Golden Globes’ Sale and New For-Profit Status Doesn’t Impress Hollywood: ‘Questionable Procedures and Baffling Chaos’
The end of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and debut of a for-profit Golden Globes Awards, announced by billionaire Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries on Monday, sparked confusion and skepticism across Hollywood that seemed unlikely to turn the page on the awards’ tainted past.
“Good to see that the Globes will continue its two most hallowed traditions: Questionable procedures and baffling chaos,” tweeted movie journalist Mark Harris. “They have done what I thought was impossible and… made it worse.”
Harris was referring not just to the awards becoming less transparent as a for-profit business, but to a complicated two-tiered voting system in which about 100 voters will be paid to watch programs and movies, and another 200 will not.
The 95 current members of the HFPA have been offered five-year deals that will pay them $75,000 per year to remain as Globes voters and to also fulfill unspecified tasks related to the awards show. At the same time, 215 international film critics and journalists, who were added to the roster of Globes voters to make that group larger and more credible, will be able to continue in their position as voters — but they will not be paid to do so.
“Basically, we’re being paid to vote for the Globes and to watch movies and shows, which we do anyway,” a current voter and longtime HFPA member told TheWrap, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This voter was also concerned that he could lose his job working for Eldridge as a voter. “Of course. That’s an absolute possibility. If you’re an employee, you can be fired,” this person said.
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As strange as that may be, it was only one of several confusing factors that had Hollywood insiders chattering on Monday. Publicists and awards strategists cheered the end of the HFPA, but criticized the confusing nature of the new plan.
“There is no plan,” stated one of Hollywood’s top awards strategists, speaking on background. “This is a muddled press release.”
Said another awards expert: “This is not the end of the HFPA. They may not be called the HFPA, but the voting body remains the same.”
A top studio executive spoke candidly of the murky information released on Monday, which mainly stated that the 80-year-old HFPA was undergoing a “winddown” and would no longer exist.
“A for-profit organization worries, because we have no idea what they are going to do,” said the executive. “The studios would still have to know the criteria in terms of films in contention and who is voting.”
The executive, who has had decades of experience with the scandal-ridden HFPA noted:
“I am personally excited that the HFPA is gone… It’s more upfront and not treating the HFPA as the most important press people in the world.”
But the release gave no details of what would guide the Globes’ processes going forward, although a representative for the Globes confirmed to TheWrap that current voters would be asked to continue in that capacity. “What has changed about the Globes is not who’s voting, it’s where the money is going.” TheWrap’s executive editor for awards Steve Pond said.
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What is a for-profit Golden Globes?
California approved the sale of the rights for the awards ceremony to Todd Boehly’s private equity firm Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions. Boehly and the organization’s announcement didn’t clarify how the ceremony will work moving forward, where it will air its next show on Jan. 7 or how the changes will correct years of criticism toward its voting body.
The 95 HFPA members will become paid Eldridge employees for five years under the deal, and will continue to act as voters and work on production of the ceremony along with Dick Clark Productions, a company co-owned by Eldridge and Penske Media. But those members, who will see a $75,000 yearly salary for the role, could also opt to take a reported $225,000 buyout to leave the company altogether.
The 215 international voters who were recently added into the HFPA fold, but who aren’t official members of the organization, don’t have the option to become employees.
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Where could the show land?
NBC has wound down its license to air the Globes after another down year of ratings in 2023.
“At this point, the Golden Globes is a ‘free agent,’” an NBC executive told TheWrap. ”NBC broadcast the 2023 show as part of a one-year agreement, after which Dick Clark Productions has had complete freedom to explore new opportunities for distribution.”
The executive said the network is always interested in live programming events, including the People’s Choice Country Awards which are set to air live on Sept. 28.
It’s unclear if a streamer or other platform would want the Globes.
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Muddled accountability
Then there’s the Hollywood trades. Eldridge Industries has a joint venture with Penske Media that includes not just Dick Clark Productions but also a vast network of Hollywood’s entertainment publications, including The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Rolling Stone and more.
Thus, several of Hollywood’s leading trades now share an economic interest in the Globes, leading one journalist at one of those trades to share their discomfort.
“I believe in church and state,” said one journalist at a Penske-owned publication. “And the church just moved into the building.”
The Golden Globes’ assets were acquired by Boehly’s private equity firm and Dick Clark Productions, which has long produced the show.
The Globes’ new for-profit status means it will not publicly disclose its finances, and its ties to Penske Media means that it’s unlikely that the awards will be scrutinized by those publications.
“The trades just got their own awards show,” one former HFPA member told TheWrap.
Inside the HFPA on Monday, members-turned-voters consented to the death of the HFPA knowing their roles would remain intact — at least for the next five years.
Said the member: “Greed killed the HFPA.”
Sharon Waxman and Scott Mendelson contributed to this story.
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