The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was conceived when the two original feuding groups responsible for the Golden Globes put their differences to rest and decided to merge. The Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association and the Foreign Press Association of Hollywood became the HFPA in 1955. The HFPA has expanded over the years and today consists of members representing approximately 55 countries and has a collective readership of more than 250 million. The organization is run by a president, vice president, executive secretary, treasurer and board of directors who are elected yearly from members. The members meet monthly and the HFPA also has four full-time employees, who are non-members. The HFPA receives a substantial amount from licensing fees for the network broadcasting rights to The Golden Globe Awards and also from other events such as the Golden Globe Awards pre-shows.
The original concept of the HFPA named the Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association was formed in 1943 and had the motto “Unity Without Discrimination of Religion or Race.” The group had humble beginnings and gathered at private homes and picked the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel as a meeting point once the membership started growing. Then organization president Marina Cisternas came up with the idea for the award statuette. It was to be a golden globe encircled with a strip of motion picture film, and mounted on a pedestal. This came right after the first informal function in which scrolls were awarded to the winners in their respective categories.
In 1950 after a rift among members caused by differing philosophies, the organization split into two. The Hollywood Foreign Correspondents started giving out the Golden Globes and the Foreign Press Association of Hollywood gave out the Henriettas, named after their president, Henry Gris. This went on till 1955, when the hatchet was buried and both groups united again to form the ‘Hollywood Foreign Press Association’. The rest as they say “is history”. In 1955 the Golden Globes also began honoring achievements in television along with films. Today, the Golden Globes recognize achievements in 25 categories; 14 in motion pictures and 11 in television.
