Stars Turn Out for Obama Documentary Screening

President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign rolled out its signature documentary film on 300 screens across the country Thursday night, but the effort’s highlight was in Beverly Hills, where the crowd packing the Paley Center not only heard from Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim, but also got the chance to sing happy birthday to Eva Longoria, one of the reelection effort’s celebrity co-chairs.

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The Beverly Hills screening was open to an invitation-only audience that included many of the incumbent president’s most committed Hollywood loyalists, including Longoria’s fellow co-chair, Kal Penn. Apart from Guggenheim — who introduced his 17-minute film narrated by Tom Hanks — the crowd also heard from Ben LaBolt, the reelection campaign’s national press secretary. The Hollywood event was organized by Obama’s Entertainment Advisory Council, whose members include producer Eric Ortner, songwriter/producer Bruce Roberts, producer Daniel Kellison and manager Greg Mertz. Among those who watched the screening were Guggenheim’s wife, Elizabeth Shue, Melanie Griffith, Lynn Whitfield, Alfre Woodard, Roderick Spencer, David Arquette, Michael and Mattie Lawson, David Wolf, Cate Park, Peter Berg, Kevin Parker, Angela Bassett, Robi Reed, Joanne Horowitz, Dallas Austin, Kevin Parker, Dolores Robinson, Chris Hopkins, Charles Ortner and Pat Magnarella.

VIDEO: Obama Documentary Trailer

Titled The Road We’ve Traveled, the documentary covers many of the toughest challenges and most difficult decisions Obama has confronted over the past three years and includes one-on-one interviews with the president and such key advisors as Vice President Joe Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, one-time White House Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emmanuel, David Axelrod, Austan Goolsbee and Elizabeth Warren.

If your invitation to the Beverly Hills screening was lost in the mail, you still can see the film by going to the campaign’s website.