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GUESTS: Spielberg and JJ Abrams
HE Oscar Wilde awards ceremony was in full swing on Thursday night when Steven Spielberg slipped in very discreetly through the crowd and took up a space at the back. Dressed in a dark brown tweed cap and a black leather jacket, he sucked on a lollipop while listening to Kenneth Branagh pay tribute to Best Writer Oscar nominee John Logan. Like Branagh himself nominated for an Oscar tonight for My Week With Marilyn Logans father hails from Belfast.

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The Irish Mail on Sunday FEBRUARY 26 2012

by Patricia

Danaher

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Hours later, Spielberg was still there, dancing to Cathy Davey and Limerick band Size 2 Shoes, of which he seems to be a particular fan. Fifteen years since he filmed Saving Private Ryan in Bunclody, Co. Wexford, it seems the legendary director still retains great affection for Ireland. Thursday nights Oscar Wilde awards, run by the US-Ireland Alliance to honour the achievements of Irish people in Hollywood, was hosted in Santa Monica by JJ Abrams, himself a former Oscar Wilde nominee. That producer/director Abrams, one of the biggest players in Hollywood with such hits as Cloverfield and the Mission Impossible series under his belt, should act as host is a sign of the events clout in the capital of cinema. The lavish office of his production company Bad Robot was the venue for the lavish party, which saw Jim Sheridan, Colin Farrell, Michelle Williams, Senator George Mitchell, Amy Huberman and Benedict Cumberbatch walk up the green carpet to mingle with Chris Dodd, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, YouTube founder Chad Hurley, Grammy Award-winning producer George Drakoulias and senior executives from HBO, Walt Disney Studios and GK Films. But, incredibly, official Ireland was absent, with no representatives from the Irish Film Board, Culture Ireland

UK film representative took advantage of the networking opportunities

or the Government present to work the room at this very intimate event. Tensions between the event organiser Trina Vargo, head of the US-Ireland Alliance (a body that promotes co-operation between the two countries in cultural, business and educational spheres), and the State bodies have bubbled for years, with Vargo angrily accusing them of failing to take advantage of the event to network and bring business to Ireland. As was revealed by our sister paper, the Irish Daily Mail, last week, after six years of hosting the event at a financial loss, Vargo withdrew her application for funding from the IFB and Culture Ireland last summer, accusing the bodies of incompetence. They had previously funded the event to the tune of a b o u t $150,000 (115,000) a year. Last week the chairman of the Irish Film Board, James Hickey, said

The Oscar Wilde awards are a golden opportunity to promote Irish f ilm in Hollywood. But not one member of off icial Ireland was present at the event, whose future lies in doubt
that he was delighted the event was going ahead, acknowledging that it is a very positive event for the promotion of Irish and US film talent. It begs the question again as to why he and representatives of other Irish bodies insist on remaining absent. In contrast, taking full advantage of those networking opportunities on Thursday night were Tara Halloran of the UK Film Council in LA and Anthony Silberfeld from the Northern Ireland bureau in Washington. Northern Ireland film talent was there in big numbers, and Senator Mitchell told the guests how the movie Your Highness ended up being filmed there two years ago after several of the key players, including the chairman of Universal studios, met at the Oscar Wilde party. Universal spent $20m in Northern Ireland on the making of the film. Irish agent Hylda Queally whose client honorary Irish woman Michelle Williams won an Oscar Wilde award for her role in My Week With Marilyn underscored another coup for Northern Ireland when she revealed that Jessica Chastain will be in Belfast in July for the remake of the movie Miss Julie, to be directed

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TALENT: Actors Jason OMara and Paige Turco arrive at the ceremony

miss the Irish Oscars?

