The Independent Spirit Awards (originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit Awards. The Independent Spirit Awards are presented by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers. In 2007, the ceremony was slightly changed to Film Independent's Spirit Awards. Since 2006, winners have received a trophy depicting a bird sitting atop of a pole with the shoestrings from the previous design wrapped around the pole.

The awards show was previously held inside a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California, usually on the day before the Academy Awards (since 1999; originally the Saturday before). Since 1994, the show has been broadcast on the Bravo network and Independent Film Channel.

Jared Joseph Leto (born December 26, 1971) is an American actor, director, producer, musician, and occasional model. Leto has appeared in both big budget Hollywood films and smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. He rose to prominence for playing Jordan Catalano in the teenage drama My So-Called Life (1994). He later made his film debut in How to Make an American Quilt (1995) and received first notable critical praise for his performance in Prefontaine (1997). Leto played supporting roles in The Thin Red Line (1998) and Girl, Interrupted (1999), as well as the lead role in the horror film Urban Legend (1998), and earned critical acclaim after portraying heroin addict Harry Goldfarb in Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream (2000). He has worked with director David Fincher in Fight Club (1999) and Panic Room (2002). Since the 2000s, Leto has been nominated for awards for his work in such films as American Psycho (2000), Highway (2002), Lord of War (2005), Lonely Hearts (2006), Chapter 27 (2007), and Mr. Nobody (2009).

Patton Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor known for roles such as Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, and voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.

Oswalt was born January 17, 1969 in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Carla and Larry J. Oswalt, a career United States Marine Corps officer. He was named after George S. Patton. While a military brat, he later lived in Ohio and Tustin, California, before settling in Sterling, Virginia. He is a 1987 graduate of Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Virginia and later attended the College of William and Mary, where he majored in English and was initiated into the Alpha Theta Chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity.^{[citation needed]}

Oswalt first began performing standup comedy in the late 1980s or early 1990s, by his own reckoning. After writing for MADtv and starring in his own 1996 comedy special for HBO, he went on to garner notable roles in films and television shows. His most prominent and long-running role was as Spence Olchin on The King of Queens. His first starring film role was as the voice of Remy, the lead character in the 2007 Pixar film Ratatouille. He has also appeared in smaller roles in such films as Magnolia and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. He lent his voice as in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as a caller on the WTCR show "The Tight End Zone", and was the voice of a caller on "Chatterbox" on LCFR in the game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. He was also the voice of a reporter on "New World Order", a radio show on VCPR in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. He supposedly lent his voice as Randall Tugman in the zombie game Dead Rising 2, although he denies this. The character Randall Tugman is credited to have been voiced by John Murphy.

David Andrew "Andy" Samberg (born August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, rapper, and writer best known as a member of the comedy group The Lonely Island and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2012. On Saturday Night Live, he and The Lonely Island have been credited with popularizing the Emmy-winning SNL Digital Shorts, the comical short films and music videos starring Samberg and other members of the SNL cast. As a film actor, Samberg has appeared in Hot Rod; Space Chimps; Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist; I Love You, Man; Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs; Friends with Benefits; and What's Your Number?

Samberg was born in Mill Valley California, the son of Joe Samberg, a photographer, and Margi (née Marrow), an elementary school teacher who taught at Old Mill School. Samberg also has two sisters, Johanna and Darrow. He was raised in a Jewish household. His maternal grandfather, Alfred J. Marrow, served as the executive chair of the American Jewish Congress, although Samberg describes himself as "not particularly religious." Samberg discovered Saturday Night Live as a child while sneaking past his parents to watch professional wrestling on television. He became "obsessed" with the show, and his devotion to comedy became frustrating to teachers who felt he was unfocused on his schoolwork.

Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett (/ˈblɑːntʃ.ət/; born 14 May 1969) is an Academy Award–winning Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Blanchett appeared as the elf queen Galadriel in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy from 2001 to 2003. In 2004, Blanchett's portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator brought her numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Blanchett's other films include Babel (2006), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

Blanchett's work has earned her several accolades, including a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTAs, and an Academy Award. Due to her success and character variety, critics have often called her "the new Meryl Streep" or "the Meryl Streep of the next generation".