14 This year marks the 83rd anniversary of a Los Angeles-based foreign journalist group covering the entertainment industry for their home-country outlets. As one might expect, it hasn’t always been a smooth journey — as will likely be revealed when someone decides to write a truthful book (or make a no-holds barred documentary) on what was once called the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which was rebranded as the Golden Globe Foundation as of June 12, 2023. Journalists still run the Golden Globe Awards, which were organized for many years by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Today, however, the Globes operate under a complex structure managed by the publishing companies of Jay Penske (Variety) and Todd Boehly (The Hollywood Reporter). In 2018, Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries merged Dick Clark Productions (DCP) and The Hollywood Reporter with Media Right Capital to form Valence Media (later rebranded as MRC). In 2020, Penske’s Penske Media Corp. (PMC), owner of Variety, merged with MRC to form PMRC. Furthermore, in 2023, DCP acquired the Golden Globes from the HFPA and allowed the HFPA to continue its charitable activities under the Golden Globe Foundation. DCP is the longtime producer of the Globes’ TV awards broadcast. Now, the Foundation has sued Penske and Eldridge for $150 million, alleging fraudulent acquisition of the awards show. In response, PMRC has counter-sued the Golden Globe Foundation over ownership of the show. When I first arrived in Los Angeles from London in 1978, I was inundated with stories about the (then) HFPA. Working for the BBC, I was invited to junkets and one-on-one interviews, so got to meet both local and foreign press. One journalist approached me and revealed he was on the HFPA committee. He offered to propose me as a qualified candidate to join and get some of his friends to support my application. I didn’t particularly care one way or another, but it was a kind gesture, so I didn’t turn him down. A couple of weeks later, he told me the application had been declined. He smiled and said, “I guess you were too legit!” — possibly implying that the membership wasn’t, after all, primarily made up of accredited journalists from major overseas media outlets. However, the members managed to precede the Oscars with their awards. Thankfully, much has changed since then, though not without a few ethical questions along the way. The association was founded in 1943 by Los Angeles-based foreign entertainment journalists (and more prominently, by William Mooring, a correspondent in L.A. for The Daily Mail in the U.K.) who wanted the same access to films and talent as local and national press were receiving. The first Golden Globe Awards were presented for film in early 1944 at 20th Century Fox studios. However, the actual Globe trophy wasn’t introduced until the 1945 ceremony, presenting winners with a golden globe encircled by a strip of motion picture film and mounted on a pedestal. Some infighting among members in 1950 fractured the group into two separate entities: The Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association and the Foreign Press Association of Hollywood. The two eventually reunited, and in 1955, announced the formation of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and added television shows to their awards list. Dubious accusations of unprofessional behavior by the group and certain members have clouded the organization over the years. However, the group — which had historically been member-led — took on a new name and corporate ownership when the HFPA was rebranded as the Golden Globe Foundation on June 12, 2023, following a buyout by Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries. One would have thought that all would now be quiet, but legal battles over the buyout are currently ongoing. Life is never dull with this organization, whatever it gets called! By Mike Reynolds The Twists & Turns of the L.A. Foreign Press Association: From HFPA to PMRC The Foundation has sued Penske and Eldridge for $150 million, alleging fraudulent acquisition of the awards show. VIDEOAGE November 2026 Golden Globe Recollections
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