Globe nominees Sofia Vergara, Jane Lynch and a newly buzzed Zac Efron turned heads at Audi’s Golden Globes week “kick-off” party at Cecconi’s Sunday night. After passing by the old-timey searchlights out front, Zoe Saldana, Kathy Griffin and producer Bertram van Munster (“The Amazing Race”) were among the 275 invitees sampling bites from the Italian eatery and browsing the mini-showroom from fashion sponsor J. Mendel. (At left, Efron with nominee Matthew Morrison.)
Despite the festive mood, producer and one-time Paula Abdul dancer Adam Shankman (“So You Think You Can Dance”) got squirrely when asked about Abdul’s new “Live to Dance."
“I won’t talk about Paula. I wish her the best,” Shankman said while shaking his head and holding fingers to his lips.
After the three hour parade of A-listers across the Palm Springs stage on Saturday night, the party moved to the Parker Palm Springs hotel. Although a tent and ballrooms waited in the backyard, the action was in the lobby.
Honoree and first time attendee Diane Warren perched on a staircase, checking her email. “I didn’t know (the festival) was this big. This is like the Golden Globes,” she told TheWrap, echoing the theme of festival chairman Harold Matzner’s self-branding earlier in the night. (At right, Warren with Danny Boyle.)
Early arrivers David O. Russell, Amy Adams and Mark Wahlberg planted a flag on what became “The Fighter Couch." The trio held court in the open-to-the-public hotel lobby, choosing this space over the official party. Sitting with their reps and friends, nearly all the non-industry attendees missed them while rushing by to get to the official party’s “check-in” in the backyard. Had they turned their heads at all, they would have also seen Robert Duvall lingering a few feet away in limbo, planning his next move with a three or four guy entourage.
Hidden under a baseball cap and scarf, Darren Aronofsky wheeled his own suitcase against the tide rushing in to the event, stopping to chat with Wahlberg before heading out. Carey Mulligan also slipped out un-harassed under a knit cap.
After swapping a tux for a sweater to go more low-profile, Jake Gyllenhaal perched up on the back of the “Fighter Couch,” traded Blackberry info with Amy Adams, and went on on one with Wahlberg before a sparkly dressed local interrupted the two and unknowingly asked Wahlberg to shoot a photo of her with Gyllenhaal. “There’s a lot more qualified people here to handle a camera,” Wahlberg quipped.
There was no after-party for most of “The Social Network” cast. They hightailed it back to the Palm Springs Airport from the convention center to take off in the Sony jet before the local 10 p.m. airport curfew, a plane that didn’t have room for representatives to come along. (Instead, reps were offered a 10:30 AM round-trip shuttle from L.A., which many declined.)
The desert festivities kicked off Friday night with a party by Australian wine-maker Penfolds at the Riviera and concludes next Sunday night, while the world is focused elsewhere on the Golden Globes.
Before Sunday night’s premiere of “The Cape," executive producer Lloyd Braun, NBC’s Angela Bromstad, star David Lyons and Executive Producer Gail Berman threw a premiere party at the Music Box in Hollywood (photograph by Chris Haston). For east coast promotion, NBC partnered with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation by draping 30 statutes around the city with capes, including George Washington in Union Square Park and Eleanor Roosevelt on the Upper West Side.
