| Q & A 04.30.09 12:41 PM |
|
Joel Hock Takes Celebrity Car Rally to L.A., Miami to Raise Funds for Kids With Cancer
|
 | Solutions With Impact's Joel Hock
Photo: Charlie Gallay/Getty Images |
|
FROM TORONTO
Last fall, Joel Hock, founder and president of the Toronto-based event management firm Solutions With Impact, produced an event to benefit the Hospital for Sick Children. Called the Car Rally for Kids With Cancer, the two-day event, held during the Toronto International Film Festival, paired luxury-car owners with celebrity navigators for an interactive scavenger hunt across the city. Drivers had to raise $25,000 to enter the contest, and the event raised more than $1.2 million for the hospital.
This weekend, Hock hopes to duplicate that success in Los Angeles, where Eva Longoria Parker is the event chair for the city's first Car Rally. The benefit—in support of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Padres Contra El Cáncer, a nonprofit organization that supports families of Latino children with cancer—kicks off with a launch party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Friday and concludes with a gala dinner Saturday night at a $30 million private home in Beverly Hills (owned by Bill Phillips of Transformation.com). With another Car Rally slated to run in Toronto this September, and Las Vegas and Miami incarnations in the works, we spoke with Hock about expanding the event.
Why did you decide to take the event national this year?
I think the event itself works from a fund-raising standpoint. People, once they understand it, want to get involved. And kids with cancer is a cause that hits home whether it’s in L.A., Vegas, Miami, or Toronto. In my opinion, the cure is just around the corner and all it takes is money. This event is driven by the participants.
MORE >>
RELATED TOPICS
Hospital for Sick Children, Eva Longoria Parker, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Wonderwall, MSN, E! Entertainment, Access Hollywood, L.A. Confidential Magazine |
 |
| NEWS 09.12.08 3:15 PM |
|
KITT Car Stolen During Knight Rider Fan Event
|
FROM TORONTO
A KITT car—the vehicle originally made popular during the 1980s television series Knight Rider—was stolen during a free public event outside Union Station today. A video posted on YouTube this afternoon shows footage of a man running towards the car after a driver positioned it for a stunt performance. The man jumped into the driver's seat and sped off, heading east along Front Street.
A Canwest employee confirmed the auto theft in an email. The car made several appearances—sponsored by E! and Canwest Broadcasting—around town this week to promote the new Knight Rider series that debuts later this month.
The theft could, of course, be part of the stunt; when we called the Toronto police, the officer we spoke to could not confirm that the car had been stolen. —Susan O'Neill
RELATED TOPICS
E! Entertainment, Canwest Broadcasting, Knight Rider |
|
 |
|
| ASK BIZBASH 09.08.08 9:00 AM |
|
Who Can Produce a Cool Tribute Video?
|
 | Stills from a variety of tribute videos.
Photo: Courtesy of Lifefilm (top), Courtesy of Madprops (middle), Courtesy of Raw Films (bottom) |
|
Honoring a retiring exec or an award winner with a video about their life’s work is a great idea, but only if the piece doesn’t move guests to check their BlackBerries or sneak off to the restroom. Here are three companies that specialize in these types of films and, if asked, will travel to make it happen.
With more than 20 years of combined film and television industry experience, Lifefilm Productions co-founders Peilin Chou and John Brancaccio use the same production professionals they worked with at companies such as Walt Disney Studios, MTV Networks, ESPN, and Bravo to craft their celebratory docs. The firm prides itself on delivering broadcast-quality, story-driven films that are truly entertaining. Past clients include C-level execs from Hasbro and real estate developer S.R. Weiner. Rates start at $5,000, with longer and more intensive projects ranging from $10,000 to $20,000.
MORE >>
RELATED TOPICS
Walt Disney Company, MTV, ESPN, Bravo, Academy Awards, Saturday Night Live, VH1, A&E, E! Entertainment, NBC, Clinton Global Initiative, Miramax, Hasbro |
|
| GUEST QUESTIONS 04.28.08 5:37 PM |
|
Correspondents Dinner Prepartiers See More of the Same, Look Forward to New Administration
|
 | Guests mingled during the preparties.
Photo: Lara Shipley for BizBash |
|
Several thousand guests descended on the Washington Hilton around 6 p.m. on Saturday for a couple of hours of pressing flesh before heading into the White House Correspondents Association dinner in the hotel’s International Ballroom at 8 p.m. While making the rounds ourselves, we polled some attendees about which party was best, what an Obama-, Clinton-, or McCain-run dinner could be like next year, and which after-party they were most looking forward to.
“[These parties] are like the Olympics, so they always say it’s the best ever. This is my first time and it’s amazing. But I challenge them next year to top it.”
—Joel McHale, host of E!’s The Soup
“All the parties blend together, but the guests make a difference. It’s the best people-watching in Washington all year.”
—Carrie Foster, public relations executive, Linda Roth Associates
MORE >>
RELATED TOPICS
White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, E! Entertainment, HBO, Army Wives |
|
|
