A star-studded host committee, Academy Awards nominees and presenters, along with some of the most powerful industry influencers came together on February 23, 2019 for the 17th annual ‘Night Before’ party to benefit MPTF.
Credit/Copyright: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for MPTF
Funds raised during the evening will be used to support their industry colleagues and friends who benefit from MPTF’s charitable programs and services such as financial assistance, crisis counseling, care giving support, and of course the legendary retirement facility in Woodland Hills that is “home” to film and television veterans alike. The annual event raised $5 million last night, totaling just over $85 million in the event’s history.
The 2019 host committee included a lineup of the industry’s most elite talent, including Amy Adams & Darren Le Gallo, Mahershala Ali, Tanya Haden Black & Jack Black, Kate Capshaw & Steven Spielberg, Amal & George Clooney, Glenn Close, Giada Colagrande & Willem Dafoe, Bradley Cooper, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga, Allison Janney, Regina King, Rami Malek, Viggo Mortensen, Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith, Octavia Spencer, Rachel Weisz, Rita Wilson & Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon & Jim Toth, and Constance Wu.
Attending guests included Malin Akerman, Joe Alwyn, Anthony Anderson, Yalitza Aparicio, Awkwafina, Billy Baldwin, Elizabeth Banks, Angela Bassett, Camilla Belle, Greg Berlanti, Chadwick Boseman, Julie Bowen, Amy Brenneman, Billy Brown, Dan Bucatinsky, Mark Burnett, Ty Burrell, Ross Butler, Linda Cardellini, Anthony Carrigan, Erika Christensen, Ciara, Chase Crawford, Terry Crews, Darren Criss, Rory Culkin, Josh Dallas, Viola Davis, Nina Dobrev, Adam Driver, Winston Duke, Ava DuVernay, Billy Eichner, Cynthia Erivo, Chris Evans, Patrick Fabian, Taissa Farmiga, Fortune Feimster, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, America Ferrera, Andy Garcia, Danny Glover, Henry Golding, Meagan Good, Ginnifer Goodwin, Topher Grace, Kat Graham, Kelsey Grammar, Max Greenfield, Jonathan Groff, Danai Gurira, Savannah Guthrie, Tiffany Haddish, Regina Hall, Jon Hamm, Marcia Gay Harden, Ben Hardy, Laura Harrier, Patricia Heaton, Christina Hendricks, Sam Heughan, Cheryl Hines, Julianne Hough, Nicholas Hoult, Vanessa Hudgens, Samuel L. Jackson, Gillian Jacobs, Jake Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Mindy Kaling, Zoe Kazan, Machine Gun Kelly, Keegan-Michael Key, Jaime King, Heidi Klum, T.R. Knight, Nick Kroll, Christine Lahti, Sanaa Lathan, KiKi Layne, Gwilym Lee, Spike Lee, Allen Leech, Judith Light, Hamish Linklater, Zoe Lister-Jones, Diego Luna, Melanie Lynskey, Danielle Macdonald, Andie MacDowell, Joel Madden, Ashley Madekwe, Jason Mantzoukas, Joe Mazello, Katherine McNamara, Helen Mirren, Shay Mitchell, Natalie Morales, Stephen Moyer, Carey Mulligan, Mike Myers, Trevor Noah, Christopher Nolan, Chord Overstreet, Adam Pally, Barbara Palvin, Anna Paquin, Zac Posen, Jack Quaid, Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, June Diane Raphael, Nikki Reed, Retta, Nicole Richie, Jason Ritter, Emma Roberts, Brit Robertson, Robbie Rogers, Ray Romano, Meg Ryan, Halston Sage, Rosa Salazar, Nico Santos, Ted Sarandos, Paul Scheer, Maia Shibutani, Alex Shibutani, Ian Somerhalder, Abigail Spencer, Destry Allyn Spielberg, Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse, Lakeith Stanfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Sydney Sweeney, Taylor Swift, Jessica Szohr, Maura Tierney, Lorraine Toussaint, Michelle Trachtenberg, Gabrielle Union, Milo Ventimiglia, Diane Warren, Dominic West, Ed Westwick, Mae Whitman, Russell Wilson, Ali Wong, Michelle Yeoh, and more.
This year’s generous presenting sponsors included Delta Air Lines, Ford Motor Company, L’Oréal USA, Target, The Hollywood Reporter, Yahoo!, and YouTube. The event was held at Fox Studios, where Carmelized Productions by Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo provided specialty foods for the guests.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the generosity of the Presenting Sponsors and donors for making the ‘Night Before’ an amazing evening, one that once again brings the industry together in the spirit of a community that truly takes care of its own,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chairman of the MPTF Foundation.
The ‘Night Before,’ held annually the night before the Academy Awards has become one of the most coveted invitations in town since its inception in 2003.
