A star-studded host committee, Academy Awards nominees and presenters, along with some of the most powerful industry influencers converged on February 23rd, 2013 for the 11th annual “Night Before” party to benefit the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation.
Funds raised during the now-legendary evening will be used to support the MPTF in providing its services of healthcare, financial relief and retirement living to the more than 150,000 people it helps each year in its effort to achieve its goal of “taking care of our own.”
The 2013 host committee included a lineup of the industry’s most elite talent, including Amy Adams and Darren Le Gallo, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, Tanya Haden Black and Jack Black, Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Tom Cruise, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx, Deborra-Lee Furness and Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller, Pauletta and Denzel Washington, Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks, and Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth.
Attending guests included Jessica Chastain, Russell Crowe, Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Anna Faris, Sally Field, Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen, Salma Hayek, Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, John Krasinski, Gary Oldman, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner, Jacki Weaver, and Bruce Willis, among others.
This year’s generous presenting sponsors included FIAT, L’Oreal, HP, McDonald’s, Target, and The Hollywood Reporter. The event was once again held at the historic Beverly Hills Hotel, where star chef Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster Harlem provided his signature cuisine for guests.
“The ‘Night Before’ is a tribute to what goes on day after day at the MPTF,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation and Chairman of MPTF Foundation. “At this wonderful event, Hollywood’s leaders of today help make it possible for the MPTF to do its outstanding work for the dedicated and talented individuals who have come before us.”
“The ‘Night Before’ is the singular event during the awards season that exists purely to bring the film community together in the name of charity,” said Ken Scherer, CEO of MPTF Foundation. “We all are truly winners tonight.”
The “Night Before,” held annually the night before the Academy Awards, was produced for the 11th consecutive year by Robyn Leuthe Norris , with Silver Birches creating the decor for the party. The event, now a much-anticipated awards season tradition, has become one of the most coveted invitations in town since its inception in 2003.
