The Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) was launched in 2016 to elevate and celebrate diverse voices in entertainment criticism. The current membership comprises 106 members, with more than half of the membership being women, people of color, and those who identify as LGBTQ. All HCA members are critics or entertainment journalists with a passion and love for film and television. 

Unlike other guilds, the HCA celebrates the arts all year round. In 2021, the organization launched a series of online shows hosted by and featuring various organization members. These shows cover a wide range of topics such as popular culture, trending stories on social media, and streaming recommendations. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Film Awards ceremony this year was virtual. The virtual ceremony garnered over 2 billion social media impressions and featured some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Zack Snyder, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. In addition, the show was covered by several major publications, including The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Daily Mail, and Entertainment Weekly.  

Before the pandemic, the Hollywood Critics Association hosted their Film Awards at the Taglyan Complex in Los Angeles. This gala event celebrates the organization’s love and passion for film, and its honorees are as diverse as its members.  Previous winners include Taika Waititi, Gary Oldman, Olivia Wilde, Brie Larson, Jessica Chastain, Rami Malek, and Guillermo del Toro, all of whom have spoken publicly about the importance of HCA and the need for diversity within the community of journalists. Other recent guests include Sarah Paulson, Cathy Yan, Kemp Powers, Bong Joon-ho, Denis Villeneuve, Bo Burnham, Patrick Stewart, Jordan Peele, and Sally Hawkins. 

In August of 2021, the Hollywood Critics Association launched its inaugural TV Awards. The event was live-streamed on YouTube and was viewed by 30 thousand people and received over 3 billion social media impressions. Variety recently wrote about the upcoming ceremony highlighting that the HCA was the first group to separate Broadcast series from Streaming Series. read more