JO’S LETTERS ARE NOW IN ITALIAN

Congratulations to HFPA member Gabrielle Donnelly, whose acclaimed novel, THE LITTLE WOMEN LETTERS, a modern take on Louisa May Alcott’s beloved LITTLE WOMEN, which was published in America last June by the Touchstone division of Simon & Schuster, is now available in Italian.

LETTERE SEGRETE DI JO, translated by Stefania de Franco, was published by Giunti on July 27 and has been garnering favorable reviews on a variety of Italian book blogs.  Diario Di Pensieri Persi said:  “Over the whole story, Jo March’s letters are scattered like so many little stars to be admired on a dark night….  The letters seem really to have been written by Jo March; Gabrielle Donnelly is excellent at re-creating the literary style of Alcott’s heroine, and for the parts of the story that take place in the twenty-first century, she uses a natural evolution of the same style, just as crisp and lively, but more appropriate to the modern world.”

Another blogger has added, more simply, “I want this book soooo bad!”

Gabrielle Donnelly was born in London and has been a member of the HFPA since 1985. When not writing novels she is a freelance journalist contributing to British publications Hello!, The Daily Mail, Woman’s Weekly, Candis, and Saga.

HFPA GRANTS LUNCH A HIT WITH THE MEDIA

HFPA President Dr. Aida Takla-O’Reilly with Japanese superstar Yoshiki

The Hollywood Foreign Press Grants and Installation Lunch was widely covered by news organizations, magazines and television stations across the country who devoted much space and airtime to the celebrity-studded affair.

More than $1.5 million was given away by the association to various film-related charities and organisations, including $350,000 to the Film Foundation, which was accepted by Leonardo DiCaprio for the preservation and restoration of classic films.

HFPA LAWSUIT AGAINST DCP GOES TO TRIAL

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s lawsuit against Dick Clark Productions will go to trial this month.
The HFPA sued DCP last November, claiming that the production company improperly negotiated a new contract with NBC to air the awards.
A contract between the HFPA and Dick Clark Productions expires after the 2011 telecast. But Dick Clark Productions—-owned by Red Zone Capital, a private equity firm headed by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder –signed a new contract with NBC to air the Globes for seven more years. DCP contends that because of the NBC deal, the contract with HFPA is automatically renewed.
In a written statement HFPA President Aida Takla-O’Reilly said, “We look forward to proceeding to trial and vindicating our rights.”

HFPA Donations and Installation Luncheon

See the stars turn out to deliver and accept checks on behalf of this year’s HFPA grant recipients – totaling $1,500,000!

HFPA GIVES AWAY RECORD $1.5 MILLION

The Hollywood Foreign Press is giving away a record $1.579,500 to film-related organizations and charities this year.

The  donations were handed out at the star-studded Grants and Installation Lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel on August 4.

Leonardo DiCaprio accepted a check for $350,000 on behalf of the Film Foundation, which was founded by Martin Scorsese for the preservation and restoration of classic films. Other A-listers who were  there accepting donations included Mark Wahlberg, Gerard Butler, Hugh Dancy, Jessica Chastain, Kevin Bacon, Lea Michele, Taylor Lautner, Elizabeth Olsen, Yoshiki and Jim Sturgess.

HFPA President Dr Aida Takla- O’ Reilly informed the audience about the work HFPA has done over the past year:  “Thanks to many of you sitting in this room today, the Association has been able to give back over 1.5 million dollars to the most deserving entertainment-related charities, foundations, and scholarship programs.  After today’s festivities, we can proudly say our organization has donated more than 13.5 million dollars over the past 17 years through our grants program.”

She went on to say that, “This year, the HFPA membership also made it a priority to lend a helping hand in the wake of devastating international disasters.  Over $250,000 was donated to those affected by the Haitian and Chilean earthquakes and the Japanese tsunami.”

Dr. O’Reilly also introduced the new HFPA officers: Jorge Camara (Vice President), Ali Sar (Treasurer), Serge Rakhlin (Executive Secretary).  The new Board of Directors is comprised of Philip Berk (Chairman), Yoram Kahana, Yukiko Nakajima, Ruben Nepales, Meher Tatna, and Theo Kingma (Alternate).

