Golden Globes Parties: W Magazine’s ‘Best Performances’ Date Announced (Exclusive)

“It has the feel of all the parties I used to dream of being invited to when I thought about Hollywood,” co-host Lynn Hirschberg tells The Party Report of the Jan. 5, 2017 bash

W Magazine's Golden Globes gathering at the Chateau Marmont is one of the elite bashes of awards season. The 2017 edition takes place on Thursday, January 5, 2017. (BFA/Getty Images)

On Jan. 5 — three nights before Jimmy Fallon hosts the Golden Globes — the boldest and brightest stars who hope to end up on stage at the Beverly Hilton will huddle together in the intimate confines of the Chateau Marmont’s penthouse for W Magazine’s “Best Performances” bash, TheWrap has learned.

“What I love about this party is that it’s really a celebration among friends,” W Editor-In-Chief Stefano Tonchi told The Party Report via email on Wednesday. “[It’s] where actors and actresses feel at home in Lynn’s living room.”

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Christophe Waltz, Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth Banks, and W’s Stefano Tonchi at the most recent “Best Performances” soiree. (W Mag)

The “Lynn” is Lynn Hirschberg (W Editor at Large) who along with Tonchi, Cheateau owner Andre Balazs, and Audi co-host the event.

“I like to think of this party as a party in my own house,” Hirschberg said, “where we’re inviting friends of the magazine and people that I believe in and have believed in for years. The idea is to have a proper party where people do things that they don’t do at the usual red carpet events.”

That includes the year Juergen Teller, their featured photographer for the accompanying “Best Performances” issue, disappearaed halfway through the party.

“We later found him in a closet (literally),” Hirschberg revealed.

With this, W and Audi are amongst the first to reveal their Golden Globes party plans.

The turnout is so high in this living room that a few years ago the West Hollywood Fire Department had to enter the suite for a safety check, Paris Hilton was an irrelevant guest on the sidelines, and Sony’s Michael’s Lynton joined for a moment of stability in the midst of the Sony email hack tailspin.

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Photographer Peter Lindbergh and Rooney Mara at the 2016 edition atop the Chateau. (Donato Sardella/Getty Images)

With the Globes falling five days after Hollywood’s prime movers return to work after the holidays (Jan. 3) and with most industry players logging off for the year this Friday, the town’s scramble to set their Golden Globes party plans and invites is taking shape.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 07: A general view of atmosphere is seen at the W Magazine celebration of the 'Best Performances' Portfolio and The Golden Globes with Audi and Dom Perignon at Chateau Marmont on January 7, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Donato Sardella/Getty Images for W Magazine)
Guests dismantled the “darkroom” theme at the end of last year’s bash, peeling of the photography as souvenirs (Donato Sardella/Getty Images for W Magazine)

BAFTA LA will again host an Awards Season Tea on Saturday, Jan. 7 and HBO and InStyle will certainly continue their post-show bashes. With “Moonlight” and “La La Land” as frontrunners across all awards shows, expect their respective studios (A24 and Lionsgate) to join the party docket.

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On Jan. 7, co-host Andre Balazs greets a guest while Lawrence Bender can’t escape the photobomb in the cramped party (Getty Images)

For W’s cross-film gathering, the party is tied to W’s “Best Performance” photo portfolio. It is an artistic visual spread of the actresses and actors leading the awards class of 2017.

Hirschberg made some educated prognostications on who to include, shooting 15 stars who ended up nominated for 2017 Globes and will appear in the February issue, with 10 of them on multiple covers of the book.

By way of example, last year’s minglers included Cate Blanchett, Quentin Tarantino, Christophe Waltz, Kirsten Dunst, Rami Malek, and Rooney Mara, who could be back this year on account of her role in “Lion”.

“I hope Casey Affleck wins the Oscar,” Hirschberg added. “That would be my number one prediction for this award season. And I hope Anya Taylor-Joy (of M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming “Split”) becomes a huge star in the next year.”

Safe to say the “Manchester by the Sea” star and Ms. Taylor-Joy will be dodging the flashbulbs on Sunset on Jan. 5.

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