Oscar Parties 2016: The Best Invites (Updating)

TheWrap’s Mikey Glazer previews the key Oscar parties, as Stevie Wonder, James Corden, Eddie Redmayne, and SnapChat take leading roles

Oscar parties
Stevie Wonder, James Corden, Eddie Redmayne, and SnapChat take leading roles in key industry Oscar parties. (Getty Images)

This guide to Oscar parties will be updated on an ongoing basis until the week of the big event.

It is a good thing 2016 is a leap year.

The bleary morning after the Oscars, the quadrennial February 29, will be a recovery day after nominees, their teams, partners, and co-celebrants dry out after a week spent celebrating the Academy Awards.

Before and after the Chris Rock-hosted telecast on February 28, industry festivities will spread from Hollywood to the beach. Here is TheWrap’s navigational guide.

Tuesday, February 23

Vanity Fair Young Hollywood Party
Chateau Marmont
8 p.m.

Always the first event of the week, a young Hollywood A-lister supports a personal charity. This year, it’s Olivia Munn. Other than the host, the people at this one are not those getting coveted Sunday night invitations, but they get to “touch” Oscar week. Fiat sponsors.

Wednesday, February 24

Stevie Wonder Performs at Global Green
Mr. C Beverly Hills
Wednesday, February 24

James-Corden-Stevie-Wonder
Two guys who will both lead Oscar celebrations: Stevie Wonder and James Corden. (CBS)

Talk about a bounce-back. It’s been years since the sheen of Tom Cruise and other A-listers going green on Oscar week at this event lost its luster. Moving from the Avalon in Hollywood, the environmental org has booked a more intimate and festive site over in Beverly Hills. Soledad O’Brien emcees.


Vanity Fair and Barney’s New York Dinner for “Spotlight”

Chateau Marmont
7 p.m.

In recent weeks, Best Picture contender “Spotlight” screened at the Vatican before a three-day meeting on clerical sex abuse, the filmmakers traveled to London for the BAFTAs, and writers Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy won WGA awards back home in the U.S. McCarthy, a double Oscar nominee, joins with his nominated cast for a synergistic fundraiser for the non-profit investigative journalism group ProPublica.

Irish Film Board Party
Laurel Hardware
6 p.m.

It’s not just Saoirse Ronan. Between “Room” and “Brooklyn”, Irish Hollywood is celebrating 7 Oscar nominations, the first time this group has thrown an Oscar week event.

Thursday, February 25

Cadillac Celebrates the 88th Academy Awards
Thursday, February 25, 8 p.m.
Chateau Marmont

This is a new one. We don’t know what to expect, but we know the host is a veteran of a rival luxury car brand that drove home deep-seated relationships with the talent and creative communities. The setting is right. Hopes are high.

J.J. Abrams Hosts the Oscar Wilde Awards
Bad Robot in Santa Monica

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - DECEMBER 09: (L to R) Actor Adam Driver, director J.J. Abrams, actress Daisy Ridley and actor John Boyega attend the event for fans ahead of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' South Korea premiere at the Octagon on December 9, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios)
J.J. and team “Star Wars” on the global promotional tour for “The Force Awakens”, a contrast to the intimacy of this rooftop soiree in Santa Monica. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios)

The West Side offices of the now white-hot global force hosts this annual get together where the Irish and Irish-friendly community in Hollywood honors their own, like Daisy Ridley, James Corden, and “Room” director Lenny Abrahamson, who attended Trinity College in Dublin.

“Bigger is not necessarily better,” said Trina Vargo, founder of the U.S.-Ireland Alliance. “We’re not interested in having a thousand people in a hotel ballroom. Guests like this event because it is a unique opportunity for creative individuals to meet each other and talk, honor great work and enjoy great music.”

Matthew McConaughey, Olivia Wilde, Gina Rodriguez, and Seth Rogen at Unite4:Good
Montage Beverly Hills
Time: 6:30 p.m.