Founded in the 1940s during World War II, the HFPA was originally comprised of a handful of LA based overseas journalists who sought to bridge the international community with Hollywood, and to provide distraction from the hardships of war through film.  Sixty-eight years later, members of the HFPA represent 55 countries with a combined readership of 250 million in some of the world’s most respected publications.  Each year, the organization holds the third most watched awards show on television, the Golden Globe Awards, which have enabled the organization to donate more than $12 million to entertainment related charities and scholarship programs. For more information, please visit www.goldenglobes.org, and follow us on Twitter (@goldenglobes) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/goldenglobes) for exclusive celebrity videos and up to the minute Golden Globes news!

HFPA 2011 GRANTS:

HIGHER EDUCATION FELLOWHISP & INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
·    American Film Institute- $30,000.00 Fellowships
·    Asuza Pacific University- $7,500.00 Senior capstone projects
·    California Institute for the Arts (CalArts)- $60,000.00 Fellowships
·    Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Foundation- $10,000.00 Capstone film project
·    Cal State Long Beach- $50,000.00 Film production costs for student films
·    Cal State Los Angeles- $50,000.00 Fellowships
·    Cal State Northridge- $50,000.00 Fellowships
·    Chapman University/Dodge College- $7,500.00     Fellowships
·    Columbia University- $50,000.00 Fellowships
·    Los Angeles City College- $15,000.00 Fellowships
·    Loyola Marymount University- $15,000.00 Fellowships
·    New York University- $36,000.00 Fellowships
·    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)- $80,000.00 Fellowships
·    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)- $30,000.00 Festival of New Creative Work
·    University of North Carolina- $20,000.00 Fellowships

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & MENTORING
·    Coalition of Asian Pacific’s in Entertainment (CAPE)- $11,000.00  General support for New Writers Awards competition
·    Film Independent, Project Involve- $35,000.00 General support
·    Independent Feature Project- $15,000.00 General support for Independent Filmmaker Labs
·    International Documentary Association- $10,000.00 General support for Doc U
·    National Association of Latino Independent Producers- $20,000.00 Expenses for Latino Producers Academy mentors
·    New York Stage & Film Company- $7,500.00 Expenses for mentors for Powerhouse Filmmakers Lab
·    Streetlights- $7,500.00 General funding for career advancement program
·    Sundance Institute- $100,000.00 For general support for screenwriter labs & Creative Producing Summit
·    Tribeca Film Festival- $10,000.00 General funding for Tribeca All Access mentoring program

PRE-PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & EDUCATION
·    California State Summer School Arts Foundation- $20,000.00 Scholarships
·    Ghetto Film School- $20,000.00 General support
·    Inner-City Arts- $25,000.00 General support
·    Inner City Filmmakers- $25,000.00 General support for job placement program
·    Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Foundation- $20,000.00 Screenwriting classes & equipment repair
·    The Talented Youth- $10,000.00 General support for Youth Filmmaking Excellence project

PRESERVE THE CULTURE & HISTORY OF FILM
·    The Film Foundation, Inc- $350,000.00     Preservation of two films
·    Los Angeles Conservancy- $35,000.00 General support for Last Remaining Seats
·    Museum of Modern Art    – $20,000.00 General support for film archive
·    Outfest- $30,000.00 General support for expansion of Legacy Project
·    University of California, Berkeley, Pacific Film Archive- $15,000.00 Support for guest filmmaker travel

PROMOTE CULTURAL EXCHANGE THROUGH FILM
·    American Cinematheque- $45,000.00 Screenings of Golden Globe foreign language nominees
·    FilmAid International- $50,000.00 Screenings & filmmaker training in Kenyan refugee camps
·    Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles- $10,000.00 Commemoration of Festival’s 10th Anniversary
·    Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles- $10,000.00 Screenings at various festivals
·    Levantine Cultural Center- $17,500.00 General support of monthly Middle Eastern film series

SPECIAL PROJECTS
·    Ensemble Studio Theatre- $15,000.00 General support for new play development
·    Lollipop Theater Network- $15,000.00 Bedside film screenings for children in So Cal hospitals
·    Los Angeles County Museum of Art- $75,000.00 General support for Film Program
·    Young Musicians Foundation- $10,000.00 General support for Guest Conductor Series
·    Pablove Foundation- $5,000.00 General support for photo project for sick children

GRAND TOTAL:    $1,579,500

HFPA GIVES $350,000 FOR FILM PRESERVATION

 

“Movies touch our hearts and awaken 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 life time, we need to keep them alive.”

