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There's Gold In Them Thar Globes LOS ANGELES TIMES
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announces its annual Golden Globe nominations at a star-studded ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel this morning, and, for the first time, E! Entertainment Television will broadcast the Globe nominations live, just as it does the Oscar and Emmy nominations.
Thanks to the growing importance of international box-office receipts, and movie studios' reliance on awards ceremonies to hype films, the group's Golden Globes gala is becoming a bigger event each year. Winners will be announced in a live telecast Jan. 18 on NBC. Last year's show drew more viewers than any awards but the Oscars.
"Obviously, we have grown in prestige and importance - our ratings were remarkable last year," said Philip Berk, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's president and a freelance journalist for publications from South Africa to Spain.
Part of the frenzy surrounding the Golden Globes stems from their reputation as bellwethers for the Academy Awards, which are presented two months later. The awards are not identical - the Globes split films into dramatic and musical / comedy categories, thus doubling the number of nominees and winners in the best picture, actor and actress categories.
Still, conventional wisdom says receipt of a Globe statuette assures at least an Oscar nomination. In the last 18 years, 15 films that won best motion picture or foreign film honors at the Golden Globes went on to take the same prize at the Oscars.
In the face of this power, Berk acknowledges that 40 percent of his members are not full-time journalists - a fact that has led some to question the group's legitimacy. And he confirms that under the group's bylaws, a sitting member can prevent someone from a competing publication from joining. The result, say some critics: a membership that is stagnant at best and, at worst, out of touch.
Berk's defense: Everyone is required to submit four published articles each year.
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