The atmosphere at the annual Nominees Luncheon was upbeat as news of a possible end to the strike circulated. The current round of talks between the studios and the Writers Guild seem to be actually getting somewhere, although the WGA is telling its members to keep up the pressure on the picket lines until a contract has been signed.

Over 100 Academy Award nominees, including all six of the nominated directors, attended this year's get-together held at the Beverly Hilton's International Ballroom. Speaking in front of the 2008 class of Oscar nominees, Academy President Sid Ganis reassured the crowd that the Academy Awards will go on. "Regardless of those circumstances, which are beyond our control, we will be presenting awards as scheduled on the 24th," was quoted as saying by the Hollywood Reporter. "We're going to hand out Oscars not because of some showbiz notion that the show must go on. It's not the show per se that matters... The Oscar exists to shine the brightest possible light on you and your work, and it would be such a terrible shame, through no fault of yours and no fault of ours, if the current conditions prevented us from shining that brightest possible light."