| EVENT REPORT 10.28.09 3:50 PM |
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This Is It Premiere Sprawls Over L.A. Live With Aerialists, LEDs, and Fans Galore
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In his life and death, Michael Jackson was a larger-than-life figure, surrounded by seemingly limitless pomp and glitter. Appropriately then, the premiere for the movie culled from his final rehearsal footage, Michael Jackson's This Is It, was an event that fit into the same category, and conjured its own mystique and energy in a bustling, fan-mobbed downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night. Columbia Tristar Marketing group senior vice president for special events Alison Bossert, along with executive director Mary Powell and manager Dori Golod, oversaw the event, with production by 15/40. "It was the premiere event of the season," Bossert said.
The spectacle began with arrivals on the Nokia Plaza at L.A. Live. The atypical setup felt more like a stage than a standard arrivals line: Instead of the usual carpet, a red laquer dance floor lay underfoot, inset with video and lighting elements to evoke Jackson's iconic "Billie Jean" video. Dancers from the planned tour, known as the "Crystal Divas," performed an aerialist routine overhead in Swarovski crystal costumes and chandeliers. Glass cases displayed costumes from the intended tour, some unfinished. Video elements and LED screens surrounded the area, and a fan pit in the middle emanated energy. Craig Waldman of 15/40 described the scope of the arrivals scene as "like an awards show." About 200 photographers and 120 television crews lapped up the coverage.
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This Is It, Michael Jackson, Sony, Columbia Pictures, L.A. Live, Ultimat Vodka |
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| EVENT REPORT 02.23.09 11:22 AM |
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Oscar Governors Ball Chooses Zen-Inspired Understatement Over Splashy Opulence
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When an economy of unprecedented lousiness met one of the the most traditionally lavish parties of the year last night, the result was a Zen-looking Academy Awards Governors Ball marked by restraint, compared with the drama of past years. The party took over the grand ballroom at Hollywood & Highland following the awards at the Kodak Theatre in the same complex.
The classic elements of air, fire, wood, and earth inspired this year's event, which Cheryl Cecchetto of Sequoia Productions produced with ball chair Cheryl Boone Isaacs. This was Boone Isaacs' seventh year as chair, and Cecchetto has worked on the event for more than two decades. "In this economy, we wanted to go with a pared-down look, but keep it elegant and beautiful," said Cecchetto, who drew some of her inspiration from a teahouse in Beijing. She characterized the look and feel as a "marriage of simplicity and beauty." Boone Isaacs added that the use of organic elements in the design was "like a breath of fresh air," and something "totally different"—an important difference from past years, you might say, in light of the glum atmosphere in the world outside the ballroom.
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Award Season, Oscars, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Sterling Vineyards, Patron, Ultimat Vodka, Moët & Chandon, Governors Ball |
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