Rambling Reporter

COVID-19 Casts a Pall on the Emmys Party Landscape

“Where’s the party?” Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the answer this Emmy week is … good luck finding one. Absent from the party scene are Disney, NBCUniversal, Amazon Studios, CAA, WME, UTA and ICM Partners. Most industry players are forgoing large-scale gatherings — after all, hosting an event filled with actors who might be needed on set come Monday morning could create major production disruptions should anyone test positive. HBO, which usually hosts a lavish bash, is opting for a smaller, private outdoor reception following the Sept. 19 telecast with proof of vaccination/PCR testing required. Netflix, meanwhile, went virtual with its nominees’ toast Sept. 10. And the TV Academy scrapped its Governors Ball celebrations in favor of a more select viewing party at downtown L.A.’s Jonathan Club.

Rams Recruit Oscar Winners

Before the L.A. Rams faced off with the Chicago Bears at

SoFi Stadium on Sept. 12 — marking the NFL team’s first regular-season game in the new $5 billion venue with fans in the seats — players rushed the field accompanied by a 90-second hype video on the Jumbotron. The clip featured Angelenos being drawn to the stadium by an almost supernatural force, and it comes from the mind of Wally Pfister, the

Oscar-winning cinematographer of Christopher Nolan’s Inception. The video sees life finally coming to the stadium with a Steven Spielberg-inspired flare. “There’s a shot where the coffee in the mug vibrates, taken right from Jurassic Park, and then I wanted these other shots moving in on people that had the vibe of War of the Worlds,” Pfister tells THR. He also collaborated on the sound with Atticus Ross, the Oscar-winning Social Network composer and partner at music production studio Barking Owl, incorporating the team’s signature “Whose house? Rams’ house!” chant.

— KIRSTEN CHUBA

Ed Harris Cuts Late Night Rug

The fall festival season was in full swing Sept. 5 at a late night dance party in Telluride following a screening of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut,

The Lost Daughter. Castmembers

Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris and

Peter Sarsgaard (also Gyllenhaal’s husband) headed to The National for dinner, dessert and a DJ, who lured the crowd to the dance floor, where Johnson was seen chatting up Red Rocket breakout Simon

Rex before making a beeline to her Fifty Shades of Grey franchise partner Jamie Dornan, while Harris helped shut down the dance floor after 2 a.m.

Cinematographer Wally Pfister (center) used three cameras, shooting in 12K, to film a video welcoming fans to SoFi Stadium.

“I’d love a fun night out — we all would,” says one Emmy insider, but this year that’s too risky.

Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson