The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's 14th annual Art+Film Gala brought together Hollywood's biggest stars, entertainment moguls, and renowned artists for a glamorous evening that raised a record-breaking $6.5 million. The November 1st event, sponsored by Gucci, honored filmmaker Ryan Coogler and artist Mary Corse while featuring performances and tributes that celebrated the intersection of art and cinema in Los Angeles.
The evening's program experienced an unexpected delay as guests remained glued to their phones watching the Los Angeles Dodgers compete in Game 7 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The hometown team's dramatic extra-innings victory, with a final score that broke a 4-4 tie, sparked cheers throughout the custom tented venue at 9:18 p.m., effectively turning the Art+Film Gala into what could have been called the "Art+Film+Baseball Gala."
LACMA CEO Michael Govan opened the festivities by addressing the star-studded crowd, which included media moguls David Geffen, Bob Iger, George Lucas, and François-Henri Pinault, alongside filmmakers Jon M. Chu, Park Chan-wook, and Ava DuVernay. Musicians Doja Cat, Finneas, Lorde, Troye Sivan, and Demi Lovato mingled with top models including Kaia Gerber, Alex Consani, Alton Mason, Paloma Elsesser, and Vittoria Ceretti. "We're art, film, creativity, all deeply intertwined," Govan explained to the audience. "I always say this is the most creative place on Earth, and you are it, here, all of you."
The event showcased Gucci's continued partnership with LACMA, marking the first Art+Film Gala appearance of the fashion house's newly installed creative director Demna. Guests dined on an exquisite meal prepared by chef David Shim of COTE New York, America's first and only Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse, served on elegant Ginori 1735 Oriente Italiano porcelain that complemented the venue's rich brown and deep purple color scheme.
Renowned artist James Turrell took the stage to honor Mary Corse, whom he praised as "one of the keepers of the light." Following Corse's brief acceptance speech, Angela Bassett, dressed in Gucci, introduced the evening's film honoree, her "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler. Bassett, who earned an Oscar nomination for her work in "Wakanda Forever," delivered a heartfelt tribute that highlighted Coogler's storytelling abilities and emotional depth.
"His films share a strong sense of purpose that makes every moment meaningful," Bassett said. "As a storyteller, he has an instinctive ability to balance the epic and cinematic with moments of quiet and intimacy. Throughout all his films, Ryan never loses focus on the people at the center of them. Every choice he makes keeps us connected to the emotional core of those stories long after we leave the theater."
Coogler, who achieved success this year with Warner Bros. Pictures' "Sinners" starring Michael B. Jordan, delivered an emotional and profound acceptance speech that received a standing ovation. The filmmaker spent considerable time acknowledging his collaborators and friends in the audience, asking them to stand for recognition. His extensive list included Bob Iger, Warner Bros.' Pam Abdy, WME agents Craig Kestel and Dan Limerick, Marvel's Kevin Feige, Amazon MGM Studios' Sue Kroll, producer Nina Yang Bongiovi, and Tessa Thompson.
The director dedicated much of his speech to discussing how he found community in Los Angeles and the film industry after moving from his native Oakland, California, to attend USC. Wearing a red "Lead With Love" pin to honor the late Michael Latt and his Legacy Fund, Coogler reflected on Latt's early support of his career. "He was the first person to market one of my films," Coogler said. "He was so ahead of the curve that he understood that humanity needed to be advocated for and he knew how to do it on social media. He was an incredible loss."
Coogler also paid tribute to Robert Redford and the Sundance Institute, where he studied at the labs. "He was at the peak of his power, his highest success, and he thought it was important to find a way to give back and support the arts," he explained about Redford's decision to launch the institute that would prove crucial to his own development as a filmmaker.
In a particularly touching moment, the filmmaker recalled his first visit to LACMA as a USC student. "I didn't know what LACMA was at the time and when she drove me, I saw the La Brea Tar Pits and I freaked out. I didn't know the street was named after the actual place. I was taking pictures of the mastodons on my cell phone and everything. I thought the museum was the actual Tar Pits," he remembered with humor.
Once inside the museum, Coogler described having his "mind blown tremendously" while viewing the paintings. As a broke student without resources, he wondered how cool it would be to be like those artists, "just sitting in a room and painting something to get my feelings out like that." He questioned why he had chosen "an industry where you need a crew of 300 people" and became "very addicted" to visiting LACMA and the Hammer Museum for inspiration.
The filmmaker's speech took on deeper significance as he connected his artistic journey to broader themes of identity and community. "I felt connected to that idea coming up as an athlete, coming up as a Black person in this country, existing in that zone of art, utility and commerce," he said. "I'm from a people that have been in this country for 400 years. For a long time of that 400 years, we were bought and sold as commerce. We've always been a utility to this country, always been a necessary thing to this country, but not always acknowledged. And goddammit if we haven't made some beautiful art the whole time."
The evening concluded with a spectacular 30-minute performance by Doja Cat, who was introduced by SZA during the afterparty. The record-breaking $6.5 million raised will support LACMA's initiative to make film more central to the museum's curatorial programming, along with other institutional programs. Event co-chairs Leonardo DiCaprio and Eva Chow helped oversee the successful fundraising effort that once again demonstrated Los Angeles' unique position at the intersection of art, entertainment, and philanthropy.
