This past weekend, Awards Insider’s reporters David Canfield and Kara Warner attended three shows of pivotal importance to the Oscar race: the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday night, and then the Film Independent Spirit Awards and Producers Guild of America Awards back-to-back on Sunday—all taking place smack in the middle of final voting on the winners. Here, they break down their reports from the rooms, debate the categories most open to a surprise on Oscar night, and spill on their conversations around Hollywood.
David Canfield: If you were at an awards show in Hollywood this past weekend, you can bet pretty good money you saw a bunch of Oscar contenders at each one—even if they weren’t nominated. Actors including Lily Gladstone and Jeffrey Wright hit the trifecta of the SAG Awards, the PGA Awards, and the Indie Spirits, taking the stage at all three—in some cases to give an acceptance speech, in others to present for someone else. Margot Robbie and costar America Ferrera introduced Barbie to both the actors and the producers guilds with introductory packages, and Bradley Cooper presented a lifetime achievement award to Barbra Streisand. These ceremonies always matter a great deal on the trail, but 2024 provided an even more irresistible campaign stop in the midst of voting weekend (ballots can be submitted until Tuesday).
But even if everyone was busy, they might not have done much to change the outcome at the Oscars. I attended the SAG Awards on Saturday and the PGA Awards on Sunday, while Kara, you headed to the Indie Spirits. While there were small surprises at both of the guild shows, it felt like you were at the place (or in the tent) where any shifts in momentum—a real caveat being most major Oscar contenders weren’t eligible there—could best be detected. What was the mood in the room, and what results struck you the most?
Kara Warner: What a perfect table-setter for this very busy weekend, David! The Independent Spirit Awards are always a stand-out event, mainly because the daytime, beachside event in Santa Monica usually makes for a more relaxed and genuinely friendly atmosphere. Sunday’s event was no different, where major Oscar contenders and new Spirit Award winners Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) and Cord Jefferson and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) happily mingled inside the tent with attendees, including fellow Spirit nominees Anne Hathaway and Natalie Portman. There was major love in the room for Randolph, Jefferson, and Wright, the latter of whom received a partial standing ovation, and there was huge crowd support and applause for the event’s big winner Celine Song, who won both best director and best feature for her debut Past Lives.
Despite the love and admiration throughout the room and tent, about halfway through the show, a loud recorded voice started blasting from outside the tent on the public beach. It was a group of two or three pro-Palestine protestors playing a recorded chant through one megaphone. Jim Gaffigan was presenting a category when the recording began playing outside. He, and every subsequent presenter and winner, handled the unexpected disturbance as best as they could. Gaffigan gave the crowd several knowing glances, seemingly acknowledging that there was something unplanned happening outside that clearly wasn’t ending soon, and carried on with his introduction. It was a unique situation to be sure, with murmured support from some audience members, but also understanding that the live-streaming event had to continue. Host Aidy Bryant, whose playful approach and light ribbing of celebrities in attendance received warm reactions and laughs throughout, reminded the audience that the event’s location at a public beach can result in unpredictability. One winner, Fremont writer and director Babak Jalali, told the crowd during his acceptance speech of the John Cassavetes award, that he was moved and inspired by “what was going on outside,” which received applause from the audience.
