- HFPA
Stars and Surprise Guests To Give Awat $2 Million at HFPA Banquet
The HFPA is to give away almost $2 million at a star-studded donations banquet on Thursday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Surprise guests will join the many celebrities in accepting the donations on behalf of various charities. Celebrities who will be attending include Andy Samberg, Kerry Washington, Rob Pattinson, Sofia Vergara, Morgan Freeman, Elle Fanning, Patricia Arquette, Anne Heche, Franka Potente, Chris Evans, and James Marsden.
This year's donations bring the amount given away by the HFPA over the last 20 years to $20 million and mark the latest in ever-increasing amounts of money the organization has given to some 50 diverse entertainment-related and charitable organizations. For the first time the checks will be handed out at an evening banquet instead of at a lunch.
HFPA president Theo Kingma, said: "We try every year to give as much as we can to these highly deserving organizations. It is gratifying to know that our efforts are appreciated and we are helping to further the cause of education and film preservation."
As well as the preservation of film, the donations are for a wide range of projects, including higher education, training and mentoring and the promotion of cultural exchange through film.
Historically the Film Foundation has received the largest single donation and this year receives $35,000. So far the HFPA has been responsible for the restoration of more than 80 films. Among its many additional charities the HFPA provides scholarships, supports filmmaker training in Kenyan refugee camps and donates money to theater groups, musicians, storytellers' foundations, film archives and youth projects, as well as many other worthy causes.
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. Seventy 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 almost $20 million to entertainment related charities and scholarship programs.
The next Golden Globe awards will be held on January 11 2015.
