Golden Globe and Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger at the HFPA’s annual grants banquet. Photo courtesy of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

While a star-studded audience looked on, Golden Globe and Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger presented California State University, Northridge with $60,000 on behalf of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to support the university’s film students.

The HFPA awarded CSUN an additional $12,000 for the installation of historic film posters at the university.

The gifts were announced at the association’s annual grants banquet, held on July 31 at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Among those in attendance were actors Kerry Washington, Ali Wong, Regina Hall, James Corden, Taron Egerton, Rob Lowe, Sacha Baron Cohen and CSUN alumna Eva Longoria. Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger served as the event’s host.

“I am always amazed at the benevolence of the HFPA and, in particular, their continued support of our senior film projects,” said cinema and television arts professor Nate Thomas, head of CSUN’s film program. “With all that they have done for the Department of Cinema and Television Arts over the years, they don’t stop giving — as evidenced by additional support for the film poster installation. We must be doing something right with our program here at CSUN.”

The additional $12,000 grant will support the installation of historic film posters of Golden Globe-nominated and -winning films on the walls of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Wing of Manzanita Hall, home to CSUN’s acclaimed film program.

The HFPA, which is made up of international journalists who report on the entertainment industry and hosts the Golden Globe Awards each year, handed out a total of $3.8 million in grants at the July 31 event to a variety of entertainment-related and charitable organizations. The donations were for a wide range of projects, including film preservation, higher education, training and mentoring, and the promotion of cultural exchange through film.

CSUN’s relationship with the HFPA dates to 1996. The association’s gifts over the years have supported student film projects and helped keep CSUN’s film program current with the latest technology. Students edit in the Hollywood Press Association Senior Film Edit Suite on campus, and they work on sound design in a state-of-the-art sound mix facility made possible by a grant from the HFPA.

In 2015, the HFPA gave CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts $2 million to support students, including the creation of a Hollywood Foreign Press Association scholars program and to continue to enhance technology.

CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts, housed in the Mike Curb College of Art, Media, and Communication, has an international reputation for producing dedicated and talented entertainment industry professionals who recognize the value of hard work as they learn and continue to perfect their crafts. The department currently enrolls about 1,550 undergraduate students and an additional 30 students in its graduate screenwriting program. Its alumni work in all aspects of entertainment media, from writing, producing and directing to manning cameras and having the final say in what project is made. The entertainment trade magazines Variety and The Hollywood Reporter regularly list CSUN as one of the top film programs in the world.

Department of Cinema and Television Arts, film program, Hollywood Foreign Press Association