Hollywood Foreign Press Association
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who reported on the American entertainment industry for predominantly foreign media markets.[4][5] It is best known for founding and conducting the annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California, which honors notable achievements in film and television, from its inception in 1943 until 2023.[6][5] The HFPA consisted of about 105 members from approximately 55 countries with a combined following of more than 250 million.[7][8]
"HFPA" redirects here. For the audio recording format, see High Fidelity Pure Audio.Abbreviation
On June 12, 2023, the HFPA announced that it would disband.
Membership criteria[edit]
Membership meetings were held monthly, and the officers and directors were elected annually.
In February 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported that none of the HFPA members were black.[18] In response, in early May 2021, the association announced a series of reforms aimed at increasing membership with a "specific focus on recruiting Black members",[19] improving governance, and reducing conflicts of interest.[20]
Lorenzo Soria was elected President of Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 2019.[21] Helen Hoehne was named President in September 2021.[22]
Charity[edit]
The HFPA was a nonprofit organization that donated funds to entertainment-related charities. The Golden Globe Awards generated $10 million from its television broadcast each year. The HFPA hosted an annual grants banquet to distribute funds; $2.1 million was donated to nonprofits in 2015, leaving $8 million not being donated to any charities.[23] According to the HFPA, from 1990 to 2015, over $23.9 million was donated to charity and used to fund scholarships and grants;[24] this averaged less than $1 million per year. In 2019, the organization disbursed grants worth under $6 million from a total income of over $30 million.[25]
Funds have also been used to restore more than 90 films, including King Kong (1933) and Woman on the Run (1950).[23]
With the winding down of the HFPA, its philanthropic activities transitioned to a new non-profit known as the Golden Globe Foundation.[26][27][28]
HFPA Residency[edit]
In 2008, the HFPA announced its residency program in partnership with Film Independent. The program selects three winners from the Italian Venice Film Festival's Orizzonti section and three participants from Canada's Toronto International Film Festival to Los Angeles for an intensive workshop.[29]
The 2019 residency fellows included Emir Baigazin, Mahmut F. Coskun, Georgia Fu, Maria Bozzi, Avril Z. Speaks, Rati Tsiteladze, and Cynthia Kao.[30][31]
The 2020 residency program winners were TIFF participants: All These Creatures by Australian Charles Williams, Misterio by Chema Garcia from Spain, and Measure by Canadian director Karen Chapman. This is in addition to Venice winners: Atlantis, by Ukrainian Valentyn Vasyanovych, Blanco en Blanco by Spaniard Théo Court and Filipino Raymund Ribay Gutierrez.[32]
The 2021-22 residency fellows were: Al–Saati (Saudi Arabia) Hair: The Story of Grass, Jeff Wong (Canada) H’mong Sisters, Alvaro Gago Diaz (Spain) Matria, Ahmed Bahrimi (Iran) The Wasteland, Ana Rocha de Sousa (Portugal) Listen, Ricky D’Ambrose (USA) The Cathedral, Jose Maria Aviles (Ecuador) Al Oriente, Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivier (Argentina) Nuestros Dias Mas Felcies, Beatrice Baldacci (Italy) La Tana, Sahraa Karimi (Afghanistan), Rohena Gera (India), and Nuhas Humayan (Bangladesh).[33]
The 2023 residency program fellows were: Tahmini Raffaella (Banu), Monica Dugo (Come le tartarughe), Eldar Shibanov (Mountain Onion), Hanna Västinsalo (Palimpsest), Phumelele Mthembu (African America), and Soudade Kaadan (Nezouh).[34]
Controversies[edit]
Membership and accusations of self-dealing[edit]
Although it counted some prominent journalists among its membership,[35] since at least the 1990s, the HFPA has been accused of lax membership criteria, including accepting members with little or no journalistic background.[36] A 1996 article in the Washington Post alleged that the majority of HFPA members were not full-time professional journalists, but rather part-time freelance writers for smaller publications as well as non-journalists, ranging from a college professor to an appliance salesman.[37]
An investigation by the Los Angeles Times in 2021 found that the HFPA regularly paid its members over $1 million annually for serving on various committees, which may jeopardize its status as a tax-exempt non-profit organization.[38] The report noted that the association's small membership made it easier to sway than the significantly larger voting bodies of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the Television Academy. Members allegedly were offered access to actors and film sets, as well as expensive gifts, such as high-priced hotel stays and restaurant bookings.[38] The investigation alleged that many of HFPA members are not journalists, and that established foreign journalists who apply are regularly rejected.[38]
An antitrust lawsuit was filed against the HFPA in August 2020 by a Norwegian journalist, Kjersti Flaa, whose request for membership had been repeatedly rejected. She alleged that the group was operating as a cartel that monopolized the market of foreign entertainment journalism, that she had been rejected as not to cannibalize other Scandinavian members, and that her inability to join was impacting her ability to gain their "exclusive" access to celebrities and junkets. On November 24, 2020, a federal court threw out the lawsuit, arguing that Flaa did not define the "market" that the HFPA was allegedly monopolizing, and that the HFPA was not subject to the right of fair procedure, since engaging in an "activity of some interest to the public" was not the same as operating "in the public interest".[39]
Black representation[edit]
In 2021, the HFPA faced criticism for the lack of Black representation among its members; it was reported by the Los Angeles Times that the association had not had a new Black member since Meher Tatna, its former president, in 2002. Variety cited criteria requiring new members to have been sponsored by two current HFPA members as being a major roadblock towards recruiting new Black members, stating that "for a foreign journalist based in Los Angeles, building relationships with this small group, which are largely unknown to the public, is difficult due to its tight and exclusive membership policies. More transparency would help alleviate the public perception that the group doesn't seek to be inclusive."[40]
Ahead of the 78th Golden Globe Awards, Time's Up launched a social media campaign to draw attention to the issue. On February 25, 2021, the HFPA stated that it was "fully committed to ensuring our membership is reflective of the communities around the world who love film, TV and the artists inspiring and educating them", and that it planned to "immediately work to implement an action plan" to "bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds." The HFPA stated that over 35% of its members were people of color from non-European countries, but it was aware that none of its current members were Black.[41][42]
On March 9, 2021, the HFPA announced that it had hired Shaun R. Harper, executive director of the USC Race and Equity Center, as its new "strategic diversity officer", and hired Ropes & Gray to "support the continued development of a confidential reporting system for investigating alleged violations of our ethical standards and code of conduct."[43] In April 2021, former HFPA president Philip Berk was expelled after he emailed fellow members an article that described Black Lives Matter as a "racist hate movement", and slammed organizer Patrisse Cullors for purchasing a home in an upscale neighborhood.[44]