The celebs pick up honors for using their platforms to highlight their causes, while seven civilian honorees earn stripes for using their voices for positive change.

OK Magazine Pre-Oscar Party
Beso
7:30 p.m.

Yes, it’s a tabloid weekly. However, they are taking their sponsors’ money and putting it to the Global Gift Foundation, which describes their mission as “making a positive impact on the lives of children, women, and families.”

Zac Posen Luncheon
Ennis House
1 p.m.

MAC Cosmetics hosts this 50-person lunch for the designer in the days after fashion week.

An Evening With Canada’s Stars
Four Seasons Beverly Hills
5 p.m.

Two of Canada's nominees. (Getty Images)
Two of Canada’s nominees. (Getty Images)

America’s northern neighbor netted 21 Oscar nominations this year, including Rachel McAdams (“Spotlight”) and three for Denis Villeneuve‘s “Sicario.” True to the nation’s commonwealth roots, the Consulate General of Canada and Telefilm Canada scheduled this event in the early evening “tea-time” slot. No word yet on whether McAdams or fellow Canadian nominee The Weeknd (above) will be in attendance. Update: Expected attendees do not include the above-mentioned and pictured Canadians. Producers from “Room”, “Brooklyn”, and a grab bag of talent like Eugene Levy are on the list.

Friday, February 26

Vanity Fair & Stuart Weitzman Luncheon Celebrating Elizabeth Banks
AOC

The BRITs are Coming: Eddie Redmayne, James Corden, and British Consul General Lead “Film is GREAT” Reception
Fig & Olive, 5 p.m.

Oscar invite a4

After a bang-bang “12 Years a Slave” year with a slew of British talent in 2014, the Brits solved their problem of a scarce talent turnout last year by bringing in marquee names to host. Also, it helped to have on-camera nominees and zeitgeisty personalities on the mic. (Corden was just booked to host the Tony Awards.)

 

Gordon Ramsay directs the menu and singer/songwriter Jamie Cullum will perform at a souped-up edition of this collaboration between the GREAT Britain Campaign, U.K. Trade and Investment, Visit Britain, and the British Film Commission.

9th Annual Women in Film Pre-Oscar Cocktail Party hosted by Cathy Schulman
Hyde Sunset, 5:30 p.m.

A WIF gathering at Sundance 2015. (Getty Images)
A WIF gathering at Sundance 2015. (Getty Images)

A total of 51 women, in front of and behind the camera, are up for Oscars this year. A large number of them will be here 48 hours before the show with a yet-to-be-named co-host joining Cathy Schulman. Last year, it was Meryl Streep. She had to be whisked out when it was time to go amid the crush of well-wishers. Fiji water, Perrier-Jouet, BMW, Max Mara, and MAC Cosmetics help spin this event before, during, and after (in the goodie bags).

Vanity Fair DJ Night
Palihouse
9 p.m.

The door is tight and Palihouse is small. VF almost always goes with a female DJ for the younger-skewing night, continuing the trend with under-the appreciated Taryn Manning. Hailee Steinfeld hosts this stop. Like the other VF events besides Oscar night, you likely won’t see Graydon Carter as these are publishing-side (read: advertiser driven) gatherings, with this one put on by client L’Oreal Paris. Children’s Hospital L.A. is the charity partner.

Weinstein Late Night

1OAK

It will be hard to top the late-night that 1Oak has had already after Kanye’s late-night anti-Taylor Swift, pro-Tidal rant that went viral on Tuesday night. I trust the Weinsteins, David Glasser, and Michelle Pesce are up to the task.

Saturday, February 27

Spirit Awards
Saturday, February 27, 1:30 p.m.
Tent on Santa Monica Beach

(Mikey Glazer)
(Mikey Glazer)

After a horsetrack setting of cocktails in the morning swigged by those in fashionable daywear, Kate McKinnon and Kumail Nanjianai hand out 15 awards for a well-lubricated crowd in a beachside tent before they retreat east of Beverly Glen for the rest of the weekend.

Film Independent Spirit Awards Invitation

The crowd gets jovial courtesy of Heineken, Fiji Water, America Airlines, and Jaguar, with Film Independent ushering their backers to the best seats in the house — the front row. For those who can’t get seats, enjoy the spread of sponsor tents.

Michael Sugar, Doug Wald, and Steve Golin party

Sunset Tower

10 p.m.

Michael Sugar, Warren Zavala and Doug Wald (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Michael Sugar, Warren Zavala and Doug Wald at last year’s edition. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Golin produced two of the eight Best Picture nominees (“Spotlight” and “The Revenant”). Sugar is also a nominated producer for “Spotlight”, so the Anonymous Content guys have a lot to celebrate. Presented by Grey Goose, this industry-heavy soiree skews towards younger executives and deal makers. Just because it’s insular and at the Tower, don’t think there won’t be a line. There will be.

Weinstein Dinner

The Montage

This timeslot with the Weinsteins is laden with history, going back to their epic 1998 Oscars in the Miramax days.The industry-friendly hotel plays host to TheWrap’s annual media conference, is where Justin Bieber calls home in L.A., and is where Sean Penn emerged after news broke of his El Chapo rendezvous.

MPTF Night Before Fundraiser

Raleigh Studios

The press-free fundraiser, heavy on sponsors and A-listers, has raised $65 million since its inception. Nice work, Jeffrey Katzenberg. Michelle Pesce steps in behind the decks for this coveted invite.

Oscar Sunday, February 28

Elton John Performs at the Elton John Aids Foundation Viewing Party
West Hollywood Park, 4 p.m.

Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka
A peek inside the 2013 bash, where this columnist picked the most Oscar winers of any male and won Elton’s Chopard watch. (Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images)

The resort-size tent occupying what is otherwise a dog park is disorienting and lavish. Sir Elton and David Furnish‘s guests — a pile of celebrities, rich donors, and selected illuminati  — fill the tent for Gordon Ramsay’s dinner and actually shut up to watch the the live Oscars telecast. Intently.

Sir Elton himself will play after the last award is handed out, likely to draw from his new album “Wonderful Crazy Night,” which doubles as the title of the 2016 event. The foundation made grants of $9.8 million in 2015 alone, so this is not just posing with co-chairs like Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, Katy Perry, Steven Tyler, Denzel Washington, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, Quincy Jones, Jeffrey Tambor and a scattering of West Hollywood elected officials. This crowd empties their wallets as they empty the bar.

Mercedes and African American Film Critics Association Viewing Party
Private Location in a Hotel in Beverly Hills, 4:30 p.m.

 

Mercedes had viewing parties for several years in the past, while the AAFCA’s recent awards brought out Reggie Hudlin, Courtney Vance, Anthony Anderson and Tyrese Gibson amongst others.

Governors Ball
Dolby Ballroom, Immediately After the Show

Winners: Jim Gianopulos, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and Steve Gilula with new hardware. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Winners: Jim Gianopulos, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and Steve Gilula with new hardware at the Governors Ball in 2015. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

If you can see past the 1,500 telecast guests pouring through, the walls of the Dolby Ballroom will be covered in 170 newly commissioned drawings of film luminaries, reminiscent of industry haunts Sardi’s and the Brown Derby. In hand, and soon to be in mouths, will be salmon Oscars and 24-karat-gold chocolate Oscars from Wolfgang Puck. In recent years, the Academy has booked headline talent like John Legend to anchor itchy-footed guests to the Dolby longer after the show. No word yet on if there will be a repeat for 2016.

Only Oscar winners will get to sip from a special 1988 “Rare” Piper-Heidsieck in the winners’ engravers room, while the other guests at the Oscars will swill from a limited edition of 1,000 bottles that are not for sale anywhere. (The bottles’ foil tiara is comprised of a word amalgam of the word “Oscar”.)

Elsewhere, David Beckham’s Haig Club Whiskey will pour, though the Angeleno football legend and father of burgeoning models and photographers from the Beckham clan will not be there himself. Sterling Vineyards from NorCal complements the wine portfolio.

2oth Century Fox Viewing and After Party
Hollywood Athletic Club

Ridley Scott Matt Damon Fox Golden Globe Awards Party
The post-Globes victory bash for “The Martian” and Team Fox. (Todd Williamson/Getty Images for FOX)

They have so many horses in so many races there is bound to be gold here from their 26 nominations. Any wins for “The Revenant”, “The Martian”, “Bridge of Spies”, or Jennifer Lawrence for “Joy” will bring whoops to this necessarily large space down the street from the Dolby.

Weinstein Viewing Party

The Montage

Their third party of the weekend is where potential winners like Cate Blanchett, Ennio Morricone, and their 10 nominations.

Vanity Fair Party
Beverly Hills, Entrance at the Annenberg Center

Back on Oscar night 2015, we knew one of these two were headed for an intergalactically successful year. (Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
Back on Oscar night 2015, we knew one of these two was headed for an intergalactically successful year. (Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

A lot has changed in the 23 years since Steve Tisch and Graydon Carter co-hosted the first VF Oscar night party together, back when the show was still on a Monday night. A lot has evolved even since last year, Graydon Carter‘s first in a new custom-built space in Beverly Hills.

For one, the magazine’s Hollywood issue cover and stars arrived this year via Snapchat. Fleeting digital missives from the VF Oscar night event will flow out in inverse proportion to the flow of wannabe guests trying to get in. Expect Oscar winners scarfing In-N-Out burgers and bizarro hangs like J.J. Abrams and Lady Gaga (above), or Jared Leto photobombing anyone within range.

Jared Leto is a recidivist photo-bomber. This year he hits Michael Keaton and "Grand Budapest Hotel" winning composer Alexandre Desplat. At right, breakout Graham Moore bids it a good-night. (Getty Images)
Jared Leto is a recidivist photo-bomber. In 2015,  he hit Michael Keaton and “Grand Budapest Hotel” winning composer Alexandre Desplat after shadowing Anne Hathaway the year before. At right, breakout Graham Moore bid it a good-night. (Getty Images)

Night of 100 Stars
Beverly Hilton

Host Norby Walters is a genial ambassador for old school Hollywood. He hosts this viewing party and dinner in the home of the Golden Globes.

Gifting Suites and Bags

Madison and Mulholland's orange gift bag will definitely not be carry-on luggage. It's huge. The rollaway on the left should fit.
Madison and Mulholland’s orange gift bag will definitely not be carry-on luggage. It’s 20″ tall and supersized. The rollaway on the left is more travel friendly.

In this herculean bag pictured above, women nominees and presenters will be offered an unaffiliated/non-official bag with a trip to Antigua from Madison & Mulholland. This also has knitting lessons, $375 Retrospecs sunglasses, athletic wear from Kate Hudson‘s line Fabletics, Gigs bluetooth headphones, Avion Tequila with Powell & Mahoney cocktail mixers, and a hotel card that gets discounts (10-27%) worldwide.

Kari Feinstein’s suite runs on February 25-26 with headphones and wines.

Debbie Durkin’s suite at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday the 25th benefits Shriner’s Hospital for Children in LA and has suddenly popular La Croix Water and airbrush spray tans amongst other goodies.

Homemade soaps (Soaptopia), Police Sunglasses, cosmetics, and lots of spirits are on offer at The District by Hannah An, hosting a gifting suite with jeweler Rosalina Lydster.

Additionally:

Contenders Open Road (“Spotlight”) have nothing official as of yet, Paramount (“The Big Short”) is hosting a small dinner, and A24 is celebrating “Room” before the big weekend.

Please send invitations, bookings, and updates to the author at Mikey@thechimp.net.

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