—Martin Scorsese

With a donation of $350,000 to the Film Foundation, which was accepted at the HFPA’s Installation and Grants lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel by Leonardo DiCaprio,  the Association continues its mission to help restore some of the greatest cinema classics of our time.

When you consider that half the American films made before 1950 and 90% of films made before 1929 have been lost forever, film preservation has never had a more urgent need.

The Film Foundation, which director Martin Scorsese founded in 1990, has been at the forefront of film preservation. The nonprofit organization provides substantial annual support for restoration and preservation at the nation’s leading film archives. Instrumental in raising awareness of the urgent need to preserve films it has helped, with generous donors such as the Hollywood Foreign Press, to save more than 545 films. This “hands-on” preservation ensures that these great films which are not only works of art but historical records and essential representations of our culture will survive for future generations.

Since first contributing to The Film Foundation fifteen years ago, the Hollywood Foreign Press has become a major supporter, donating more than 3 million dollars  which have  contributed to the preservation of more than 75 motion pictures by such noted directors as Stanley Kubrick, John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, Jean Renoir and John Cassavetes.

“It means a great deal to us,” says Jennifer Ahn, the Managing Director of The Film Foundation. “The HFPA is so instrumental in preservation of film history. They put an enormous amount of effort and funds to this mission and it is a huge part of what The Film Foundation does. We highly value and praise the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for this invaluable public service”.

Donations from the HFPA in 2004 helped restore one of 1939’s Best Picture nominees, Lewis Milestone’s “Of Mice and Men”, as well as Jean Renoir’s 1951 classic, “The River.”  HFPA grants also contributed to the restoration of Orson Welles brooding 1948 version of “Macbeth”, the 1948 classic The Red Shoes,  Nicholas Ray’s “Born to be Bad” from 1950, Otto Preminger’s 1955 searing indictment of drug addiction in his 1955 film, “The Man with the Golden Arm,” Melvin van Peebles controversial blaxploitation 70’s film ,”Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song,” and Robert Altman‘s Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean.

HFPA’S SHOWBIZ GIFTS

HFPA supports many industry causes and orgs. Here’s a sampling of five that benefit from its generosity:

American Film Institute
“All the HFPA funds donated to the American Film Institute go to offset the cost of filmmaker’s tuition and expenses for studying at the conservatory,” says AFI senior VP Tom West. “We’re asking people to take two years out of their lives to work with master filmmakers and make movies. They’ll come out of our program with a minimum of four projects, three shorts and a thesis film.”
Students have to raise money to make their movies so every bit of financial help makes a big difference.

The Film Foundation
Restoring “The Red Shoes,” helmers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 classic took three years, cost a whopping $625,000 and enlisted an army of 35 specialists.
“It was one of most complicated restorations we’ve ever done. But it was also one of our greatest achievements,” says Jennifer Ahn, the Film Foundation’s managing director. “It was a digital restoration and took years to complete because the original camera negative had deteriorated so badly.”
Over the past 15 years, HFPA has given $3.3 million to the Film Foundation, assisting in the restoration of over 75 titles. This year’s $350,000 donation will be used to restore Italo helmer-scribe Elio Petri’s “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion” (1970), Powell and Pressburger’s “The Tales of Hoffman” (!951) and Laslo Benedek’s film version of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” (1951).

Film Independent
Los Angeles-based Film Independent encourages minority filmmakers through its free nine-month training and mentorships with such industry players as Spike Jonze, Alexander Payne and Rodrigo Garcia.
“Each year 30 to 40 African-Americans, Asians, Native Americans and Latinos sign up for the free programs for writers producers and directors,” says the org’s director of diversity, Michael Lopez.
Recent grads include filmmaker Javier Fuentes-Leon whose 2009 “Undertow” premiered at Sundance then went on to be Peru’s submission in the foreign-language film category at the Academy Awards.

