With a new director and a fresh cast, the rebooted Star Trek film marks the next—and some say cooler—generation of the sci-fi series that launched more than 40 years ago. In a move befitting the revamped franchise, Paramount's Elizabeth Tramontozzi went for a sleek rather than geek aesthetic for Thursday night’s premiere and after-party.
For the arrivals area, Tramontozzi turned to 15/40 Productions, which blanketed the street and entrance outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with black carpet and stationed a DJ next to bleachers full of fans. The production company took an, ahem, enterprising approach to the step and repeat, building a massive replica of the delta—the arrowhead-shaped shield that adorns all Starfleet uniforms—and covering it with the film’s title treatments and posters. The movie’s stars traversed the giant structure, which served the dual purpose of accommodating extensive press lines, as well as giving fans various vantage points of talent as they zigzagged their way around the shield.
Representations of iconic Star Trek symbols like the delta were sparser at the premiere party, held in a specially leased Hollywood warehouse, where Event Eleven’s Tony Schubert instead incorporated lots of reflective and metallic surfaces in a look inspired by the film’s Starship Enterprise. Schubert’s spaceship-chic design featured metallic wall panels, high-gloss black Formica bars, and an all-white lighting scheme that included a 27-beam light show at the entrance. “With the movie being as hot as everyone says it is, the party had to match the heat of the screening and had to be really sexy looking,” Schubert said. “Plus, Paramount wanted guests to want to stay three to four hours, instead of just stopping by for 20 minutes.”
A photo booth stocked with props kept guests entertained—and helped ensure the party lived long and prospered into the night.
