A Night at The First Golden Globe Foundation Dinner
The first Golden Globe Foundation Dinner saw $5 million in grants handed out to 96 organizations on Jan. 5, 2024, at the Wilshire Garden Room of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The event also unveiled 2023-24 officers and a board of directors for the Foundation. Earl Gibson III will be the board chair; Henry Arnaud will be treasurer, and Tim Kittleson will be secretary. They will serve alongside the Foundation’s board of directors, including Silvia Bizio, Mia Farrell, Jeff Harris, Helen Hoehne, Adam Tanswell, and Meher Tatna. Greg Goeckner is the topper of the Foundation.
After the dinner (a choice of black cod, beef tenderloin, or mushroom risotto), the program began with welcoming remarks by Golden Globes president Hoehne and board chairman Gibson. First-time grantees this year include the Urban Scholar Film Academy, Outlast Arts & Education, and the Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project.
All grantees were mentioned, with brief film clips showcasing such grantees as Cal State Los Angeles, Film2Future, Intl. Women Media Foundation, Represent Justice, and the Film & TV Archive at UCLA. Aja Naomi King and Eva LaRue served as the funny hosts for the program. Presenters included Jon Hamm, Diane Warren, Eugenio Derbez, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Erica Ash, Renata Notniand and Taylor Zakhar Perez. Entertainment was provided by Matty Struski, representing the first-person storytelling project The Moth; the evening concluded with a rousing performance by the 19-person dance ensemble Everybody Dance LA!
The Golden Globe Foundation was formed in 2023 following the sale of the Golden Globes to Eldridge Globes LLC. The proceeds of that sale and the organization’s existing resources allow the Foundation to continue the long tradition of its predecessor, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Over the last three decades, licensing fees from the Golden Globe Awards have enabled these foundations to donate more than $55 million to a wide range of nonprofit organizations assisting underserved communities, universities and colleges, film restoration projects in the U.S. and overseas, and programs providing aid and assistance to journalists across the globe.