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Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced Thursday that the 2010 Spirit Awards will be held on Friday, March 5, in a tent on the event deck at L.A. Live—a departure from the show's typical home on the day before the Academy Awards and its most recent Santa Monica location. This time the awards will be handed out two days before the Oscars, which are scheduled for Sunday, March 7.

Over the past 25 years, the event has been held at various locations in Los Angeles, including the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Beverly Hills Hotel, Hollywood Palladium, and the Santa Monica beach.

"We wanted to do something very special and different for the 25th anniversary by holding the only late-night awards show, where our audience can tune in live at 11 p.m. on the East Coast," said Film Independent executive director Dawn Hudson in the announcement. "Our new venue will still have the laid-back, no-holds-barred atmosphere that only the independent film community can create." Some are nevertheless already speculating the move could change the independent character of the event. MORE >>

Film Independent, Spirit Awards, L.A. Live, Netflix, Elle, Piaget, Acura, Jameson, IFC

NEWS 06.23.09 1:00 PM

Facing Severe Sponsorship Drop, Gen Art Brings Back Benefit to Raise Funds

Acura's display at the 2009 Gen Art Film Festival in New York
Photo: Alice and Chris for BizBash

FROM NEW YORK Gen Art, the frequent event host that matches up emerging creative talent with corporate sponsors, has seen a 70 percent drop in sponsorship dollars from 2008 to 2009. So after relying on money from marketers to fund both its for-profit event production company and its nonprofit wing during most of its 15-year history, Gen Art has made drastic cutbacks and will put on its first benefit in nearly 10 years this week in New York.

"If the recession had hit three months later, it would have been a completely different story," said Gen Art C.E.O. and founder Ian Gerard, thinking back to last October, "but because it all happened before the 2009 fiscal year came, everyone drastically cut back their marketing budgets from the start."

Those cutbacks affected ongoing initiatives with Gen Art. Despite having yearlong deals in the works, official partners such as Acura, American Express, and Citibank all pulled back. "We're still working with all of those companies," Gerard said. "It's just been at such a reduced amount. It's more event-by-event versus an annual deal across all of our events or a large number of them." MORE >>

Gen Art, Citibank, Acura, American Express

EVENT REPORT 02.25.09 2:28 PM

Spirit Awards' Pop-Up Sponsor Lounges Look Like Permanent Installations

Elle's green room
Photo: Stefanie Keenan/WireImage.com

Backstage guests at Film Independent's Spirit Awards on Saturday found a pair of sponsor lounges that—although they popped up only for event day—seemed as if they might live permanently in the beachside Santa Monica setting. "It took us a week to load in. The tent looked like more like a permanent structure," said Larry Abel, who produced and designed the two lounges for Elle and Piaget. "We put in subfloors and built up from there so that we had some people in there wondering, 'Is this a tent?' And that's what we love to do."

Elle's green room—in which Garnier, Maybelline, Acura, and Lacoste also represented their wares—had a beachy look featuring materials like wooden slats, seashells, and sand, where presenters, winners, select press folks, and miscellaneous non-ticket holders could come to relax (and pick up products from sponsors) before, during, and after the show.

"It's very much in line with the Elle brand," said the magazine's New York-based special events and merchandising manager, Caitlin Weiskopf. "We're about independent style, the high and the low, fun and relaxed. That's what the Spirit Awards are about [too]; it's the fun, cool event during award season where you can wear a pair of designer denim jeans and be next to someone on the carpet wearing YSL—and that's exactly what our brand is about." MORE >>

Spirit Awards, Film Independent, Award Season, Elle, Piaget, Lacoste, Acura, Garnier, Maybelline, Gift Suites

MY FAVORITE VENDORS 11.06.08 10:43 AM

Gen Art Picks Peak 5 and Genevieve Productions

Gen Art's Shana Glick
Photo: Andrea Glick

During the past two years, Gen Art Los Angeles marketing and business development manager Shana Glick has worked on the annual events Fresh Faces in Fashion and the New Garde party, both of which showcase emerging designers and draw more than 1,000 guests. Throughout the rest of the calendar, Glick's work with Gen Art includes producing and marketing events for film, art, and music.

Production: “Genevieve Productions president Jen Green is one of the most sought-after fashion show producers in Los Angeles. She has been Gen Art’s right-hand runway counterpart for five years running on Fresh Faces in Fashion and the New Garde, producing each show with ease and confidence.”

“Peak 5, run by Tim Hurley, is the peak of production. I have worked with Peak on several events—from a car launch, 'Capture the Night' sponsored by Acura, to 'Fashionably Natural,' Gen Art’s foray into eco-fashion presented by Soyjoy. Hurley’s team is professional, dependable, and hard-working." MORE >>

Gen Art, Fashion Week, Soyjoy, Acura

EVENT REPORT 03.11.08 3:23 PM

Gen Art Injects New Garde Party With Botox Sponsorship

Gen Art's fifth annual New Garde fashion show
Photo: Brian Lindensmith/Patrick McMullan

Guests at Gen Art’s New Garde pre-Fashion Week show had the opportunity to consider more than designer garments at the March 7 event, which featured the fall collections of up-and-coming Angeleno designers JMary, Jesse Kamm, and Les Sang Des Betes by Trang Chau at the Park Plaza Hotel. The arts and entertainment organization’s vice president of events, Elizabeth Shaffer, took advantage of the annual show’s nontraditional format—where staged vignettes take the place of customary runways—as a means of showcasing event sponsor Botox and its less-advertised capabilities.

“I’ve produced events for the past 12 years, and in the last three I’ve definitely noticed that sponsors are looking more and more for real customization, where [their involvement] is not just plug-and-play but where it is really creative and different and a lot of thought has gone into it,” Shaffer says. “Our audience is pretty savvy, so we try to come up with on-site activation where [guests] are interacting or learning about a product, but they don’t necessarily know they are.” MORE >>

Gen Art, Botox, Acura, Fashion Week

TOP 100 EVENTS 02.29.08 7:07 PM

Southern California's Top Sports Events 2008

The Los Angeles marathon
Photo: Ben Liebenberg/WireImage

1. City of Los Angeles Marathon
The 2008 race is set for March 2, with Honda as the presenting sponsor. More than a million spectators are expected to watch 25,000 runners along the course, which starts at Universal Studios and ends in downtown L.A. Other race-day events include the Emerald Nuts 5K Run/Walk and the Acura L.A. Bike Tour. MORE >>

Southern California's Top 100 Events, Honda, Emerald Nuts, Acura, Pacific Life, United States Tennis Association, Toyota, Cedars-Sinai, Chrysler, Countrywide

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