| NEWS 07.08.08 2:00 PM |
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HBO Sues Boston Club Promoters Over Fake Sex and the City Letters
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It seems almost everyone tried to cash in on the hoopla surrounding the Sex and the City movie, even Boston club promoters. According to The New York Post today, six promoters are being sued by HBO over fake cease-and-desist letters and emails that ordered Boston venues to cancel Sex-related events and parties.
Apparently the defendants (currently unidentified) used HBO stationery and copied signatures of the cable company's execs to try and edge out the competition, "to create the false impression that there was only one sanctioned event in Boston that would take place May 30," states the lawsuit. Filed in Manhattan federal court, the suit is claiming trademark infringement and unfair competition. —Anna Sekula
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HBO, Sex and the City |
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| NEWS 05.29.08 5:35 PM |
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Sex and the City Screening Snafu Prompts Blame Game
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 | The line of wet fans outside Radio City
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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Hell hath no fury like a Sex and the City fan scorned, and neither New Line Cinema nor Radio City Music Hall want to accept the blame for the blunder at Tuesday’s premiere that left thousands of the film’s ticket-holding disciples standing out in the rain.
One “insider” came to Radio City’s defense today, telling The New York Post, "the movie studio gave out way more promotional tickets than could fit in the orchestra. … Radio City managers told the New Line people, 'You can solve this by opening up the mezzanines, which have 2,700 more seats’—but they wouldn't do it."
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Sex and the City, New Line Cinema |
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| EVENT REPORT 05.29.08 3:34 PM |
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Canadian Sex and the City Premiere Party Re-Creates New York Street Scene
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 | The Sex and the City after-party
Photo: BizBash |
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FROM TORONTO
New York City—often referred to as the fifth leading lady in Sex and the City—played a starring role in the after-party for the film’s Canadian premiere at the Toronto School of Circus Arts last night. The Big Apple featured prominently in the party for 650 guests with images of the Manhattan skyline projected onto the bare concrete walls, a yellow cab parked in the middle of the venue, and an ice sculpture of the Empire State Building in the centre of the main martini bar.
“The whole premise of the event is black and pink, and the whole underlying theme is obviously New York,” said Suzanne Turnbull of McNabb Roick Events, who, along with Jeffry Roick, collaborated with Carrie Wolfe of Alliance Films (the movie's Canadian distributor) to create what Turnbull called a "glamourous party in a New York street.”
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RELATED TOPICS
Sex and the City, New Line Cinema, HBO, Swarovski, Mercedes-Benz, NYC & Company, Shoppers Drug Mart, Stella Artois, Skyy Vodka |
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| EVENT REPORT 05.28.08 4:38 PM |
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Beset With Rain, Crowds, and Sponsors, Sex and the City Premiere Still Sparkles
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Presenting his movie to a rowdy audience of 2,800 guests inside Radio City Music Hall last night, Sex and the City writer and director Michael Patrick King said, “Sex is back where it belongs—in New York City.” (Cue the screaming and applause.) And one didn’t have to search long for evidence that New York was ready for the HBO show's characters to return. Outside, on the hall’s rain-drenched cross streets, thousands of mostly female fans waited, barging into barricades, cursing cops, and screeching for the droves of celebrity attendees.
The pre-event hype seemed to have a mushroom effect (The Post reported that one woman lost $22,000 in a ticket scam), with thousands coming out for the premiere, including many a crasher donning ode-to-Carrie ensembles. Expecting a huge turnout, studio New Line booked a backup theater in advance for overflow guests (The Daily News said others jilted got vouchers for weekend showings).
Clearly the return of Sex and the City was going to be a spectacle in its hometown. But even the premiere's planners and staffers seemed in awe of the crazed (some might say fanatical), bursting-at-the-seams atmosphere.
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Sex and the City, New Line Cinema, Mercedes-Benz, Vitaminwater, Swarovski |
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| NEWS 05.23.08 10:15 AM |
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A Brief History of Sex (As in Sex and the City Premiere Parties)
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 | Shoe cookies at Sex and the City's season five premiere
Photo: BizBash |
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For each season of Sex and the City, HBO threw an equally hyped premiere celebration to herald its arrival—with shoes, bright colors, and overflowing martini glasses in no short supply. So in anticipation of Tuesday's New York premiere for the show's film continuation—and the MoMA soirée to follow—we thought we'd take a look back at some of those parties thrown to promote the original series. We covered the fourth, fifth, and sixth season launches; here's a look back.
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Sex and the City, New Line Cinema, HBO, Manolo Blahnik |
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| Q & A 05.22.08 10:10 AM |
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Sex and the City Premiere Producer: Party Will Be "Saturated in Crystal"
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 | | Maria Ruiz |
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Sex and the City promises to be one of the biggest films of 2008, if only just for New York. As the continuation of a television series that came to define the way much of the world thinks of the city, the film demands a proper welcome. To see that happen, distributor New Line Cinema teamed up with Maria Ruiz, the founder and principle of MAR Events, to create a screening at Radio City Music Hall and a party at the Museum of Modern Art with a string of New York-centric touches for the May 27 premiere.
This is not Maria’s first time helming a New Line event. She’s worked with the studio as an event producer for the past nine years, planning premieres for films like Austin Powers, Hairspray, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Maria also produced New Line Cinema’s 40th anniversary, where Nicole Kidman was the M.C. Because executing a premiere of this scope requires a lot of work, Maria moved into the New Line offices, as she does for all of their projects, to work hand-in-hand with the studio's staff in all aspects of the screening and party. We caught up with her last week to see what she was up to with such little time left before the big day.
The premiere is less than a week away. What are you working on right now?
I’m finalizing the specialty drink and putting the finishing touches on the menu selection. New York is the food capital of the world, as far as I see it, and we’re trying to have all our bases covered, whether it's New York street food or a combination of that and cutting-edge, high-end lounge food. There will be lots of passed plates and some stationary buffets. Most of the menu is done; we’re just trying to tweak a couple of things. The same goes for the recipe for the specialty cocktail. We’re in pretty good shape for most of the event details. We’re conceptualizing these trays for the food elements with some of the Swarovski pieces being flown in from Europe, so we’re coordinating the receipt of those.
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RELATED TOPICS
Sex and the City, New Line Cinema, Mercedes-Benz, Vitaminwater, Glacéau, Swarovski, Skyy Vodka |
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| NEWS 02.07.08 3:05 PM |
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Mercedes Uses Sex and the City to Boost Fashion Week Visibility
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 | The Mercedes-Benz displays in the tent lobby
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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Although the Sex and the City movie doesn't open until May 30, Mercedes-Benz has leveraged its relationship with the film's distributor, New Line Cinema, to provide even more visibility in the Fashion Week tents, with sneak previews of the film (and its outfits). As the title sponsor, the auto manufacturer gets plenty of publicity, but this strategic product placement targets fans of the HBO show by providing a more obvious link between Mercedes-Benz and fashion.
The most visible of Mercedes-Benz’s efforts are the two displays in the lobby of the tents. Sitting on either side of the main entrance are two cars—a new luxury SUV and a new sedan—both of which are featured in the movie. To make this connection clear, video screens surrounding the vehicles show clips from the film, including scenes where the four main characters attend Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
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Mercedes-Benz, Fashion Week, Sex and the City, New Line Cinema |
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