Hollywood Oscar Party Guest List and Anecdotes

over coffee and says how exciting it is to direct. When | ask Meryl if she will join the minute ranks of female directors, the acting icon says, "Never. My job is done at the end of the day. | like to go home at night and let someone else worry about tomorrow's location." Friday ends at the CAA party, a tough ticket now handed out by Maha Dahkil and Michael Kives. The white tent is filled with a sea of celebrity. Every CAA client comes out to eat, mingle, kibbitz and dance. Spotted: Meryl Streep (yes, she had a busy day too), Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Orlando Bloom, Jerry Bruckheimer, J.J. Abrams, Ron Howard, Naomi Watts, Mick Jagger, Lady Gaga, Barry Jenkins, John Mayer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kate Hudson, Jon Hamm and Jeff Bezos. At 2 a.m. | email Damien Chazelle another party report as he is still sick in bed. Now, a team of medical talent is working on getting him well for Oscar night. Saturday, February 25 | march down to the Academy's theater to hear my producer friend (since "Diner"), Mark Johnson, also an Academy governor, conduct a symposium for four of five nominated foreign film directors. As brilliant as the conversation was, four guys from Australia, Denmark, Germany and Sweden depressingly knew that the absent Iranian Asghar Farhadi was winning. | took Mark, instead of the still-quarantined Damien Chazelle, up Coldwater Canyon to Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg's annual picnic lunch for Graydon Carter and Anna Scott. This gathering of the powerful and mighty occurs at exactly the same time as the Independent Spirit Awards for young and new talent. The two hot owners of A24, David Fenkel and Daniel Katz, are so sure their "Moonlight" was winning all six awards they are here instead of the Spirit Award’s tent on the beach in Santa Monica. When asked, "What are you doing here?” they simultaneously say, "Our people are there." The reason they were on the lawn for the first time is that they have a new television and film production deal with Diller. It's all very familiar, cozy and the best party of the week. Collectively there are more Oscar and Emmy winners on this lawn than will file into the Dolby Theater on Sunday. | sit with petite Gloria Cooper, mother of Bradley. She is the only one wearing a hat, a large white felt fedora hiding enormous black sunglasses and her pretty face. | entertain Gloria with local gossip, which she loves, but when | ask her for details on the start of production for "A Star is Born," | get nothing. | ask guests, "Who is winning best actor"? They reply, "Denzel, but | voted for Casey". Casey, who touched my heart on and off screen, ran in a tight race with humility, despite a nasty whisper campaign against him. | never asked about best picture. I'm still in thrall to the conventional wisdom: It's a "La La" landslide. Rupert Murdoch brings his bride Jerry Hall who kisses and chats with Mick Jagger as the lawn people try to eavesdrop. Spotted: DvF's kids Alexander and Tatiana, Sir Howard Stringer, Oliver Stone, Ted Sarandos, Brett Ratner, Ron Meyer, Tom Ford, Larry Gagosian and Chrissie Erpf, Jeffrey Katzenberg, George Stevens, Jr., Toby Maguire, Sandy Gallin, Robert Kraft, Harvey Weinstein and breathtakingly beautiful Georgina Chapman, Lynn Wyatt, Fran Lebowitz, Henry Kravis, Jeff and Scott Berg and Irwin Winkler. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019853