HFPA Faces Calls For Deeper Reform From Golden Globes Producers Owner – Deadline

The 2022 Golden Globes have already been cancelled by NBC in May due to the chaos at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Now, the long term future of the beleaguered organization and its boozy awards show could be further in doubt.

The owner of long time Globes producers dick clark productions today made the reform struggling HFPA a potential radical proposal for change that the less than 90-journalist strong group may not want to ignore.

While not a mandate and subject to a vote but the HFPA member, essentially Eldridge Industries wants the HFPA to strategically splinter into a real business as well as maintain its current non-profit status in hopes of implementing a near total re-engineering of the entity.

The goal would be to streamline the financials of the HFPA and how its members are compensated, as well as forthrightly address issues of inclusion among the group, which currently lacks a single Black member.

Details of the fine print in the proposal that Eldridge boss Todd Boehly submitted the majority of the HFPA members in a Zoom call earlier today are sleight. Yet, the bottom line seems to be to build the internally warring group up from the bottom line and thoroughly to ensure significant corporate governance and best practices.

The changes Boehly has laid out are based in part on the reforms that HFPA leaders have put forth in more recent months as they have come under heavy criticism and talent sanctions from Hollywood publicist and studios, I hear. The Eldridge proposal also seeks to add at least 50 more members to the HFPA, so its ranks are more representational.

“Eldridge strongly supports the proposed reforms to the HFPA, addressing a general lack of diversity – including, at present, no Black members – and other important issues raised by the entertainment community and others,” said an Eldridge spokesperson in a statement tonight.

“While we recognize that this is ultimately an HFPA membership decision, we look forward to investing time and resources to ensure that essential reforms – prioritizing inclusion, transparency, and governance – are implemented, creating meaningful change and long term, sustained success,” they added.

Presently set to showrun and EP this year’s dcp co-produced American Music Awards in November, Jesse Collins has been consulting with Eldridge. The Grammys co-executive producer could play a pivotal role in whatever form the Golden Globes come out of this present shambles.

Representatives for the HFPA did not respond to request for comment on Eldridge’s proposal when contacted by Deadline. One mitigating factor is that the proposal was delivered verbally on today’s Zoom call, and, as of yet, few has seen anything in writing, sources says.

However, with factions already squaring off and resignations growing as votes on reform in the HFPA loom this month, the Eldridge proposal certainly has detractors, to put it mildly.

“It is a total non-starter,” one HFPA member told Deadline tonight. “We will not be dictated to,” another member stated, emphasizing that internally fueled efforts to clean up the HFPAS’s act are already fighting to gain traction. Eldridge’s plan is being viewed as an outside move that will create “resentment not reform.”

Today’s proposal by Eldridge comes on the heels of a tumultuous meeting between HFPA execs and members and dozens of top level PR teams last week.

Months after top level flacks ceased to allow their clients to engage with the HFPA because of overall misconduct and the spotlighted diversity failings of the group, the long planned sit down quickly went south, I hear, with neither side feeling listened to or heard.

NOTE – Deadline’s parent company PMC has a relationship with Eldridge Industries via their media joint venture PMRC.