Oscars nominees gather for dinner before Sunday ceremony | AP for CW39

(AP) - Five days before the Academy Awards, nearly every nominee gathered for a cocktail reception, dinner and class picture that served as a sort of Oscars orientation.

The event Tuesday night at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures was a stand-in for the annual Oscars luncheon, which is usually held about a month before the ceremony but was scrubbed this year because of the Southern California wildfires.

With the votes already counted and winners already determined, contenders who have spent a long awards season together got chummy, and the mood was cheerful.

On the carpet outside, Cynthia Erivo, Demi Moore and Zoe Saldana hugged and chatted before posing together.

AP VIDEO SHOT BY RICK TABER

PRODUCTION: RYAN PEARSON