Events of the Week: ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Conversations With Friends’ and More

As Hollywood events return to full force in New York and Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic, here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings, including red carpets for Stranger Things, Conversations With Friends, Pistol and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

Stranger Things season four world premiere

After a three-year hiatus since the last season, Stranger Things returned in a big way on Saturday, with a star-studded premiere event in Brooklyn featuring Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton.

Downton Abbey: A New Era NY premiere

The Metropolitan Opera House hosted the New York premiere of Downton Abbey: A New Era on Sunday, welcoming back its stars Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Raquel Cassidy, Hugh Dancy, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern and creator Julian Fellowes.

Bridgerton FYC event 

Netflix kicked off its FYSEE season on Sunday with a Bridgerton event at Raleigh Studios featuring the Vitamin String Quartet and a Q&A moderated by Yvette Nicole Brown with showrunner Chris Van Dusen and stars Simone Ashley, Nicola Coughlan and Charithra Chandran.

Prehistoric Planet premiere

Apple TV+ celebrated the premiere of Prehistoric Planet with a screening at the AMC Century City IMAX on Sunday with EPs Jon Favreau, Mike Gunton and Tim Walker.

The Wonder Years FYC event 

Also on Sunday, the Wonder Years team celebrated its first season, and recent season two renewal, with a FYC event at the Academy Museum.

Hammer Museum K.A.M.P fundraiser

The Hammer Museum hosted its thirteenth annual K.A.M.P. (Kids Art Museum Project) fundraising event on Sunday, raising more than $210,000 in support of the Museum’s free family programming throughout the year. Celebrity readers Kristen Stewart, Max Greenfield and Ana Ortiz shared their favorite children’s books and posed for selfies with the kids.

GLSEN Respect Awards

GLSEN held its annual event on Monday at NYC’s Gotham Hall, hosted by Wilson Cruz. The night honored Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski with the Champion Award; actress, model and activist Leyna Bloom with the Champion Award; and Nickelodeon received the Corporate Ally Award, which was accepted by Paramount exec Marva Smalls.

Going for Gold: A Celebration of Netflix’s Pan Asian Emmy Contenders event

In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Netflix spotlight the dynamic pan-Asian talent onscreen and behind the camera at its FYSEE event at Raleigh Studios on Monday. The evening of conversations highlighted Emmy contenders including Squid Game, Russian Doll, Bridgerton and Maid.

Family Equality’s Night at the Pier

On Monday night at NYC’s Pier Sixty, Family Equality celebrated its Family Night at the Pier event with performances from 2022 Tony nominees Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), the cast of SIX, Shoshana Bean (Mr. Saturday Night), and three-time Tony winner Jason Robert Brown. The evening also honored Jordan Roth and Richie Jackson, with their award presented by Jonathan Capehart.

92NY Gala 

New York’s 92nd Street Y hosted its first in-person gala in three years on Monday with host Seth Meyers and appearances by Mayor Eric Adams, CEO Seth Pinsky, Board Chair Jody Arnhold, and tributes to honorees Alvin Ailey’s Judith Jamison, Craig Newmark, LGBTQ advocate Jeff Schoenfeld and Rabbi Peter Rubinstein.

Conversations With Friends FYC screening 

Joe Alwyn, Alison Oliver, Jemima Kirke and Sasha Lane attended a special FYC screening for their Sally Rooney series on Tuesday at the Pacific Design Center.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie premiere

20th Century Studios celebrated the release of The Bob’s Burgers Movie on Tuesday at El Capitan Theatre with stars H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Larry Murphy, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal and creative team Loren Bouchard, Bernard Derriman, Nora Smith and Janelle Momary-Neely.

WME AAPI party 

WME celebrated AAPI Heritage Month with a Tuesday night party to recognize Asian leaders across the entertainment industry on the rooftop of its Beverly Hills offices. Attendees included clients Alan Yang, Christine Ko, Jenny Yang, Kelly Yang and Michael Le, Endeavor’s Patrick Whitesell, CJ ENM’s Angela Killoren, Netflix’s Brandon Riegg, and Endeavor Content’s Kevin Iwashina, and WME partners Esther Chang, Meyash Prabhu, Andrew Wang, Mira Yong, and Caroline Yim.

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers premiere

John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, KiKi Layne, Dennis Haysbert, Flula Borg, Tim Robinson, Chris Parnell, Paula Abdul and director Akiva Schaffer walked the carpet for their new animated action-comedy Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers in Hollywood on Wednesday.

Pistol Tastemaker event 

FX hosted a tastemaker screening for Danny Boyle’s new Sex Pistols series on Wednesday at NYC’s Metrograph, with stars Jacob Slater, Anson Boon, Louis Partridge, Sydney Chandler, Christian Lees, Talulah Riley, Maisie Williams, Emma Appleton and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

Elle‘s Hollywood Rising event 

ELLE honored this year’s breakout actors and actresses with a special event at the Ardor at The West Hollywood Edition on Wednesday, toasting the Conversations With Friends cast. Guests included Phoebe Bridgers, Demi Singleton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Maddie Ziegler, Nicola Coughlan, Pauline Chalamet and Xochitl Gomez.

Cameron Boyce Foundation’s Cam For A Cause Inaugural Gala

The Cameron Boyce Foundation hosting its inaugural gala on Wednesday at downtown L.A.’s Soho Warehouse, with support from his Descendants costars Dove Cameron and Sofia Carson.

Billie Lourd’s Kickoff to Summer Party

Lourd hosted a party for Mujen Spirits, the alcohol brand co-founded by Bruce Bozzi and Sondra Baker, on Wednesday at Gigi’s in Los Angeles.

Israel Film Festival

The 35th Israel Film Festival held its closing night in Los Angeles on Thursday, with the Yoram Kahana Award for Emerging Israeli Filmmaker presented to Orit Fouks Rotem on behalf of her film Cinema Sabaya which screened at the festival. Fouks Ratem accepted the award remotely from Israel, while actress Hila Saada was in attendance for the world premiere of her movie The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.