CBS’ Craig Ferguson was the third man in the picture, hosting the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s Ambassadors for Humanity awards presentation to Jeffrey Katzenberg on Thursday night.
Steven Spielberg founded the institute that has collected and maintains an archive of nearly 52,000 video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses in 32 languages and from 56 countries. In presenting, Spielberg cited the Dreamworks Animation CEO’s intense focus on his passion projects, calling it “a laser beam”.
Jennifer Hudson sang for the crowd that included USC president C. L. Max Nikias, Jerry Bruckheimer, Eric Stonestreet, Ty Burrell, and Rickey Minor. TNT and Steve Koonin (President, Turner Entertainment Networks) continued their longstanding partnership with the event as presenting sponsors of the gala. (Photo right by Wireimage)
In other, “launching your own multi-platform studio” news, Guillermo del Toro, who is launching a trilogy of games himself, was amongst the talent parade crossing the stage at Spike’s Video Game Awards 2010 on Saturday.
Neil Patrick Harris took one step closer to being the “uber-host”, holding down the live broadcast on a Tron-esque set at an unrecognizable Convention Center downtown. Yes, he’s also a video game star, appearing in “Spider Man: Shattered Dimensions”.
Harris wasn’t the only Oscar talent in the mix. Hamish Hamilton (Director, this past year’s Academy Awards and Superbowl Haftime Show (the one with The Who), Ian Stewart (“The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show”) and the invincible Casey Patterson (SVP Event Production/Talent Development) quarterbacked the show.
As usual, SPIKE’s strategic relationship building with stakeholders and studios with projects to promote yields strong results on the talent turnout: Jason Rittercontinued his non-stop appearance tour for the on-hiatus “The Event”, Danny DeVito, Michael Chiklis, Sam Trammelland Rutina Wesley(“True Blood”), Dane Cook (new double album out), Olivia Munn, and Tony Hawk.
Leaving the live coverage of Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s wedding to the paparazzi who were live streaming from the street, E! News teammates Ashlan Gorse and Chief Correspondent Ken Bakerenjoyed the calm before the Awards season storm at Gorse’s 30th birthday bash on Saturday night. The Las Palmas crowd was heavy on celebrity media pals, and calorie-swag from sponsors Chik-fil-a and Monster energy drinks.
Finally, even though “The Tourist” got off to a rough start at the box office this weekend, Angelina Jolieand Johnny Depp’s costumer from the film, Colleen Atwood (Academy Award winner, “Chicago”) still came out a winner Sunday night. She picked up an award at the Hollywood Style Awards, recognizing behind the scenes costumers and production stylists.
Las Vegas’ Palazzo Resort converted the Hammer Museum for the night, where presenters on hand to honor their glam squads (like Selena Gomez and Cory Monteith) ensconced themselves backstage in the Klipsch lounge before the show, a branded space by the high end headphone/speaker maker.
