“This right here,  is my favorite party of the year”, said  Jamie Lee Curtis, who hosted  the annual HFPA Grants Banquet at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “The kind of party where they invite you, feed and give away $2 million”. Jamie Lee entertained, cajoled and urged the room full of Hollywood A-listers, professionals, journalists and publicists to “get out there and put some skin in  he game”. “This is the greatest example of the global us, the diversity, the very thing we are talking about in this  election: the colorful coalition of people from different countries and religions and backgrounds coming together and doing something incredibly powerful. That kind of good-doing is what makes this country great, what makes this business great and what makes the HFPA singular in their generosity of spirit.”

With that, HFPA president Lorenzo Soria welcomed the guests with help from Chris Evans and Aaron Taylor Johnson who kicked off the proceedings by presenting HFPA endowments to the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation and to the Film Noir Foundation as well as the Toronto Film Festival Reel Heritage Grant which will protect and preserve more then 800 endangered 35mm film prints.

It was just the beginning of an evening during which the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the grants, which this year were awarded to over fifty organizations devoted to philanthropy, education and film preservation. The endowments were announced by Renée Zellweger, Gina Rodriguez, Emma Stone, Hugh Grant,  Justin Timberlake, Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn among others.

Recipients included organizations active in higher education (Loyola Marymount University, UCLA, University of North Carolina, CalArts, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, University of Southern California), Professional Mentoring (AFi, Cal State Summer School, Ghetto Film School, Inner City Arts, LAUSD/USC MEDIA Arts & Engineering Magnet School, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts) and the arts (The  Music Center, Ensemble Studio Theater, The Gingold Theater Group, Young Storytellers Foundation).

The mission of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is to foster  education, diversity  and creative expression in art and film through a variety of programs and special grants which earlier this year included a special $2 million endowment given to Cal State Northridge School of Film and television. 

The 2016 Grants Banquet concluded with three-time Golden Globe winner Warren Beatty announcing a $350,000 contribution to the project by the Film Foundation which is sponsoring a specially retrofitted film booth to allow the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theater in Hollywood to once again screen original nitrate prints.

Here is the complete list if HFPA grants for 2016, by category:

HIGHER EDUCATION FELLOWSHIPS & INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

·         California Institute for the Arts (CalArts) – $60,000

·         Cal State Fullerton – $25,500

·         Cal State Long Beach – $60,000

·         Cal State Los Angeles – $60,000

·         Cal State Northridge – $60,000

·         Columbia University – $60,000

·         Los Angeles City College – $25,000

·         Mt. San Antonio College Foundation – $10,000

·         New York University – $50,000

·         University of California, Los Angeles – $125,000

 

HFPA SCHOLARSHIP/FELLOWSHIP ENDOWMENTS

·         American Film Institute – $20,000

·         CalArts – $12,500

·         Cal State Fullerton – $5,000

·         Cal State Long Beach – $5,000

·         Cal State Los Angeles – $2,550

·         Cal State Northridge – $5,000

·         Columbia University – $20,000

·         Los Angeles City College – $4,000

·         Loyola Marymount – $20,000

·         Mt. San Antonio College Foundation – $5,000

·         New York University – $20,000

·         UCLA – $20,000

·         University of North Carolina – $5,000

·         University of Southern California – $20,000

 

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & MENTORING

·         American Film Institute – $30,000

·         Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment – $15,000

·         Exceptional Minds – $25,000

·         Film Independent, Project: Involve – $60,000

·         Independent Filmmaker Project (Brooklyn, NY) – $20,000

·         International Documentary Association – $10,000

·         Motion Picture & Television Fund – $10,000

·         New Filmmakers Los Angeles – $10,000

·         SAG/AFTRA Foundation – $10,000

·         Streetlights – $10,000

·         Sundance Institute – $100,000

·         Women Make Movies – $10,000

 

PRE-PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & EDUCATION

·         California State Summer School Arts Foundation – $25,000

·         Echo Park Film Center – $10,000

·         Ghetto Film School – $30,000

·         GlobalGirl Media – $10,000

·         Inner-City Arts (Downtown LA) – $30,000

·         Inner City Filmmakers (Santa Monica) – $30,000

·         LAUSD/USC Arts & Engineering Magnet – $25,000

·         Los Angeles County High School for the Arts – $25,000

·         The Music Center – $5,000

 

PRESERVE THE CULTURE & HISTORY OF FILM

·         Film Noir Foundation – $25,000

·         Outfest (UCLA LGBT project) – $35,000

·         The Film Foundation – $350,000

·         Toronto International Film Festival – $15,000

 

PROMOTE CULTURAL EXCHANGE THROUGH FILM

·         American Cinematheque – $45,000

·         Film Independent at LACMA, Bring the Noise – $125,000

·         FilmAid International – $60,000

·         Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles – $15,000

·         Library Foundation of Los Angeles – $10,000

·         Los Angeles Conservancy, Last Remaining Seats – $35,000

·         Museum of the Moving Image – $10,000

·         San Francisco Silent Film Festival – $10,000

·         University of California, Berkeley Film Archive – $20,000

·         University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (Ebertfest) – $10,000

 

SPECIAL PROJECTS

·         Children’s Hospital – $25,000

·         Ensemble Studio Theatre – $15,000

·         Gingold Theatre Group/Shaw Festival – $10,000

·         Lollipop Theater Network – $20,000

·         Pablove Foundation – $10,000

·         Young Musicians Foundation – $10,000

·         Young Storytellers Foundation – $10,000

 

ONE TIME GRANTS

Higher Education: Fellowships & Institutional Support

·         Cal State Fullerton – $50,000

·         Cal State Long Beach – $40,000

·         Cal State Los Angeles – $50,000

·         Mount San Antonio College – $30,000

Other Grantees

·         Los Angeles County High School for the Arts – $41,466

·         Motion Picture and Television Fund – $47,665

 

2016 GRANTS FOR NEW GRANTEES

·         Kids in the Spotlight – $10,000

·         Hollywood Heritage Museum – $10,000

 

See more on the 2016 HFPA Grants Banquet.