Since the horrendous Los Angeles wildfires broke out Jan. 7, two days after the Golden Globes, Hollywood’s usual awards season activities ground to a halt with numerous postponements or cancellations of ceremonies that normally take place this time of year; these included the Critics Choice Awards (originally Jan. 12, moved twice and now scheduled for Feb. 7); L.A. Film Critics Banquet; AFI Awards Luncheon (now set for Feb. 6); AARP’s televised Movies For Grownups Awards and countless other awards season-related events, even including the voting period and announcement of Oscar nominations that finally took place a week later than planned on Thursday morning. Among those ceremonies earliest affected was American Cinematheque‘s 4th Annual Tribute to The Crafts which had originally been scheduled to occur Jan. 9 in Hollywood but, as the fires grew increasingly out of control, was quickly postponed.
Last night at the iconic Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Blvd., the rescheduled event became the first awards ceremony to return in the city, and it just might serve as a template for upcoming awards fetes in showing how to proceed with honoring the winners and nominees while also not losing sight of the toll these tragic fires have had, with so many in the industry — even among the honorees — still shaken by the events: many losing their homes, or forced to evacuate for days, their lives turned upside down.
Guests attend American Cinematheque’s 4th Annual Tribute to The Crafts at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for American Cinematheque)
Opening the show, American Cinematheque Chairman Rick Nicita announced a generous plan to help raise funds for the recovery. “For the remainder of 2025, the American Cinematheque will donate a portion from each online ticket purchased to The Motion Picture Television Fund and The California Fire Foundation. And we are pleased to announce that this donation will be matched by the GRoW @ Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation,” he said.
Designed as always to honor the key craftspeople behind some of the year’s most acclaimed movies, the spirited Cinematheque ceremony — hosted by Stephanie Allain and Paula Wagner, in front of a packed, enthusiastic crowd at the beautifully restored theater — did honor its jury-chosen winners of films with clips and acceptances, including Emilia Pérez, Dune: Part Two, Wicked, Saturday Night, The Substance, Will & Harper, Challengers, The Fall Guy, as well as Career Achievement Award recipient Ed Lachman, who also just received his latest Oscar nomination for his cinematography on Maria.
(L-R) Hosts Stephanie Allain and Paula Wagner speak onstage during American Cinematheque’s 4th Annual Tribute to The Crafts (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for American Cinematheque)
All of the winners, many also newly minted Oscar nominees, made note of the L.A. tragedy in their own way while acknowledging the artisans and inspirations that got them to this moment. None was more chilling and insightful than Trent Reznor accepting virtually with partner Atticus Ross for their Challengers score in front of their music studio console. “We just got back into our workplace after being evacuated and frankly we’re just a little bit mentally freaked out as I’m sure everyone here is. I hope that everyone is doing the best they can during these very trying and strange times we find ourselves in,” the Oscar-winning composer said.
(L-R) John Mills and Steve Guttenberg attend American Cinematheque’s 4th Annual Tribute to The Crafts (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for American Cinematheque)
However, what turned out to be the undisputed highlight of the evening was American Cinematheque’s decision to add another honor in the wake of the fires, the Unsung Hero Award, to Watch Duty CEO John Mills who flew in from Northern California to accept. He is the creator of what became an indispensable app, downloaded an astounding 2.5 million times by Angelenos in just the first week of the fires, and which gives instant, sometimes life-saving information, even before authorities can do the same thing. It became a viral sensation, even as it has been used across the country for other tragedies. Mills put all the attention on the firefighters who joined him in the audience, and “the men and women, mostly men, incarcerated, who are cutting lines in the middle of the night to save Brentwood out of Mandeville Canyon for a dollar an hour.” As for Mills, who created the app four years ago by investing his own money after almost losing his home in a fire, he deflected the awards title of “unsung hero” to say, “I’ll accept this award but I can’t accept hero, because I know heroes — they’re in this room.”
Presenting the award was actor Steve Guttenberg, who went viral after a KTLA news reporter caught him pleading to his fellow homeowners in the Palisades who moved their cars (from Teslas to Maseratis) down to Sunset and then took the keys with them. He jumped into action and, as Mills joked in his acceptance, became a parking attendant on the spot: “I got to drive cars I never drove before. People were getting their Lamborghinis and Maseratis and these really fancy cars and bringing them down,” he said. “Then the firemen said ‘get out of the cars and run because the fire’s coming,’ so I’m jumping in like a Lamborghini; I drove it 20 feet, but I got to drive a Lamborghini!”
Watch the whole video presentation below of the American Cinematheque Unsung Hero Award.
Here is a list of all the honorees of the 4th Annual American Cinematheque Tribute to The Crafts Awards, which were produced by Madelyn Hammond and Javier Infante.
Career Achievement Award Ed Lachman*
Unsung Hero Award Recipient Co-Founder & CEO of Watch Duty John Mills and Presenter Steve Guttenberg
Along with the 4th annual Tribute to the Crafts honorees, including:
Chris O’Hara – Stunts (The Fall Guy)
Damien Jalet* – Choreography (Emilia Pérez)
Gareth John*, Richard King*, Ron Bartlett & Doug Hemphill* – Sound (Dune: Part Two)
John Papsidera – Casting (Saturday Night)
Jomo Fray – Cinematography (Nickel Boys)
Juliette Welfling* – Editing (Emilia Pérez)
Nathan Crowley*, Lee Sandales* & Jamie Wilkinson* – Production Design/Set Decoration/Prop Master (Wicked)
Paul Lambert, Stephen James*, Rhys Salcombe* & Gerd Nefzer* – Visual Effects (Dune: Part Two)
Paul Tazewell – Costume Design (Wicked)
Pierre-Olivier Persin*, Stéphanie Guillon*, Frédérique Arguello* & Marilyne Scarselli* – Hair & Makeup (The Substance)
Sean Douglas, Kristen Wiig* & Josh Greenbaum* – Song (Will & Harper – “Harper and Will Go West”)
Trent Reznor* & Atticus Ross* – Score (Challengers)
*denotes those who were honored virtually.
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