White House Correspondents Dinner Edition: DC’s Oscar Weekend

     Nearly 3,000 of the most influential leaders in politics, media, and entertainment will gather and glam up in DC this week for the annual White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD).  The WHCD dates back to 1920 and honors exceptional journalism and awards student scholarships.  In recent years, the WHCD has evolved into a comedic roast of the media, the President, and the political establishment.  Each year, the guest list becomes more and more star-studded as Hollywood rubs elbows with Washington’s elite.  More than 100 paparazzi photogs will flood DC to cover the red carpet. 

       
    Seth Myers of Saturday Night Live will host this year’s WHCD on Saturday, April 30 at the Washington Hilton. Live CSPAN coverage on CSPAN at 6:45pm/EST. MSNBC will air the WHCD at 9:30pm/EST.

      The WHCD, pre-parties, and after parties might be harder to get into without an invite than Vanity Fair’s famed Oscar after party. In any case, be on the lookout for who you might see walkin through Dupont, dining at Old Ebbit, or hitting up monuments in the next few days.

     A classic WHCD moment: a parody of his last days in office by President Clinton:

WHCD Guests

      Each media organization tries to one-up the others with their VIP guests for the big dinner on Saturday.  Here’s some of who everyone snagged this year:

Politico

John Legend
Texas Gov. Rick Perry
Designer Tory Burch
Congressman Anthony Weiner
Secretary Hillary Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin
Joan Rivers
T. Boone Pickens
Cal Ripkin Jr.
UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba
Melissa Leo
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer
Jeremy Piven
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowki
Democratic Governor’s Association Chairman Martin O’Malley (Gov. of Maryland)
Former RNC Chairman Michael Steel
Ambassador Nancy Brinker
Susan G. Komen

 

USA Today

David Arquette
Courtney Cox
Eliza Dushku

Rick Fox

Could be trouble?

Mother Jones

Sean Penn

Bloomberg

Brooke Burke (“Dancing with the Stars”)

Shaun White (Snowborder)

CNN

Paula Abdul

Lady Antebellum

Mila Kunis

The New Yorker

David Remnick

Jon Hamm ("Mad Men")

Joel and Ethan Coen

Zach Galifianakis

Adam Gopnik

Jill Lepore

James Surowiecki

Ryan Lizza

Newsweek

Anna Paquin ("True Blood")

Stephen Moyer ("True Blood")

Colin Powell

Barry Diller (Founder of the FOX Broadcasting Company)

Jon Favreau (Obama’s speechwriter)

Jason Sudeikis (“Saturday Night Live”)

Michael Kors

Diane von Furstenberg

Congressman Aaron Schock

Tina Brown (Editor-in-Chief of Newsweek and The Daily Beast)

People Magazine

Bristol Palin

Steven Tyler

Mindy Kaling ("The Office")

Chris Colfer ("Glee")

Chicago Tribune

Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel

Fox News

Kate Hudson
 

The Washington Post

Donald Trump

NPR
UN Ambassador Susan Rice
Ambassador Ian Cameron
Michael Stipe (lead singer R.E.M.)
David Byrne (founding member, Talking Heads)
Annie Clark (aka singer-songwriter St. Vincent)
Scott Z. Burns (writer/director/producer of The Bourn Ultimatum, Inconvenient Turth
Mike White (actor/writer/director School of Rock, Nacho Libre)

 

The Atlantic/NJ

David Axelrod (former WH advisor)
Former Senator Christopher Dodd (currently Chair & CEO of the MPAA)
Congressman John Dingell
Congressman Mike Pence
Congressman John Mica
Actress Maria Bello (Prime Suspect)
Actor Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights)
Actor Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries)
Producer Mike Farah (Funny or Die)
   

ABC News

Eric Stonestreet (“Modern Family”)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson ("Modern Family")

Jane Lynch (“Glee”)

Paul Rudd
White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard
Senator Marco Rubio
Attorney General Eric Holder
Admiral Michael Mullen (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Secretary Janet Napolitano

TIME

Senator Scott Brown
Steve Buscemi
Terence Winter (writer/executive producer of “The Sopranos”)
Tom Hooper (Academy Award-winning director of “The King’s Speech)
Designer Tara Subkoff
Jay Roach (Director of “Game Change”)
Danny Strong (Producer of “Game Change”)

Fortune

Evan Williams (Twitter co-founder)
Actress Mira Sorvino

Sally Field Honors Amazing Women at Kennedy Center Tonight

     Tonight at the Kennedy Center, Academy Award winning actress Sally Field will be a presenter at the 10th annual Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards entitled “A Decade of Investing in Women to Improve Our World.”

     The NGO hosting the event, Vital Voices Global Partnership, launched in 2000.  It grew out of the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative established by then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 1997 after the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing to promote the advancement of women as a U.S. foreign policy goal.  Vital Voices identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to invest back into their communities.  Fields, an advocate for women’s rights around the globe, has become increasingly involved with the organization.

     The six honorees include Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Indian anti-human trafficking pioneer Sunitha Krishnan and Afghan widow Fatema Akbari, whose carpentry business promotes independence for women in war-torn Afghanistan.

