| EVENT REPORT 06.24.09 11:43 AM |
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Huge Transformers Premiere Brings Linkin Park and Movie Machinery
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Paramount's new picture Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is 147 minutes of intense, nonstop visual and aural stimulation. So naturally, the studio's event team would arrange a premiere along those same lines. The event on Monday night was part of the Los Angeles Film Festival.
"We wanted to capture what [director] Michael Bay captures in his films: visually appealing, stunty, and impressive," said director of special events Elizabeth Tramontozzi, who worked with manager Amy Baker, coordinator Samantha Kolker, and assistant Jacob Marez. "We wanted to take those elements and have them be what the premiere felt like."
For simultaneous screenings at Mann's Village and Bruin theaters in Westwood, the arrivals took over Broxton Avenue with a spectacle that drew fans, U.C.L.A. students, and passersby to crowd all surrounding sidewalks. Tramontozzi tapped 15/40 Productions to design a 200-foot-long machinery-inspired arrivals area in a double-sided horseshoe design to accommodate a throng of press. A pair of the robot-vehicles from the movie flanked a double-sided 125-foot-long metal step-and-repeat wall. Fans were penned on both sides of the carpet, and occupied bleachers at the top.
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RELATED TOPICS
Paramount, Transformers, Linkin Park, LG, Peet's, Heineken, Monster Energy Drink |
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| NEWS 06.15.09 2:15 PM |
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A-List Celebrities Still Fetch Top Dollar for Appearances; Brands Looking for More Integration
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Recessions affect the general public like so: The people who were already living closest to the financial edge get hit hard, while the folks with the most money to begin with are often spared indignities like pay cuts and budget restrictions. For celebrities who get paid for event appearances and tie-ins—whether or not they admit it publicly—it’s a similar story. Top-tier names still generally fetch the familiar high fees they enjoyed before the recession, but lower-level names (think reality TV stars) are being offered—and, in many cases, gladly taking—less. What’s more, marketers working to tie their brands to celebrities are moving toward deeper integration with events, beyond paying straightforward fees for simply showing up.
Economic slump or no, movie stars are commanding top dollar for their roles with corporate events. “The more buzz you bring in, the more money you can demand, but movie stars don’t really host events. I mean, when have you seen Angelina or Brad host an event?” said Ben Russo of EMC PR. For big names like those, Russo said, “If someone won’t pay because of the recession, someone else will."
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Us Weekly, LG, Ubisoft |
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| NEWS 07.10.08 4:05 PM |
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LG Builds Brand Recognition at Second Annual Thumb War
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FROM NEW YORK
It turns out that there are a few scenarios in life where a preoccupation with your phone and a blatant disregard for proper grammar can really pay off. For the winner of LG’s National Texting Championship, it paid the sum of $50,000 last night in New York City.
For the second year in a row, the world’s fourth-leading cellular-phone manufacturer invited its customers to throw down in regional battles of digit dexterity. Some 15,000 signed up to compete (more than twice as many as last year), with most participants in their teens or early 20s. It all came down to 20-year-old Nathan Schwartz from Ohio, who was crowned at the final event at Roseland Ballroom.
The competition's colorful contestants are much more of an asset to LG's marketing than traditional advertising, explained LG vice president of product strategy and marketing Ehtisham Rabbani to Forbes magazine. “Sixty percent of U.S. consumers say texting is very important to them,” he continued. “It’s a crucial category that’s growing.”
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LG, LG National Texting Championship |
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| NEWS 02.14.08 12:08 PM |
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Oscar Preview: Architectural Digest to Host Dorothy Draper-Inspired Greenroom
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 | AD's greenroom plans for the Oscars
Rendering: Courtesy of Architectural Digest/Dorothy Draper & Co. |
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With the strike officially over, the Oscars are officially on; let the endless parade of comforts for celebrities begin. To that end, Architectural Digest has chosen interior designer Carleton Varney, president of Dorothy Draper & Company, to create the Architectural Digest greenroom at the Academy Awards. It's the sixth consecutive year that the mag will produce the backstage lounge for Oscar presenters and honorees. Load-in commences on February 19 and continues through the rehearsals and awards telecast on February 24.
Varney’s design inspiration will come from the Dorothy Draper-designed Arrowhead Springs Resort—a property that movie stars and film-industry types roamed in the 1940s. Further inspiration comes from her sketches for the Beverly Hills Hotel. This year’s Architectural Digest greenroom will feature flat-panel LCD HDTVs from LG Electronics, New Zealand wool rugs from Nourison, and fabric and furnishings from Kravet, including sofas and slipper chairs upholstered in bright red and white satin.
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Architectural Digest, Oscars, Award Season, Dorothy Draper & Company, LG |
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| EVENT REPORT 09.17.07 12:58 PM |
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ET and People Take Emmy Party Downtown
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 | Disney Hall on Emmy night.
Photo: Alex Berliner/Berliner Studio/BEImages |
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With new entries on the Emmy party scene this year—including a big production feat by DirecTV—the established bunch had to work even harder to stand out. Take for example Entertainment Tonight's party last night with People (ET's 11th time on the scene, its fourth hosting with People), which dispensed with its standard Mondrian fare this year and moved downtown to the majestic Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Not only is the party venue only a scant few miles from the award show venue (the Shrine), but it also represented a choice on the part of CBS vice president of communications for ET and the Insider Lisa Summers Haas and her team (who started scouting locations in January) to break away from the pack. "Downtown is really becoming new and exciting, and it was one of those things where we just thought, Let’s take a chance," she said.
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People Magazine, ET, Emmys, Downtown Renaissance, Cole Haan, Kodak, Garnier, Maybelline, Godiva, LG, I.R.S. Gift Policies |
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| EVENT REPORT 09.14.07 2:25 PM |
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Scanty Hosts Pajama Brunch at the Beach
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 | Pilates on the beach at the LG house.
Photo: Mike Tabolsky |
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Brunch, spa treatments, and Pilates on the beach—how L.A. is that? It was also the format that loungewear brand Scanty chose to promote its products at the LG house in Malibu. Guests perused Scanty's latest fashions at the September 6 event hosted by Rachael Leigh Cook (who wore Scanty PJs).
“We wanted to finish up summer with a great event, a fun retreat,” said Scanty vice president of sales Julie Zipperer, who oversaw the event. Owner-designer Mickey Sills added, “Being at the beach was the perfect idea because Scanty is all about comfort and a casual lifestyle."
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LG, Scanty, Pop-Ups |
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| NEWS 08.27.07 1:00 PM |
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New City Ordinances May Threaten Product-Filled Malibu Beach Houses
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As the Malibu beach house season heads into its last big-bash weekend, The Los Angeles Times reports that next year the party might be over for the pop-up venue trend there. Malibu residents have complained that three corporate-financed party houses sponsored by Polaroid, LG, and BeachBody with Silver Spoon clog streets, block driveways and fire hydrants, create noise problems, and cause paparazzi to swarm the beach.
This is the second year for the houses; last year, the parties were smaller and nearby homeowners looked the other way. However, with the frequency of parties this year, neighbors complained to the city, which will attempt to take action with an ordinance limiting events for next year. Jessica Meisel, whose Fingerprint Communications oversees the Polaroid house, says, "The city of Malibu should be happy at the property values we're raising. It's definitely better for them to be known internationally." —Lesley Balla
RELATED TOPICS
Pop-Ups, Polaroid, LG, BeachBody, Silver Spoon |
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