The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was founded in 1943 under the name The Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association by one William Mooring, a correspondent in Los Angeles for The Daily Mail in the UK.

The group gave out awards from that year on, although the Golden Globe itself was inaugurated in 1947. Through the decades, the group of international journalists has developed what can only be described as a legendary status in Hollywood.

On the one hand, they are the object of casual derision, especially from the domestic media who question why 90 or so foreign junket press should retain such influence; on the other hand, they have become a fixture which consistently and reliably foreshadows the Oscars and stages one of the most popular awards shows in town.

Away from the awards show itself, the HFPA spends its year organizing press conferences with film and television talent from the US and overseas, access to whom represents the livelihoods of its members.

Last year alone HFPA president Phil Berk, who writes for FilmInk in Australia, Elle in Hong Kong and Galaxie in Malaysia, estimates that the group was given access to over 500 press conferences. The members have never represented themselves as critics, a fact that further infuriates domestic critics who believe that the Globes are taken too seriously.

The ascendancy of the HFPA has only really occurred in the last decade or so when a long-term network deal was signed with NBC, assuring the awards show had a national platform which only the Oscars can best. Last year, the show drew 18.7 million viewers on its new Monday night slot, having been moved there to avoid ABC’s Sunday night Desperate Housewives juggernaut.

The day-to-day concerns of the journalists in the HFPA, however, are far removed from the talk of ratings. Principal issues are the problems of day-and-date releasing and how that has affected lead time for talent access and the increasing demands of international media to get talent at the same time as domestic media.

‘We are very lucky in the access we get,’ says Lawrie Masterson, an Australian member who arrived in LA in1996 and who works under contract with the News Ltd Sunday newspaper network in Australia like Sunday Herald Sun in Melbourne and The Sunday Times in Perth as well as on a freelance basis with Women’s Weekly in New Zealand and the Qantas in-flight magazine. ‘To me, as a working journalist, the access is the greatest advantage of it although being involved with the Golden Globes is obviously a lot of fun.’

‘The HFPA is very helpful,’ adds Jean-Paul Chaillet, a well-known French journalist who came to LA for Premiere magazine in 1990 and now works for both Cine-Live and Madame Figaro. ‘I joined in 1992 and even since then it has become more significant than it was. It helps your profile which is always important in LA because there are so many foreign journalists here.’

But Rocio Ayuso, a veteran Spanish journalist who is the LA correspondent for El Pais and Spanish news agency EFE adds that membership of the HFPA also involves a lot of additional work, both within the administrative structure of the association and during Golden Globes season when members have to vote on a deluge of foreign-language films and new TV shows.

‘Beinga member really broadens your horizons and gets you much more in touch with the politics of the entertainment community but it’s definitely not a free ride as some people think. There’s a lot of additional work there.’

Ayuso covers the LA beat for Spain which encompasses much more than just Hollywood issues, namely politics and Latino issues. ‘Being a member of the HFPA is among my credentials, but first and foremost I am a journalist. I think some people outside the HFPA forget that sometimes.’

GOLDEN GLOBES NOMINATIONS

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Little Children
The Queen

Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture - Drama
Penelope Cruz Volver
Judi Dench Notes On A Scandal
Maggie Gyllenhaal Sherrybaby
Helen Mirren The Queen
Kate Winslet Little Children

Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture - Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio The Departed
Peter O’Toole Venus
Will Smith The Pursuit Of Happyness
Forest Whitaker The Last King Of Scotland

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Borat
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You For Smoking

Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture -Musical Or Comedy
Annette Bening Running With Scissors
Toni Collette Little Miss Sunshine
Beyonce Knowles Dreamgirls
Meryl Streep The Devil Wears Prada
Renee Zellweger Miss Potter

Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen Borat
Johnny Depp Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Aaron Eckhart Thank You For Smoking
Chiwetel Ejiofor Kinky Boots
Will Ferrell Stranger Than Fiction

Best Animated Feature Film
Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House

Best Foreign Language Film
Apocalypto (USA)
Letters From Iwo Jima (USA/Japan)
The Lives Of Others (Germany)
Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico)
Volver (Spain)

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture
Adriana Barraza Babel
Cate Blanchett Notes On A Scandal
Emily Blunt The Devil Wears Prada
Jennifer Hudson Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi Babel

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture
Ben Affleck Hollywoodland
Eddie Murphy Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson The Departed
Brad Pitt Babel
Mark Wahlberg The Departed

Best Director - Motion Picture
Clint Eastwood Flags Of Our Fathers
Clint Eastwood Letters From Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears The Queen
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Babel
Martin Scorsese The Departed

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Guillermo Arriaga Babel
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta Little Children
Patrick Marber Notes On A Scandal
William Monahan The Departed
Peter Morgan The Queen

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat The Painted Veil
Clint Mansell The Fountain
Gustavo Santaolalla Babel
Carlo Siliotto Nomad
Hans Zimmer The Da Vinci Code

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
‘A Father’s Way’ from The Pursuit Of Happyness
‘Listen’ from Dreamgirls
‘Never Gonna Break My Faith’ from Bobby
‘The Song Of The Heart’ from Happy Feet
‘Try Not To Remember’ from Home Of The Brave

Best Television Series - Drama
24
Big Love
Grey’s Anatomy
Heroes
Lost

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Patricia Arquette Medium
Edie Falco The Sopranos
Evangeline Lilly Lost
Ellen Pompeo Grey’s Anatomy
Kyra Sedgwick The Closer

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Patrick Dempsey Grey’s Anatomy
Michael C Hall Dexter
Hugh Laurie House
Bill Paxton Big Love
Kiefer Sutherland 24

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
The Office
Ugly Betty
Weeds

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Marcia Cross Desperate Housewives
America Ferrera Ugly Betty
Felicity Huffman Desperate Housewives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus The New Adventures Of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker Weeds

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Alec Baldwin 30 Rock
Zach Braff Scrubs
Steve Carrell The Office
Jason Lee My Name Is Earl
Tony Shalhoub Monk

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Bleak House
Broken Trail
Elizabeth I
Mrs Harris
Prime Suspect: The Final Act

Best Performance By An Actress In A Mini-Series Or A Motion Picture Made For Television
Gillian Anderson Bleak House
Annette Bening Mrs Harris
Helen Mirren Elizabeth I
Helen Mirren Prime Suspect: The Final Act
Sophie Okonedo Tsunami, The Aftermath

Best Performance By An Actor In A Mini-Series Or A Motion Picture Made For Television
Andre Braugher Thief
Robert Duvall Broken Trail
Michael Ealy Sleeper Cell: American Terror
Chiwetel Ejiofor Tsunami, The Aftermath
Ben Kingsley Mrs Harris
Bill Nighy Gideon’s Daughter
Matthew Perry The Ron Clark Story

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Series, Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Emily Blunt Gideon’s Daughter
Toni Collette Tsunami, The Aftermath
Katherine Heigl Grey’s Anatomy
Sarah Paulson Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
Elizabeth Perkins Weeds

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Series, Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Thomas Haden Church Broken Trail
Jeremy Irons Elizabeth I
Justin Kirk Weeds
Masi Oka Heroes
Jeremy Piven Entourage