To close the week that “Wonder Woman” took over pop culture and broke box office records, reigning Best Actress Emma Stone sought out “WW” director Patty Jenkins at the AFI Life Achievement Award on Thursday night to strike “the pose.”
It capped a week that saw the “Monster” director become a household name, appearing on CNN…
And receiving congrats from Twitter.
At the start of AFI’s highest honor, given to Diane Keaton on Thursday night (June 8) at the Dolby Theatre, AFI President/CEO Bob Gazzale recognized Jenkins from the stage. She is an alum of the AFI Conservatory.
Jenkins’ social gravity in this room carries extra heft considering the crowd there to honor Keaton.
Keaton’s head tablemates included Lisa Kudrow, Meryl Streep (dressed as Annie Hall), and Steve Martin’s wife Anne Stringield. (Yes, that’s who that spectacled woman was on the dais.)
Nearby: Candice Bergen and Jane Fonda raising a glass.
Twenty minutes after the show ended, Netflix’s Chief Creative Officer Ted Sarandos and Jenkins were still having an animated chat. They were outside in the public area of the Hollywood and Highland complex, lingering under the plaque for “The Godfather Part II’s” 1974 Oscar win.
Jenkins also met the next generation — Natalie Camou. Camou is the first AFI Audi Fellow who will begin the AFI Conservatory this fall. The Portland-based Camou beat out 1,000 applicants for the scholarship based on her short films and photo essays documenting the immigrant experience.
At the home of the Oscars, the AFI Life Achievement Award retains some of the same gravitas. It’s one of the few remaining insular, industry, clubby rooms with real talent that hasn’t been hyper hashtagged, over-commercialized, or inelegantly repackaged for the consumer audience passing by outside on Hollywood Boulevard.
Speaking of the Oscars, there’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (second from right), with Rick Nicita, Paula Wagner and Stanley Isaacs.
Considering Wagner’s long history with Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer’s credit producing the first “Top Gun” movie, they could have greenlit the much-discussed sequel right there in the room…
Especially with studio bosses like Jeffrey Katzenberg and new Paramount chief Jim Gianopulos in the mix.
Sue Kroll (President of Worldwide Distribution and Marketing for Warner Bros., with Reese Witherspoon) was riding high on “Wonder Woman’s” returns.
Witherspoon brought upcoming costar Jon Rudnitsky as her guest. He sat beside her at the head table. After Keaton greeted her best pals at the head table – Steve Martin, Martin Sheen, Meryl, Lisa Kudrow, and Reese – she reached Rudnitsky at the end with a puzzled look on her face. He introduced himself quickly.
Andy Garcia did not appear on stage, but was all over the event. Starting from the Audi arrivals on Hollywood Boulevard (which was closed down to traffic), Garcia working the pit during dinner and was one of the few people to hit the afterparty, where he laid on on the honoree of the night.
The Sony Table: Tony Vinciquerra, Toni Knight, AFI Board Member and Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, and Riko Hirai.
Having already won the American Cinematheque’s analogous award, Witherspoon is in line for one of these AFI Life Achievement honors in the coming generational shift to Gen X talent with 30-plus years of credits. (See also: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon.)
Here, Witherspoon kisses Jane Seymour, who was seated with Illeana Douglas.
Sarah Silverman strikes the “Good ‘ol Sarah Silverman” pose with TNT and TBS’ Sandra Dewey.
