| EVENT REPORT 09.08.08 7:45 AM |
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| Blood Bath |
| HBO launched its new vampire series True Blood on the rooftop of Hollywood's ArcLight with a party that employed cemetery-style set pieces and plenty of red. |
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How much does HBO love Alan Ball, executive producer of its hit Six Feet Under and its trumpeted new vampire series True Blood? Enough to send the cable channel’s favorite event planner, Billy Butchkavitz, to the set to find inspiration for the after-party of True Blood’s premiere Thursday—a first in Butchkavitz’s 14-year collaboration with HBO. And enough to cover the roof of the ArcLight Hollywood parking structure with 30,000 square feet of crimson carpet, topped with banquettes, buffets, and seats covered in 2,400 yards of cut red velve to create a vast vampire-friendly landscape the color of blood.
The evening began with a Cinerama Dome screening of two hourlong episodes of the Southern Gothic series starring Anna Pacquin as a telepathic waitress. Nearly 1,200 guests ascended to the roof party, where waiters met them with jars of Tru Blood cocktails (rum, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice), named after the synthetic blood consumed by the show’s vampires. Working with HBO vice president of special events Lauren McMahon, Butchkavitz combined props from the set with Mexican relic shrines and wooden birds to create an atmosphere of creepy elegance. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | A metal structure supported a 30-foot-tall bayou-inspired tree with 340 branches.
Photo: Dale Wilcox for BizBash |
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 | Guests drank bottles of Tru Blood cocktails, named after the synthetic blood consumed by the show's vampires.
Photo: Dale Wilcox for BizBash |
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 | Along Came Mary catered dessert spreads.
Photo: Dale Wilcox for BizBash |
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 | Vampire decor pieces added drama.
Photo: Dale Wilcox for BizBash |
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 | Tru Blood decals plastered bars.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs Photography |
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 | A Mexican decor piece took the form of angel.
Photo: Dale Wilcox for BizBash |
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 | Organizers brought a dance floor to the ArcLight's rooftop.
Photo: Dale Wilcox for BizBash |
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 | Lining the walls were copies of posters that appear in the show's vampire nightclub, Fangtasia.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs Photography |
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 | A neon sign announced Merlotte's, the local watering hole on the show.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs Photography |
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 | Red was the dominant color in the decor.
Photo: Dale Wilcox for BizBash |
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Lining the walls were copies of posters decorated with devils that appear in the show’s vampire nightclub, Fangtasia. The neon sign for Merlotte’s, the local watering hole where much of the action takes place, beamed over the party, which was dotted with gazebos strung with plastic garlic. The wrought-iron-style structures sheltered headstone props (and Arclight’s firefighting equipment hidden under red velvet). Borrowing from Merlotte’s taxidermy-heavy decor, Butchkavitz topped tables with wooden birds, red Mardi Gras-style beads and cemetery lanterns holding pillar candles, embellished with tarantula magnets. Guests grazed at Along Came Mary’s Louisiana bayou buffet of ribs, sausage, cornbread pudding, cole slaw, and biscuits.
Some of True Blood’s characters may thrive in darkness, but the series also has a mischievous side, and the party had plenty of fun elements: tall glass jars filled with plastic fangs, red devil masks, and waitstaff T-shirts and boxes of mints emblazoned with “Suck on this.” The party was still going after midnight, when revelers who keep vampire hours filled up the dance floor, where they rocked to tunes spun by DJ Pesce.
—Irene Lacher
RELATED TOPICS
HBO, True Blood
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