Thanks to the gracious Steven Gaydos for ushering me into today’s Variety brunch (11 am to 12:45 pm) at the Parker Palm Springs. Tasty omelettes, fresh fruit, good coffee, agreeable sunshine. The main honorees were Wolf of Wall Street costar Jonah Hill (introduced by Hill’s Cyrus costar Marisa Tomei) and Saving Mr. Banks director John Lee Hancock (introduced by Colin Farrell). Among the ten upcoming directors honored were Ben Falcone (the upcoming Tammy which stars his wife Melissa McCarthy) and Belle helmer Ama Asante.

Also tributed were drectors Dome Karukoski (Heart of a Lion); Anthony Chen (Ilo Ilo); Paul Duane (Very Extremely Dangerous); Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant); Justin Simien (Dear White People); Maya Forbes (Infinitely Polar Bear); Gren Wells (The Road Within); and the team of Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly (Beneath the Harvest Sky).

I bolted the hell out of Palm Springs at 12:45 and drove for 210 minutes. I mostly listened to an Everly Brothers greatest hits album. I checked into a Holiday Inn Express in Carpinteria, which is about a half-hour away from the Forrest Whitaker tribute in Carpinteria, at 4:15 pm. I leave for that event around 6 pm.