HFPA

On the 23rd day of Russia’s war on Ukraine, our wonderful grantee, the Committee to Protect Journalists, held a panel titled “Human Rights Violations and the Dangers Facing Journalists in Ukraine”. Experts from both the CPJ and Human Rights Watch were on hand to explain the current situation and to field questions from other reporters about the war, ongoing human rights violations, disinformation and the dangers facing journalists on the frontlines of history.

In the mid-70s, her father became the first Black general manager of a TV station in the country when the Federal Communications Commission suspended the local station at Jackson, Mississippi for racist practices and mandated that it be run by a Black group. It was there, growing up in Mississippi, that Erika Dilday understood the importance of having a “diversity of voices within the narrative.

Australians in Film, which originated in 2001, is one of the most important and innovative organizations in the Australian film and television industry. Largely responsible for the success of many Australian actors and storytellers who followed their dreams and made the leap to Hollywood, especially through the Heath Ledger scholarship, AiF champions undiscovered talent, and of late, has focused on under-represented communities.

Outfest is one of the few LGBTQIA+ arts, media, and entertainment organizations created to empower and encourage developing artists to achieve their dreams in telling their stories to the world. It produces two film festivals, a streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles.

The HFPA has been a proud supporter of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) since 2017 and has granted them almost $2 million for their efforts to defend press freedom worldwide and to protect journalists and their right to report the news freely and without fear. The HFPA Board of Directors today announced an additional $75,000 to help their efforts in Ukraine.

Three Hollywood Foreign Press Association members were among those honored at the Los Angeles Press Club’s 14th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards held on Thursday, February 17, 2022, taking home a collective five prizes in a diverse and crowded field of entries and finalists from outlets inclusive of the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Hollywood’s major trade publications. Typically held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, this year’s event was, like so many others over the past two years, impacted by the pandemic, and this time held virtually.

Neil Phillips, the first Chief Diversity Officer for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, is an unapologetic optimist. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Phillips was raised in the Washington DC area and went on to study English and American Literature at Harvard University.

What do Joseph Lopir, a student of FilmAid´s Media Training Program at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya; Abdiqathar Keinan, of the Media Training Program at Dadaab Refugee Camp; and Lismari Machado, a member of the Communication Network that serves the Wayuu Community, the largest indigenous community in Colombia, have in common? They share the passion and willingness to tell stories that reflect the reality of their own communities. FilmAid is a non-profit organization founded by film producer Caroline Baron in 2001 with the mission of empowering refugee communities to strengthen their ability to access high-quality, lifesaving information, as well as advocate for themselves through filmmaking and visual storytelling.

It’s been a year since entertainment executive Kyle Bowser took over the reins of the NAACP’s Hollywood Bureau as Senior Vice President. And in that year, so much has happened.

The HFPA is best known for giving out the Golden Globe awards. Now, six HFPA members have earned several nominations for awards of their own for their excellence in journalism.