Winslet: presented award

California may be in a financial tailspin and ABC may have been forced into flogging bargain basement advertising slots for tonight's Oscars ceremony, but at the Oscar Wilde Celebration of Irish Film in LA on Thursday night, there was precious little sign of the doom and gloom that has cast a shadow over Hollywood's big night.

Four hundred guests spilled into the gardens of the Ebell, a historic Art Deco venue, sipping champagne and cocktails as reporters from US Weekly, People and the E! channel jostled for access to the stars who ran the gauntlet of a green carpet to honour Irish actors Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Brendan Gleeson and the influential Hylda Queally of talent agency CAA.

Rhys Meyers was a no-show at the event – his third in as many weeks. Gleeson's videotaped acceptance speech and apologies for his absence – sent from a Dublin hospital where his father is seriously ill – was greeted with loud cheers and applause. The Irish Film Board wasn't represented at this year's event, but there was plenty of networking opportunity for Irish producers like Alan Moloney, Redmond Morris and Morgan O'Sullivan, who described the event as the top Oscar week opportunity for Irish filmmakers.

Now in its fourth year, the Oscar Wilde event, the brainchild of US-Ireland Alliance founder and CEO Trina Vargo, has expanded its appeal, as evidenced by the attendance of film industry titans Harvey Weinstein and Michael Burns, Oscar nominees Kate Winslet and Frida Pinto and last year's Oscar winner Marion Cotillard.

"I like the green carpet. It's much more environmentally friendly," quipped Winslet, who presented an award to Queally, whose clients include Winslet, Penelope Cruz, Cotillard, Cate Blanchett and Frida Pinto, star of this year's Oscar sensation Slumdog Millionaire.

For Winslet, presenting her agent and friend of 17 years with an award gave her an opportunity to switch roles with her camera-averse agent. "It's always been me who has to get out there and be nervous. Now it's her turn," Winslet said gleefully.