LA PARTY: Dana Delany and Colin Farrell at the Santa Monica ceremony STAR POWER: Actors Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh, above; Sharon Corr, below performs at the awards ceremony

FEBRUARY 26 2012 The Irish Mail on Sunday

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GLAMOROUS: Actress Amy Huberman, model Rosalind Lipsett and Claudine Keane, wife of footballer Robbie Keane
she invited them, she told them the IFB was no longer involved. I feel like Ive been dragging a horse to water for years and it just wont drink. I know some people might look at an event like this and see pictures of people in pretty dresses and say its just some party in LA, but what it actually is is an investment in the future. You cant quantify how these things event, which costs over $200,000 (150,000) to put on. This year, she received a total of $6,000 (4,400) in donations from Ireland. Its just wrong to expect everybody in LA to pay for an event that benefits Ireland without contributing something as well. Look at all the people who were in the room: [producer] Kathleen Kennedy, JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg and not a single person from official Ireland there to go up to any of them and say What would it take to get you to come and make a movie in Ireland? Ireland is in dire straits now and what we are asking the IFB is to bring a major presence to the event in LA, which is now listed as one of the half a dozen major Hollywood Oscar parties every year. And $200,000 is a very small price to pay for all the event offers. So, will the seventh Oscar Wildes be the last? Vargo is not sure. The artists are the people who benefit most from this event and I dont think they should be punished and deprived of this networking opportunity, she said. I will give it six more months and see what kind of sponsorship and support I can get. How else are Irish artists going to get to be in the same room as a JJ Abrams, a Steven Spielberg? No doubt when they look at the pictures of Thursdays glamorous event, officials back in Dublin will be asking the same question.

by Liv Ullman. Bridesmaids actress Melissa McCarthy whose Irish ancestry is apparent from her surname was also due to accept an award but unfortunately lost her voice and was confined to bed, so JJ Abrams accepted on her behalf. Abrams, who is married to Irish-American Katie McGrath, described the Oscar Wildes as the as the most fun, drunken event in the world. The hugely successful producer is currently making a new Star Trek movie and he has also bought the rights to Colum McCanns novel Let The Great World Spin, which he plans to adapt into a movie. He told the Irish Mail on Sunday that Trina Vargo had built up the most amazing contacts in the film industry and never sought the limelight herself. Senator Mitchell noted how every year the winners chosen by Vargo have gone on to become Oscar nominees and he urged the guests to talk to the Irish-American her mother hails from Donegal about her Kentucky races tips. The Bad Robot building is a

stones throw from the beach in Santa Monica and the party was held on the roof and at several different levels of the building. Gas lamps and open fires kept the elegantly dressed guests warm as the night air closed in. And there was no shortage of Irish actors to take advantage of the lavish hospitality. Actors Colin ODonoghue, Elaine Cassidy, Kerry

Trina has the most amazing contacts in the film industry

Condon, Brit Marling, Brian F. OByrne and Dana Delany were among the 300 guests who dined on tiny lobster cakes, fish and chips and wild mushroom strudel created by Limerickman Richard Mooney. The events Celtic flavour was enhanced by a large selection of Irish cheeses while an endless flow of Guinness made sure that the

conversation never dried up. Claudine Keane, who appeared without husband Robbie, said she had just arrived in LA but was showing no sign of jet lag. It took me 17 hours to get from my house in London to the hotel in LA, but its great to be here. Actress and writer Amy Huberman, who was also attending solo, was vague about why she was in LA and would only say she was in town, having meetings. No Irish party would be complete without music, and Sharon Corr, Colin Devlin and Cathy Davey performed until the early hours, while a tired-looking Jim Sheridan reluctantly walked the green carpet, after Vargo persuaded him. The Irish director is on the board of the US-Ireland Alliance. Ive great time for Trina and this is a brilliant event. She has great vision in pulling together a night like this and it would be a shame if came to an end, he said. Right now, that looks to be the likely fate of the Oscar Wildes. No Irish producers were present at Thursdays event. Vargo said when

Its not just some party in LA. Its actually an investment in the future
work in advance, but several artists got work or representation from being at our event. Musicians who might never otherwise get heard have a golden opportunity at the Oscar Wilde party to play before a hugely influential group of Hollywood producers. Duke Special performed here a few years ago and Fiona Shaw saw him. Two years later he has written the score for her musical Mother Courage And Her Children. There are so many of these stories coming out of our event. She said she loses money on the