'Don't Sell Yourselves Short'

Barack Obama spent about 25 minutes lecturing Hollywood donors about their "enormous power" and giving his stump speech. Jennifer Aniston found him "lovely." Obama collected about $1.3 million at the event. Read the "pool" report from Carla Marinucci of the S.F. Chronicle after the jump.

Here's the scene tonight from Hollywood:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, addressing 300 of Hollywood's top stars and power brokers at a Beverly Hills fund raiser Tuesday, told the crowd, including producer/director Steven Spielberg, Oscar nominee Eddie Murphy and actress Jennifer Aniston - that they have "enormous power" that comes with "enormous responsibility" because of their impact on American culture.

"Don't sell yourselves short," he said in a 25-minute address. "You are the storytellers of our age."

There was no red carpet at the Beverly Hilton, considered a hot ticket in the entertainment capital and producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of the partners in DreamWorks SKG told the audience that the total take for the Obama campaign in the evening was $1.3 million.

And the event brought about 300 celebrities into the Beverly Hilton Hotel Tuesday, each of them paying at least $2,300 to mingle with the Illinois Senator and his wife, Michelle. The couple circulated throughout the crowd for half an hour before delivering a 25-minute address that touched on his campaign themes.

The candidate received a sharp, funny introduction from his wife, Michelle, who won raves from the crowd.

"I actually thought his wife was amazing," said Natalie Mains, the recent five time Grammy Award-winning lead singer for the Dixie Chicks. "It's a great balance between the two of them."

The senator's speech was mostly derived from his campaign stump, but tailored to the entertainment audience.

"Hollywood has this reputation for glamour," Obama told them. "We had 10,000 people today rallying (in South Central Los Angeles) -- and the only thing people wanted to know about" was the details of the celebrity-studded event tonight.

But he noted Hollywood has huge power to impact change. Thanks to one of the guests, Lawrence Bender, producer of "An Inconvenient Truth," the Oscar-nominated documentary, he said, what had been, for years, "an obscure debate" about climate change "suddenly is in everyone's living room ... and suddenly transforming the conversation."

And Obama said that when Americans see movies like " 'Schindler's List,' 'Philadelphia,' or 'Hotel Rwanda,' they can feel what it's like in the other guys shoes," and a sense of empathy.

"What an enormous power that is," Obama said. "What an enormous responsibility."

But he said that in the country, now facing its own drama - huge decisions and a turning point on a roster of key issues -- "the starring roles don't go to me. They go to the people of America."

Among those who showed up to hear the address of the Democratic presidential nominee: actress Jennifer Aniston, director Steve Spielberg, comedian/actor Ben Stiller, actor Morgan Freeman, producer Ron Howard, Oscar-nominee Eddie Murphy, singer Jackson Browne, producer Bender, and "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams.

The senator's team invited guests to bring their own personal copies of Obama's books, "The Audacity of Hope," and "Dreams from My Father," and he agreed to sign them.

Attendees noshed on carved meats, filo turnovers, shrimp dumplings and crab cakes. The audience crowded the open bars inside the hotel ballroom, which was dressed with stunning displays of cut flowers and bathed in a (very flattering) peach light.

Following the event, your pool - and a few other reporters -- stood forlornly outside, trying to get some reaction from the celebrity crowd.

"Mr. Stiller? What did you think of Senator Obama?" No answer.

Jennifer Aniston: "He's lovely."

Spielberg: "He's great!"