Golden Globes Scene: Inside TV and Film’s Once a Year Power Lunch (Photos)
Inside the Ultimate Power Lunch
Hollywood’s biggest stars, studio chiefs and network presidents “do lunch” together once a year without their entourage of agents, managers, lawyers or publicists, in a nearly complete media blackout.
It’s the AFI Awards. Nothing is asked of the talent other than to enjoy each other’s company.
The Party Report was lucky enough to attend. For a full recap of the warm spirit of community, check out TheWrap Awards Editor Steve Pond’s report here.
AFI Awards Lunch Offers Community and Touch of Trump-Bashing (Video)
Thirteen hundred film and TV industry notables attend Sunday’s Golden Globes. Culling that group down to just the top 200 most influential creatives and prime movers, the AFI lunch presents some of the most dynamic cast mashups and meetups.
Here are five of the best.
Above: “La La Land” x “Fences” x “Hidden Figures”
The camera loves youngster Saniyya Sidney (“Fences,” “Hidden Figures”). Like Janelle Monae and Andrew Garfield, she’s one of the few to appear in multiple awards-contending films. Sidney slid between this year’s awards season power couple (Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, above).
[Spoiler Alert] For the fans jolted by the “La La” ending — “Oh no!” — this three-shot makes us wonder if the fan favorite film had an alternate finish, this would be a really cool family portrait epilogue.“Sully” x “Hacksaw Ridge”
The Warner Bros. executive suite (Sue Kroll, left, and Kevin Tsujihara on the right) bookend the directors Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson.
“Hell or High Water” x “Sully” + “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”
The thrill of seeing Texas ranger duo Gil Birmingham (left) and Jeff Bridges (right) back together is topped by the inclusion of Eastwood, which harkens back to his tough guy performance in the Sergio Leone classic.
Fun fact: A clip from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” was shown during the lunch, part of AFI’s awesome mashup of the history of the moving image from all years ending in “6,” from 1906 – 2016. With Eastwood in the room watching along, the crowd loved it.
“Hacksaw Ridge” x “Fences”
Denzel Washington‘s late arrival set off flash bulbs and his closing remarks to the community as a whole felt like a senior prefect addressing the student body. Here, he mixes with the nicest newcomer on the scene, Luke Bracey (“Hacksaw Ridge”) and Bracey’s on-screen drill sergeant, Vince Vaughn.
“Game of Thrones” x “The People v. O.J. Simpson”
The Emmy night royalty comes to the Globes. The “Game of Thrones” masterminds David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, with Sarah Paulson. (More on Paulson’s spiritual soulmate Marcia Clark below, scroll down.)
Way Too Much Murder: “OJ: Made in America” (ESPN) x “The Night Of” (HBO) x “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (FX)
“O.J.” met “O.J.” as Ezra Edelman (left, director of the eight-hour O.J. doc) linked up with Cuba Gooding Jr.(right) from FX’s scripted O.J. limited series. With Riz Ahmed in the middle (the accused in HBO’s “The Night Of”), this grouping brought way too much “murder-as-entertainment” to the relaxed communal vibe.
“Moonlight” x “Fences”
Mahershala Ali and Stephen Henderson, who plays the best friend of Denzel’s “Fences” character, met up during the cocktail hour. Both are veteran actors who have been working for decades without the recognition they have been receiving this season.
“I’m really not…
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