***Note from the Editor: Due to law school finals, I will be taking a 2 week sabattical.  But rest assured, I will be back just in time to report on White House Correspondents Dinner details!

1 Degree of Separation Between You and James Franco?!

     A few weeks ago I told you about an event James Franco headlined for the non-profit 826DC.  Well, they have an immediate internship opening!  You’ll be that much closer to being friends with James Franco and you’ll get to help support kids too.  Now that’s winning.

826DC Seeks Development and Management Internships

 Description:

Are you interested in working with a growing educational nonprofit in Washington, DC?  826 DC, the newest center in the nationwide organization founded by best-selling author Dave Eggers and award-winning educator Ninive Calegari, has an immediate internship opportunities for students and recent graduates interested in nonprofit management to work closely with the executive director on fundraising, grant writing, and assorted administrative responsibilities.  Internships are unpaid and require a commitment of at least 20 hours per week for at least 16 weeks. Visit our website: www.826dc.org for more information about what we do.

826DC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

With this in mind we provide drop-in tutoring, field trips, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice.

Requirements:

·     Excellent written and oral communication skills
·     Deep-seeded interest in the inner workings of a nonprofit
·     A true passion for organization, tedium, and good, hard work
·     Grant writing experience preferred
·     Editing/proofreading experience preferred
 
Additional Qualifications:
·     Event planning experience is a plus
·     Accounting experience a plus
·     Spanish fluency is a plus
 
Perks:
·     Flexible schedule
·     Free admission to 826 DC events
·     Opportunity to impact a growing nonprofit
·     Connection to the award-winning national organization

To apply, send a cover letter, resume and writing sample to Joe Callahan at joec@826dc.org.   No calls, please.

Attention Ladies: Hubble’s Coming to Town!

     On Thursday, April 14, Robert Redford will be in DC to accept an award at the National Wildlife Federation's 75th Anniversary Gala.  He is being honored for helping to lead conservation efforts for over 35 years.  This annual celebration recognizes individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting wildlife through education, advocacy, and on-the-ground conservation.

    Redford uses his love of the arts to bring public awareness to the importance of developing renewable energy, safeguarding clean water, and protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Watch his short film “The Fix” on the BP oil spill.

      First Lady Michelle Obama will also receive a conservation award for her Let's Move! initiative, which focuses on eradicating childhood obesity through education, healthy eating habits and encouraging youth to get outside and explore America’s great outdoors.  The black-tie optional soiree will be at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill (400 New Jersey Ave. NW; closest Metro: Union Station).

Congress Snubs Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin

     Last Tuesday, Actors Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey were scheduled to testify before a House Appropriations subcommittee. However, Members of Congress and their staffs apparently didn't have time because they were prepping for the government shutdown showdown, so they cancelled the hearings. Meanwhile, Spacey spent the rest his time in DC biking around town and appearing on Hardball with Chris Matthews.

     Baldwin and Spacey sought to prevent House Republicans from cutting $40 million from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). The NEA is a federally-funded independent agency that supports and funds initiatives and programs that foster artistic creativity and art education. Congress created the agency in 1965. Every year, entertainment icons, who have in one way or another benefitted from NEA programs during their life, advocate for congressional funding for the NEA. In recent years, Robert Redford, Kerry Washington, and John Legend have testified before Congress about the importance of encouraging creativity in young people.

Dr. Franco Goes to Washington

     On Thursday, actor James Franco headlined a benefit for 826DC, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting students with their writing skills, particularly creative writing. The event was held at the Hotel Monaco in Chinatown (btw, the hotel’s restaurant has exquisite rabbit and awesome fries). Franco, who has degrees in creative writing, is currently pursuing a PhD at Yale. He is reportedly starting a gig as an NYU professor soon. Apparently he didn’t enjoy spending 127 hours in a hole.

     Franco’s appearance was just a day before hundreds of writing teachers gathered on Capitol Hill to urge Members of Congress to restore funding for the National Writing Project (NWP), a nationwide network of educators working together to improve the teaching of writing in the nation's schools and in other settings. The most recent continuing budget resolution cut funding for NWP as well as the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program, Reading Is Fundamental, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and Teach for America.  Even as America tries to compete in the global economy, education continues to be a target for funding cuts at both the state and national level.

But is she hot?

     Last Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a White House dinner with high school students and the most glam and accomplished of female stars in celebration of Women’s History Month. The guest list included Academy Award winning actors Geena Davis and Hilary Swank, Olympians Michelle Kwan and Lisa Leslie, comedian Ali Wentworth, and Grammy Award winning violinist Miri Ben-Ar among others.

     The event, the “Remarkable Women in DC Dinner,” celebrated women’s achievements and emphasized the importance of mentorship. Earlier in the day, Mrs. Obama and Hilary Swank paid a visit to Ballou High School in Southeast DC. Since her early days in the White House, Mrs. Obama has made it a priority to promote mentoring for students.  Find out about mentoring programs in DC here.

     Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in 1987 to honor the extraordinary achievements of women in America.