LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of Quincy Jones wasn’t sure if they wanted to attend the Governors Awards.

Their father died two weeks before he could receive his second honorary Oscar Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, filmmaker Richard Curtis And casting director Juliet Taylor.

But the Jones family decided to be present in Hollywood on Sunday evening for a celebration of his life and work with humor from Jamie Foxx, a rousing performance by Jennifer Hudson and a moment with his family: his daughter Rashida Jones even read the speech he delivered worked on it a month ago.

“We felt like we wanted to celebrate his beautiful life and career,” she said. “His music has literally defined an entire century of culture spanning all genres.”

It was a moving end to a celebratory evening that saw Hugh Grant roast Curtis for getting an “Oscar of sorts” and Daniel Craig celebrate the legacy of the James Bond films.

The audience in the Ray Dolby Ballroom was even stronger than at the Oscars. The event, organized by the film academy’s board of directors, is also a de facto campaign stop for Oscar candidates as awards season gets underway.

Everywhere you looked there were famous faces greeting each other: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at the bar ordering an iced margarita; Jude Law and Kristen Wiig exchange hellos; Zooey Deschanel drinks champagne; Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham wander around; Saoirse Ronan and Elizabeth Olsen deep in conversation; Sharon Stone hugs Kieran Culkin; Jesse Eisenberg talks to Elle Fanning; and Jeremy Strong taking a selfie with Guy Pearce.

Others stayed at their seats, including Jennifer Lawrence, June Squibb and Angelina Jolie, who attended with her son Knox Jolie-Pitt. They sat next to her “Maria” director Pablo Larraín and across from “His Three Daughters” stars Natasha Lyonne and Olson. At another table, Barry Keoghan continued to move to Margarat Qualley’s side, between her and Demi Moore.

But most of the chatter died down before the main event. With no television cameras or tape to play someone during a speech, it is an evening for friends and colleagues to pay tribute to the year’s honorary Oscar recipients.

Broccoli and her brother Wilson followed in her father’s footsteps and received the rarely presented Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which honors the work of producers. Albert “Cubby” Broccoli accepted his own trophy, then a bust of Thalberg, at the 1982 Academy Awards as they watched from the audience.

“It’s heavier than I thought,” Wilson said, holding the Oscar statuette.

Broccoli also commented on the importance of producers, a credit she said has been handed out like party favors lately.

They received a gentle compliment from Craig beforehand. Broccoli, he said, “clucks, I mean, crackles with passion.” But for a man who has always had a seemingly contradictory relationship with his Bond era, his admiration for them was clear.

“I can’t tell you how much I admire your integrity,” Craig said. “These (Bond films) are the most expensive independent films ever made.”

Grant was less delicate but infinitely funnier, paying tribute to Curtis, who wrote and directed many films for him, including “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill” and “Love, Actually.”

“Would we call it an Oscar? It’s like an Oscar,” Grant said. “It’s better than nothing Oscar.”

Curtis may be best known for his contributions to romantic comedies, but the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was for a lifetime of charity work, which Grant said was “tedious and downright selfish.” In his acceptance speech, Curtis made a plea to the audience to set aside a small portion of the film’s budget to hire an impact producer.

Nicole Kidman presented the honorary Oscar to Taylor, a casting director unaccustomed to being publicly celebrated for her contributions to cinema. In her career spanning more than four decades, she cast such classics as “Annie Hall,” “Working Girl,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Schindler’s List.” Squibb said at the event with her “Thelma” director Josh Margolin that Taylor cast her in her first film, Woody Allen’s “Alice.”

“I don’t know if I would have a film career without it,” Squibb said.

While Taylor was excited about her award, she was even happier that her peers will soon be recognized on a regular basis. Starting with films released in 2025, the film academy will award a new competitive Oscar to casting directors.

There were many somber references to the events of the ‘last few weeks’ throughout the evening, although no one speaking from the stage said anything more specific. Jamie Foxx, who introduced the tribute to Quincy Jones, did his own little impersonation of newly elected President Donald Trump.

“Why is everyone so down these few weeks,” he said.

Foxx quickly got back on track to talk about Jones, whose party ended the night on a cathartic note.

“He was very excited to be here tonight,” Rashida Jones said. “He has so many friends in this room. Well, actually probably in every room to be honest, because wherever he went he connected with everyone. Real ones. He knew how to stay present, stay curious and stay loving.”

Jones invited the audience to listen on the way home, to go for the deepest cuts.

“There’s a whole universe waiting in his seventy years of music,” she said. “And as you listen, hear him, hear how he infused love into every second of the music he made. That was his real legacy: love.”