Los Angeles:
No stars, no red carpet, no televised coverage: This year’s Golden Globe winners will be announced on Sunday in a drastically scaled-down ceremony. But do the awards matter even more?
Hollywood studios normally use the glamorous sheen of the Globes as a major marketing boost for their movies and TV shows, but this year they are publicly boycotting the entire affair.
“For the most part, Hollywood doesn’t pay attention to the Golden Globes right now,” said Marc Malkin, senior editor of culture and events at Variety.
“If Hollywood doesn’t recognize these awards in any way, what meaning can they really have? I don’t think much,” he told AFP.
The boycott is the result of years of questionable practices by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, whose members vote at the Globes.
The group of a hundred entertainment writers with links to foreign publications has long been accused – privately, in Hollywood circles – of a litany of shortcomings, from corruption to racism.
But the Globes’ excessive power — second only to the Oscars in terms of clout — meant any criticism of the group was guarded, until a Los Angeles Times disclosure showing the HFPA had no black members last year. opened the locks.
Television rights holder NBC canceled this year’s broadcast.
So Sunday’s stripped-down 79th Golden Globe Awards — which begin at 6:00 p.m. (0200 GMT Monday) — will have no audience, media or stars, with organizers officially citing the resurgent pandemic as the reason.
But Malkin said, “The Hollywood Foreign Press Association tried to get celebrities to announce this year’s Golden Globe winners. And not a single celebrity — not a single celebrity — said yes.”
‘Barometer’
This year’s event is a far cry from the Globes’ traditional role as “Hollywood’s favorite party” and the first major event of the movie awards season.
Movies that win Globes — or even get nominations — usually report bumps in ticket sales, and studios in other years have proudly plastered their Globe results on Sunset Boulevard billboards and advertisements.
This year, Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” and Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” topped the Globes nominations, with seven each.
But the social media accounts or movie trailers made no mention of that, instead proclaiming other accolades, such as nominations for the Critics Choice Awards and others offered by local critics groups in the city, as well as festival awards.
“If you’re a studio hoping to get Golden Globe recognition, but you get the Golden Globe and you don’t actually celebrate it, does it matter?” asked Malkin.
Of course, Hollywood loves a good comeback story, and few would be brave enough to publicly write off a return to good graces for the internationally renowned awards.
“A golden statue is a golden statue. And for decades it has been a barometer of success,” said Richard Licata, a TV communications strategist and CEO of Licata & Co.
“To me, the Globes have always been important to anyone who has ever campaigned for an Oscar or an Emmy,” he added.
Since the scandal broke, the HFPA has swiftly implemented reforms, including admitting the largest-ever annual influx of notably more diverse new members.
It has banned members from accepting lavish gifts and hotel stays from studios courting their voices.
“As the months have gone by and this organization has reorganized and re-governed itself, I think saner minds have recently discovered that the boycott was more than a whiff of personal vendetta,” Licata said.
While studios are publicly keeping the HFPA at bay, sources told AFP that members were quietly being sent links or DVDs and invited to screenings — sometimes even at the request of their A-list stars.
Return?
So, do the Globes still matter? Maybe ever.
“This is an industry with a very long history of forgiveness. They take off something and after a while there is forgiveness,” Licata said.
“Yeah, I think the Globes will be back.”
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)