Beer was available in the United States. These were some of the sidelights at the recent Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) grants banquet at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
This year, the association of international journalists, which honors excellence in film and television through the Golden Globe Awards, announced $1.9 million in grants to nearly 50 nonprofit organizations and scholarship programs.
HFPA president Theo Kingma and Sofia Vergara. PHOTO FROM HFPA
For the first time, HFPA held its annual philanthropic event in the evening, instead of at noon. So the dinner banquet felt like a summer version of the Golden Globe Awards which the HFPA presents every January. Instead of the larger International Ballroom, where Hollywood’s party of the year is staged, the banquet took place in the Beverly Hills Ballroom, where the association announces its Golden Globe nominations. Moët & Chandon champagne flowed just like it does at the Globes.
The association’s president, Theo Kingma, opened the ceremony on a fitting note. After stressing the diversity of HFPA’s grants beneficiaries, “from film preservation to screenings held in refugee camps and children’s hospitals, from local film schools to over 1,000 film students,” Theo came up with a novel way to honor two outstanding stars who recently left us.
He said, “As no performer likes silence, in honor of Lauren Bacall and Robin Williams, I would instead like to ask for a moment of applause.” The audience responded with thunderous applause.
Then it was a fast-paced, efficient parade of stars who accepted the grants on behalf of various orgs and schools, which includes No Kid Hungry, International Documentary Association, New Filmmakers, University of California, Berkeley Film Archive, Actors and Others for Animals and Echo Park Film Center.
CHANNING Tatum (right) hams it up in a selfie with guests.
Robert and Eddie, who accepted a grant on behalf of the American Film Institute, had a good time together onstage and offstage, where they shared a table with Morgan Freeman. Both British actors attended the Globes in 2013. Eddie was once quoted as saying that he’s known Robert “for a long time. There was a whole load of us who, a few years ago, were all sort of trying to make ends meet in London.”
Morgan received the grants check on behalf of The Film Foundation. In thanking HFPA for helping save and restore classic films, the esteemed actor said, “Movies touch our heart, our vision and change the way we see things. They take us to other places; they open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our lifetimes. We need to keep them alive. These are the words of Martin Scorsese, who founded and has overseen The Film Foundation since 1990.”
Martin himself spoke in a video and expressed his gratitude to the association for supporting film preservation.
Steve Tao and Jennifer Sanderson of Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (Cape), which champions diversity by educating and empowering Asian-American and Pacific Islander artists, not only received a grant but also a selfie with Channing. The genial actor said thanks onstage for FilmAid International.
With Nick Jonas, Jenny Slate, star of the acclaimed indie film “Obvious Child” and an “SNL” alum who stars in FX’s “Married” and has recurring roles in several TV shows, spoke on behalf of the Young Musicians Foundation and special projects. Nick, star of the TV drama series “Kingdom” and the coming film “Careful What You Wish For,” told us about his Manila concert with his brothers. He asked if the world-famous San Miguel Beer is available in the US.
FIL-AM Hailee Steinfeld (right) and Abigail Spencer
Bohol visit
Filipino-American Hailee Steinfeld said she’s still hoping to visit Bohol, where her mom Cheri Domasin-Steinfeld’s roots are from. The lovely actress, unstoppable since her debut in “True Grit,” costars in Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Homesman,” “Begin Again,” “The Keeping Room,” “Barely Lethal,” “Term Life,” “Ten Thousand Saints” and “Pitch Perfect 2.” She came with her dad Peter.
Hailee was paired with another young actress, Abigail Spencer, to receive grants on behalf of the California Institute of the Arts, New York University and Columbia University.
In what we think was the first time that a musical number was performed in the history of HFPA’s annual grants banquet, Kristen Bell wowed the crowd with a song from her movie “Frozen,” “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” Reprising her rendition of the song in a special show last February, Kristen, who is pregnant (she told us she is four months in the way) with her second child, channeled a toddler, teenager and Anna, her character in the animated megahit. Bravo, Kristen!
True to form, actor and comedian Jason Segel gushed with an eager beaver smile, “I am so excited that we are presenting here at the Golden Globes.” When Anne Heche, after pausing for the audience’s laughter, told Jason no, they were at the grants banquet, not the Globes, he cracked, “Okay, I will adjust my speech. As a little boy, I always thought that with a start in a little town, a lot of luck and some elbow grease, someday I could make it to the HFPA grants banquet.”
He and Anne accepted grants on behalf of Outfest and UCLA’s Film & Television Archive.
KERRY Washington
Ladies in red
Two actresses stood out in red: Sofia Vergara, who spoke for The Pablove Foundation’s Shutterbugs program, which teaches youths living with cancer to develop creativity through the art of photography, and Elle Fanning who went onstage with Logan Lerman to represent university grantees.
The other stars and the beneficiaries they represented include Chris Evans (American Cinematheque), Kerry Washington (GlobalGirl Media), James Marsden and Jessica Parker Kennedy (Toronto International Film Festival), Andy Samberg (Sundance Institute), Michael Peña and Gina Rodriguez (Latin American Cinematica of Los Angeles), Patricia Arquette and Franka Potente (Inner-City Arts and Ghetto Film School), Rose McGowan (Film Noir), Minnie Driver (Screen Actors Guild Foundation and Independent Filmmaker Project) and Chaz Ebert (Ebertfest, the late critic Roger Ebert’s film festival).
Theo also announced the association’s officers this year: vice president Lorenzo Soria, executive secretary Lilly Lui, treasurer Meher Tatna, board members Ali Sar (chair), Jorge Camara, Helen Hoehne, Anke Hofmann, Yoram Kahana and Luca Celada.
IN A VIDEO, Martin Scorsese thanked the HFPA for its grants to the Film Foundation toward the restoration of hundreds of films.
HFPA, a nonprofit org, has donated more than $20 million in grants and scholarships over the years, derived from licensing fees for the broadcast rights to the Golden Globes, which is seen by millions around the world.
(E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben)