We ‘Schmooze It up’ Inside the Emmys Pre-Parties With Julia Louis-Dreyfus and More (Photos)
Nominees from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Big Little Lies” and “Transparent” popped the cork on the Emmy weekend party circuit
Mikey Glazer | September 16, 2017 @ 1:08 PM
Last Updated: September 16, 2017 @ 5:19 PM
The scene at Audi’s pre-Emmy party in Hollywood Thursday night was much like the “Cheers” theme song — it was a place where “everybody knows your name.”
The “Cheers” theme is also the score to the official ride of the Emmys’ ad that will run during the show (above).
The glossy scene under the stars atop the Dream Hollywood Hotel included “Veep” pals Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale, “This Is Us'” Milo Ventimiglia and Justin Hartley, and power producers like Dana Brunetti.
Audi covered the pool at the Highlight Room. (Getty Images)
As Zen Freeman spun downtempo beats, the crowd spilling out of the elevators was much more industry than Freeman’s default Thursday nights at the season’s hotspot.
“Everyone seems to come to this party,” Louis-Dreyfus said on the way in. “It’s very fancy. It’s at this groovy place this year, which is awesome. You get to see your friends and people you are fans of and you get to go up to them and schmooze it up. It’s nice.”
Natalia Dyer and Joe Keery have a unique red carpet prop, a 2018 R8. (Getty Images)
Drawn by beams of light piercing vertically into the night sky (perhaps, the four Audi rings in photonic form?), a chummy crowd of TV talent, brand marketers, publicists and media un-popped the proverbial cork on Emmy weekend.
For actors, ABC channel-mates Nolan Gould (“Modern Family”) and Marcus Scribner (“black-ish”) hung out together. Gould’s boss Steve Levitan, a regular at Audi’s awards bashes, slipped through the rope on Selma Avenue with a small group.
Chrishell Stause, Justin Hartley and Finn Wittrock (Charley Gallay/Getty Images)
The main man of “Unreal” Season 2, B.J. Britt, regaled partygoers with stories of recent casino trips with his crew, and young Caleb McLaughlin from “Stranger Things” already had reason to celebrate — his show cleaned up with five wins at last weekend’s junior varsity, Creative Arts Emmys.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” director Kate Dennis (a nominee), who has a packed party schedule for the weekend, was making the rounds with MGM’s Christina Lee.
Dana Brunetti and nominee for nicest guy in Hollywood, Zen Freeman. (Getty Images)
From the celebrity marketing industry, the crowd included ringmasters Beth Andrews and Brian Rubin, Joyce Sevilla, Greg Link, Jordan Kaye, Abegail Cal, Johnny Gines and Olivia Montella, in from New York.
TheWrap’s on-camera hosts Stuart Brazell and Matt Donnelly both made appearances as well.
Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk and TV Guide Magazine president Paul Turcotte circled what would have been the pool (it was covered), locked and loaded for their own TV Industry Advocacy Awards with Cheryl Hines, Alyssa Milano and Chrissy Metz taking place downstairs at TAO later in the weekend.
Hosts Jeri Ward and Miranda Harper flank Milo Ventimiglia. (Rich Polk/Getty Images)
Checking out the elaborate event production design were fellow captains of the event industry Gina Wade, Kendra Cole Hand and Pamela Francesca.
Although he might not vote on this weekend’s award show, the HFPA’s Munawar Hosain was in the house, freshly back from Venice and TIFF.
Movie honors are still a few months away. For now, it’s all TV.
More from inside the Emmy parties to come from The Party Report and in real time on Instagram @Celeb.Sightings.
Emmys 2017: 10 Biggest Potential Upsets, From 'Stranger Things' to 'Black Mirror' (Photos)
Sunday's 2017 Emmy Awards ceremony is likely to include its share of upsets. Here are 10 categories where that could happen.
Netflix, FX
Drama Series: "Stranger Things" This is among the toughest categories to predict, so it's hard to say which is really the frontrunner. But given the more awards-friendly nature of "This Is Us" and "The Handmaid's Tale," it's safe to say that "Stranger Things" is a bit of an outsider in a category not known for honoring sci-fi.
Netflix
Comedy Series: "Atlanta" The FX series snagged the comedy-series Golden Globe, so it's hard to call it an underdog. But in a world where "Veep" still exists, the rest of the nominees are presumably prepared to settle for second-best.
FX
Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Claire Foy ("The Crown") Here's another 2017 Golden Globe victor who's likely to be sitting on the sidelines, as most pundits see Elisabeth Moss ("Handmaid's") as likely to prevail.
Netflix
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Donald Glover ("Atlanta") Donald Glover might very well be considered to be in the lead here. But his victory would be considered a bit of an upset against a number of mainstays in the category, particularly Jeffrey Tambor ("Transparent").
FX
Variety Talk Series: "Full Frontal With Samantha Bee" "Last Week Tonight" appears poised to repeat in the category, but Samantha Bee still has a shot at riding her post-Trump buzz to victory.
TBS
Television Movie: "Black Mirror: San Junipero" "Sherlock" won last year, and HBO's "Wizard of Lies" has a ton of star power, so although "Black Mirror" isn't exactly flying under the radar — and also isn't really a movie — it's likely that a victory here would surprise more than a few people.
Netflix
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Jeffrey Wright ("Westworld") John Lithgow ("The Crown") is widely seen as having this category on lockdown. But if voters decide to sway toward "Westworld," which led the way with 22 nominations, Wright's heralded performance could be a beneficiary.
HBO
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Thandie Newton ("Westworld") It's odd to consider Thandie Newton an underdog, but that may be the case here, given fierce competition from awards-friendly "This Is Us" (Chrissy Metz) and "Handmaid's" (Samira Wiley, Ann Dowd).
HBO
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Anna Chlumsky ("Veep") It's tough to compete against the "SNL" stars in such an up year for the venerable sketch show, but if voters are feeling particularly pro-"Veep," Chlumsky could make her way to the podium.
HBO
Actor in a Limited Series or a Television Movie: Riz Ahmed ("The Night Of") Riz Ahmed faces tough foes in the form of Robert De Niro ("Wizard") and Ewan McGregor ("Fargo").
HBO
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Here’s what could bring surprise wins during Sunday night’s ceremony
Sunday's 2017 Emmy Awards ceremony is likely to include its share of upsets. Here are 10 categories where that could happen.