FilmAid
Refugees in African camps love Looney Toons, “The Wizard of Oz” and Charlie Chaplin.
“We initially started just driving a truck into the camps and projecting films onto its side,” says FilmAid Intl.’s executive director, Liz Manne. Now the org offers filmmaking training programs in two refugee camps in Kenya, one bordering Somalia, and one bordering South Sudan.
“The current number is over 410,000 refugees in these camps,” explains Manne. “We run screening programs where we show some Hollywood fare and films of inspiration that offer hope, diversion and healing to people who are psychologically traumatized.
“Movies offer us a universal experience. Even if you’re a 5-year-old Somali refugee looking at Tweety Bird under stars, your experience is going to be the same as a kid in a mall theater in the Valley.”

Inner-City Filmmakers
Scoring jobs for disadvantaged kids with heavyweights James Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola are just a couple of the many success stories of Inner-City Filmmakers.
“Jon Turteltaub hired our kids for almost every film he’s made in the last five years,” says Inner-City founder Fred Heinrich. “What’s most notable is that not only did he give the kids a chance at entry level jobs but that they have risen up through the ranks, have become union members and are constantly employed.”
Created in 1993, the org offers free year-round hands-on training and job placement for urban kids with no financial wherewithal. To date the program boasts 493 alumni.

THE HFPA ATTENDS THE ODESSA FILM FESTIVAL

Since Ukraine  became an independent country Odessa has transformed itself into a vibrant European resort full of cafes, night life and young people. The city was ripe for a major cultural event, and  the first Odessa Film Festival last year was a huge success.  Every film that was exhibited had a full house, so for its second edition, the bet was increased.

This year, from July 15 to 23, more than 100 films from 40 countries were received by an enthusiastic audience, and 14 of the films were in competition. A jury that included Maria de Medeiros and Jerzy Stuhr awarded the Golden Duke to “Tomboy” in a grand closing night at the Opera House, one of the finest music palaces in the world.

Hollywood Foreign Press member  Gabriel Lerman presented the president of the festival,Viktoria Tigipko, with a plaque from the HPFA and explained to the full house how the HFPA helps film education and the restoration of classics through its extensive philanthropic work.

Gabrielle Donnelly’s fifth novel, THE LITTLE WOMEN LETTERS

Congratulations to HFPA member Gabrielle Donnelly on the success of her fifth novel, THE LITTLE WOMEN LETTERS, which was published on June 7 by the Touchstone imprint of Simon & Schuster.

THE LITTLE WOMEN LETTERS, a modern day homage, set in contemporary London, to Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic LITTLE WOMEN, is hitting best seller lists in Britain and America alike and winning overwhelmingly enthusiastic reviews from both print outlets and blogs, with THE WASHINGTON POST  declaring it “could be just the perfect pool-side read” (June 18) and a chorus of praise on goodreads hailing it as “captivating,” “FANTASTIC!” (capitals and screamer the reviewer’s own) and “a joy.”

Gabrielle Donnelly was born and brought up in London and has lived in Los Angeles since 1980.  As well as writing novels, she contributes to The Daily Mail, Hello!, Saga, and Women’s Weekly. She has been a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association since 1984.

DEBBIE REYNOLDS SHARES HER TREASURES WITH THE WORLD

Debbie Reynolds gave Hollywood Foreign Press members a guided tour of some of the 5,000 props, costumes and sets from Hollywood’s Golden Age which she has collected over the past 50 years.

The collection, on show at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, is going up for auction because the 79-year-old actress is unable to find a permanent home for it.

She had the collection briefly on display at the Las Vegas hotel and casino she owned in the 1980s and despite losing the hotel along with a small fortune and having to declare bankruptcy she managed to hold on to the memorabilia.

Until recently she hoped it would be housed in a purpose-built museum near Dollywood in Tennessee but the property developer went bankrupt and the project never materialised.

“I’m very sad the collection isn’t in a museum,” she said, “but I’ve spent literally millions of dollars just on protecting it and taking care of it and now I’m sick and tired of it and feel I must call it a day.”

The star of such classic films as Singing In The Rain and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Reynolds acquired many of the costumes, props and sets when she bought the MGM collection in 1970, but she continued to add to it.

Among the items are props and costumes from My Fair Lady, Cleopatra, The King and I, Rita Hayworth‘s dress from Salome, Harpo Marx’s hat and wig and the famous pleated dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch,

The 600 items for sale in the first auction are expected to bring in between $4 million and $6 million.

Text by John Hiscock / Photographs by Theo Kingma