Thompson on Hollywood

"NBC, you're in the toilet right now," says Julia Roberts, hanging with Richard Lovett and Tom Hanks on the drenched red carpet, which literally is soaked. I stood in a puddle picking up my press credential. This is my first time covering the Golden Globes backstage. And I've been inside the Globes dinner party just once--it's a coveted ticket and I hope to get back in there, it's a blast.

Brit actress Emily Blunt walks the red carpet at the Beverly Hilton Sunday afternoon as a best actress drama nominee for The Young Victoria, which is holding well ($6.3 million so far in North America), and should get a boost from her Globes appearance. She has been there before: she's now an old hand.

A week before the Sundance Film Festival gets under way, sales agent Kevin Iwashina and producer Ross Dinerstein have closed financing on an overhead and development fund for their new company, Parlay Media. As 50/50 managing partners and co-owners, the dealmaker and filmmaker have set up shop at new offices in Santa Monica. While both men come from the independent film sector, Iwashina is a former CAA agent, while Dinerstein has produced a number of low-budget films. "Our skill sets and Rolodexes are complementary," says Iwashina. "Our combined experience will be the foundation of our company."

Besides George Clooney and Matt Damon's January 22 Haiti Aid Telethon, and Sean Penn arranging an emergency medical shipment to Haiti, many other members of the Hollywood community are stepping up to help the earthquake-ravaged island. On the eve of their annual Golden Globes Awards ceremony, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have donated $100,000 to Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti relief fund. Sandra Bullock, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's foundation, have committed $1 million in relief. And Artists for Peace and Justice is mounting a fundraising brunch this Sunday, reports writer-director Paul Haggis:Our board members have raised a significant amount of money in the past few days and we are hand delivering the funds to Port au Prince now. We have been told supplies are available in Haiti, they are just expensive; the banks are closed, so the hospitals that are still functioning, like the children's hospital we sponsor, St. Damien's -- the only free hospital serving the people of the slums of Port au Prince -- have run out of medicine and fuel for their generators. The emergency cash is a quick fix; we are also partnering with Operation USA and are flying in containers of medicine and supplies within the next few days. Anyone interested in donating can go to our website.