7 Things You Didn't See at the 2015 Independent Spirit Awards
Paul Thomas Anderson accepting the Robert Altman Award
Birdman and Boyhood split the day’s top two categories, winners Michael Keaton and Julianne Moore made expectedly touching speeches, and Kristen Bell and Fred Armisen proved a dynamic hosting duo. But if you only watched 30th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards on TV, you missed a few choice behind-the-scenes moments. Here are a few things that happened off-camera at the event, held inside a massive tent on the Santa Monica beach.
1. The boozy pre-party. The suds were pouring backstage at 11 a.m., more than two hours before the pre-show began, with a veritable mix of celebrities, executives, producers, filmmakers, publicists and media types rubbing elbows. Case in point:
We ran into friend of Yahoo Movies Leonard Maltin, who reminisced about the very first Spirit Awards ceremony, held “at a tiny restaurant on La Cienaga” where he snapped a photo with Norman Mailer and Sally Kirkland, before he rushed off to say hello to (and possibly snap a photo with) Community/ Hot Tub Time Machine 2 star Gillian Jacobs.
And then once you enter the show, there’s even more to drink:
2. The reason for Paul Thomas Anderson’s American Airlines dig. “Don’t fly American Airlines, they will lose your f**king luggage.” You may have been wondering why PTA — who was honored with the Robert Altman Award for Inherent Vice — chose to end his speech by bagging on the air carrier. Here’s why: During the pre-show, as is customary with any event with corporate sponsors, Film Independent president Josh Welsh encouraged the attendees to support the show’s benefactors by drinking Heineken, driving a Lincoln, flying American Airlines, etc. Thus Anderson’s parting dig about the lost luggage, which he added happened to him. (Later, Foxcatcher director Bennett Miller would read an apology “on behalf” of Anderson, saying, “My bad, American Airlines — it was actually United.”)
3. Michael Keaton’s sunglasses style. Michael Keaton was wearing his sunglasses inside the dark tent, but not outside in the sun during the pre-party. Not throwing shade here, just an observation, because Michael Keaton can do whatever the hell he wants.
4. The event’s wedding-on-the-beach vibe. At times, it really feels like you’re attending some particularly star-powered nuptial ceremony: You get seated at tables with strangers, sip on champagne, eat a lot of food, and keep getting reminded to shut up when people are about to make speeches. Though at other times it feels like a graduation ceremony, where small smatterings of people hoot and holler for their kids (or, in this case, castmates and colleagues.).
5. The warm-up act. While the telecast started at 5 pm ET/ 2 pm PT, the actual show started a half-hour early, with Gillian Jacobs and Dax Shepherd (who mentioned he was standing in for “his mistress”… Fred Armisen) doling out the afternoon’s first two awards, for Best Editing (Whiplash) and Best Cinematography (Birdman). Who knows? Maybe they were auditioning to co-host in 2016.
6. The band. You didn’t hear them much (at all?) in the telecast, but LA’s Silversun Pickups entertained the crowd during the ‘pre-show’ and breaks. They were solid.
7. The casual backstage atmosphere. The Spirit Awards are known for being a much more casual cousin to the next day’s Academy Awards… that much should be clear from the fact that they’re held in a tent on a beach. But when we spotted Joaquin Phoenix outside the main tent, smoking and wearing shades and Converse all-stars, you had to wonder if he was still in-character as his Inherent Vice stoner sleuth.
Watch the nominees and presenters arrive at the Spirit Awards:
