Good-bye to the Golden Globes gala
Well, we all knew it was going to happen — we were just waiting for the proverbial foot covering to plummet: the Golden Globes award ceremony has been canceled. No red carpet interviews, no pithy conversations between television and movie stars, no close-ups of actors or actresses laughing at jokes that really aren’t that funny but seem totally hilarious after a few appletinis.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, along with NBC decided to scrap the ceremony after a boycott threat from representatives of the Screen Actors Guild. Rather than have an empty auditorium, all parties agreed to adopt another approach to the ceremony — a extremely less glamorous one hour news conference where the award recipients will be named (to be aired at the same time the original show was to be broadcast).
People close to the awards show say the HFPA will forgo the typical network payment for the news conference (somewhere around $5 million). NBC will have exclusive electronic rights for the press conference and will be able to sell advertising for it. Seems like a win for NBC, in my opinion.
Golden Globes looking unlikely
According to Yahoo, the Golden Globe Awards looked a little less like as the Screen Actors Guild has stated that nearly all of its members refuse to cross the WGA Strike picket line. This makes it all the more important for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to obtain an independent deal with the WGA before the awards show is broadcast.
As previously reported on TV Squad, the HFPA was hoping to get an interim agreement with the WGA, similar to the one David Letterman and his production company Worldwide Pants obtained to continue The Late Show and The Late, Late Show with writers.
HFPA president Jorge Camara said a solution to the problem could come as early as Monday. The question is whether the solution will be an agreement with the WGA or a change in the format of the program to one that doesn’t require writers, or quite possibly a cancellation of this year’s broadcast.
With the Oscars coming up soon in February, the industry will certainly be watching this situation as it develops. If the Golden Globes are canceled, then it is entirely possible that the Oscars will follow suit.
Golden Globes wants WGA to play nice
According to Reuters, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is in talks with the WGA to allow the Golden Globe Awards to be broadcast as planned. They are trying to get an “interim agreement” such as the one negotiated by David Letterman’s company Worldwide Pants.
Letterman’s agreement does pave the way for individual organizations to directly negotiate with the WGA. Since the Golden Globes are Hollywood’s second biggest self-aggrandizing party (the Oscars being the first), it’s easy to see how such an agreement would benefit both sides.
When I first read the article, I thought the HFPA was more concerned with picketing and/or celebrities unwilling to cross picket lines than actually getting writers for the awards, but it seems that they are actually trying to snag writers for the gig. Probably a good idea, since most of the actors in Hollywood aren’t that much into improvisation.
If this goes through, it opens the possibility of the Oscars doing the same thing (although given the lame jokes at the most of the Oscars I’ve ever watched, I wonder if a lack of writers would improve it). Perhaps even the production companies of scripted shows rather than the studios could directly negotiate with the WGA and the scripted shows could return. I can dream, can’t I?
Why The Golden Globes Are Wrong
I have decided to republish an updated version of this popular blog post from last year, because it has again proved relevant.
Okay, first off: Wrong might be a harsh word. It was used to get your attention. And got your attention it did. Extremely flawed doesn’t make an interesting headline. This year’s award winners had a strong bias to films and or stars with foreign origin and or following, at the expense of better movies.
Every year we watch the Globes but Why? Does anyone even have ANY slightest bit of an idea of who decides the winners and losers? Let’s take a look, you might be shocked at what is revealed (or at least you’ll have some interesting trivia to impress people with next year).
Did You Know that the Academy of Motion Science (the guys who vote on the Academy Awards) consists of over 6,000 members?
Pop Quiz: How many people make up the group that decides the Golden Globes?
Shocking Answer!
Answer: 86
Is it just a little shocking that the group that determines the second biggest award show in Hollywood is so small? I mean who are these people anyways?
Pop Quiz #2: How many of the members of the HFPA write for a United States publication?
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Answer: 0
Amazing isn’t it? Not really. The HFPA stands for The Hollywood Foreign Press Association. There are no U.S. members, but two of the critics are from our neighbors to the north - Canada. Better yet, I haven’t heard of even a handfull of these names, probably because the members of the HFPA aren’t even considered the top of their field.
86 People you’ve never heard of (they aren’t even the best of the best foreign critics) deciding who wins the “Golden Globes”, yet every year we line up in front of our little (now bigger) televisions to see who won. Every year critics associations from around the country give out awards (which are considered far less biased). But that is all done in a press release. There is no actual award show even though some of these associations have a membership that rivals the HFPA. In fact, if you look at the list of HFPA members, you probably wont recognize anyone. At least a critics society like the New York Film Critics Circle has names you can trust, like J Hoberman of the Village Voice, or Rex Reed of the New York Observer. In fact, the majority of names on the HFPA list are not even considered well-regarded foreign reviewers.
Do you really care or TRUST what Ray Arco has to say about movies? Because I sure don’t. Yet every year I watch the awards. I hate this to come off as super right-wing patriotic, because I am anything but that… I’m super liberal, and I love films from all countries. I probably see more American films because of where I live, but at the end of the year I put everything on an even table. I just wish these “Global Awards” were what they claim to be.
Because, just think, if they called it what it should be called (A Small Sampling of Un-notable Foreign Press Film Critics Awards) no one would watch it, attend, or even care.
Bottom Line: The Golden Globes is a FLAWED concept. How can we expect a group of foreign press to be unbiased towards films and stars with foreign ties in playing field that consists of over 85% American films? What if I started up a “Global Movie Awards” voted on by a small sampling of average American critics you’ve never heard of? Even if 85% of the films nominated were created outside of the U.S. system, I’d bet that mostly American friendly stars and films would win out.
UNLESS you choose only the top American film critics as members of said jury. People with reputations on the line. Referees with merit. Than the best film would win out reguardless of country of origin.
It’s also been well documented in the past that the HFPA is easily influenced. I’m sure flying the HFPA members to events like say for example, the Sweeney Todd junket in England, probably had no result on the final award decisions… Many of the HFPA members have reputations as star-struck fans and moochers more than as serious reporters/critics.