January 31, 2017: Samantha Bee to Host White House Correspondents' Dinner Spoof Event, Study Finds Women Underrepresented at Oscars, Eventbrite Buys Self-Service Ticketing Startup for Music Events

1. SAMANTHA BEE TO HOST WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' DINNER SPOOF EVENT: Samantha Bee, the host of news satire talk show Full Frontal With Samantha Bee on TBS, is planning a White House Correspondents' Dinner counter-event in Washington to coincide with the April 29 event. The New York Times: "This alternative gala, which is being called 'Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner' and was announced on Monday, will be at the Willard Hotel. Ms. Bee said that it was not an attempt to comment on or compete with that other, better-known banquet, but a night to include jokes about Mr. Trump that she and like-minded comedians want to make. 'We’re not trying to supersede it,' she said in a telephone interview. 'We just want to be there in case something happens—or doesn’t happen—and ensure that we get to properly roast the president.' Ms. Bee said that she and her 'Full Frontal' producers got the idea for their event after Mr. Trump’s election in November. The 'Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner' will probably be shown on TBS in some form; Ms. Bee said that those details were still being worked out, as was a lineup of talent. … Given the open hostility that Mr. Trump and his administration have displayed for the news media, some journalists have wondered if the Correspondents’ Association dinner is a tradition worth preserving. Would Mr. Trump even attend this year, and what entertainer could make jokes about him without getting underneath his oft-demonstrated thin skin? Comedians have only started figuring out how to riff on Mr. Trump as president, and there is a wide gulf between what Trump supporters and detractors think is funny about him." http://nyti.ms/2jmL4yH

2. STUDY FINDS WOMEN UNDERREPRESENTED AT OSCARS: A study conducted by the Women's Media Center has reported that the number of female Oscar nominees in non-acting categories has dropped for the 89th annual Oscars. Only 20 percent nominations of behind-the-scenes roles included women, which is a two percent drop from last year. Entertainment Weekly: "For the seventh year in a row, no female directors were nominated in the directing category. (Kathryn Bigelow is still the only woman to take home the prize for her 2008 film The Hurt Locker. Only three other women, including Lina Wertmüller, Jane Campion, and Sofia Coppola, have ever been nominated in the category.) Only one woman—Hidden Figures screenwriter Allison Schroeder—was lauded in the screenwriting category. And the cinematography category continued its streak of nominating only men in its 89-year history. 'We have a saying: ‘If you can see it, you can be it,’ but in the crucial behind-the-scenes non-acting roles, our investigation shows that what you see is 80 percent of all nominees are men,' says Julie Burton, president of the Women’s Media Center. 'Four out of five nominees are men—meaning male voices and perspectives are largely responsible for what we see on screen.' On the positive side, nine women were nominated as producers in the Best Picture category—the largest nominations count in any category. And Ava Duvernay, who in 2014 was the first African-American woman to have a film she directed nominated for a Best Picture with Selma, was honored with a nomination in the Documentary Feature category for her Netflix film 13th, about the history of African-American and mass incarceration. … Despite efforts by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to further diversity its membership by adding a slew of women and minorities to their rolls, little has changed for women trying to break into the business." http://bit.ly/2jnYZUU

3. EVENTBRITE BUYS SELF-SERVICE TICKETING STARTUP FOR MUSIC EVENTS: Event management platform Eventbrite has acquired Ticketscript, an Amsterdam-based self-service ticketing startup that allows event organizers to sell tickets online for live music events. TechCrunch: “Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but we’re asking. Ticketscript, Eventbrite said, has sold tickets to more than 100,000 events in Europe, including Amnesia Ibiza and Love Family Park in Germany and the Amsterdam Dance Festival. Indeed, this deal will catapult Eventbrite—which already processed 150 million tickets for more than 600,000 event organisers in 180 countries last year—into working a lot more with larger artistic events, specifically in the area of music, in Europe. Ticketscript—which had raised just under $12 million from a single investor, FPE Capital LLP—was started in 2006 (like Eventbrit itself) by Frans Jonker (the CEO) and Ruben Meiland, who started it to have a better way for selling tickets to EDM events in their native Amsterdam. (Meiland had also founded Beatfreax, an EDM website where a lot of fans would go to see where their favorite DJs were playing.) EDM may have had its start as a particular genre of music played at improvised raves and some nightclubs, but it has since become a huge business, possibly event overtaking even gambling in Las Vegas in terms of revenues, by some estimates. While EDM was largely growing outside of the mainstream world of event organization—which is dominated by large multinationals and companies like Ticketmaster—Jonker and Meiland saw a gap in the market, where no one seemed to ‘own’ the platform for creating and selling tickets to these events.” http://tcrn.ch/2kbO0Ln

* LOCAL NEWS *

COAST TO COAST:  AEG Live has acquired a stake in the concert promotion and venue management company the Bowery Presents. The companies announced the deal Monday. The Bowery Presents books, produces, and promotes more than 2,500 events annually.

DENVER:  Visit Denver and SnowSports Industries Americas have extended their contract through 2030. The new deal is expected to bring at least $35 million of economic impact to the city per year.

DALLAS/FORT WORTH:  Wolfgang Puck Catering has appointed Daniel Ovichegan as general manager of Union Station and Cloud Nine at Reunion Tower.

LAS VEGAS:  The Las Rageous two-day music festival will debut this spring, taking over two square blocks in downtown Las Vegas on April 21 and April 22. Created by Live Nation, Las Rageous will feature performances from Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Anthrax, Coheed and Cambria, Killswitch Engage, Breaking Benjamin, and more, with two stages downtown.

LOS ANGELES:  On February 16, the Women’s Cancer Research Fund honorary chairs Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Kate Capshaw, and Steven Spielberg, along with co-founders Anne Douglas, Quinn Ezralow, Marion Laurie, Kelly Chapman Meyer, and Jaime Tisch, will welcome guests to "An Unforgettable Evening,” presented by Saks Fifth Avenue. The event is slated to return to the Beverly Hilshire after a three-year hiatus.

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  The third annual Veuve Cliquot Carnaval will take place March 4 at Museum Park. The event benefits the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

NEW YORK:  The Central Park Conservancy Ice Festival will take place February 11 at Naumburg Bandshell. The event will feature ice sculptures from Okamoto Studio artists and a free silent disco.

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

NORWALK, CONNECTICUT:  Ed Several, former senior vice president and general manager of P.G.A. Worldwide Golf Exhibitions, has been appointed senior vice president of integration and commercial optimization for Red Exhibitions Americas. Yancy Weinrich will now oversee events for P.G.A. Worldwide Golf Exhibitions.

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  Planet Hollywood Observatory is now open at Disney Springs. The four-story, 36,000-square-foot restaurant has a new menu and new spaces including a 5,000-square-foot outdoor lounge.

SAN FRANCISCO:  Hyatt Regency San Francisco has appointed Matthew Humphreys as general manager.

TORONTO:  The Drake Hotel will host a Valentine's Day flower market on February 11. The event, which is put on in partnership between the Toronto Flower Market and White Oak Flower Co., will have onsite florists available to create floral love letters.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  The Women's Committee of the Washington Ballet will host Amuse Bouche: A Taste of France, Dance, Romance, and Chance on February 10 at the French Embassy. The fund-raiser, which supports the Washington Ballet's education and community engagement programs, will offer a France-inspired meal by embassy chef Daniel Labonne.

The Hotel at the University of Maryland is slated to open in July. The 297-room hotel will have 43,000 square feet of meeting space, including 18 meeting rooms, two boardrooms, and three ballrooms.

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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin and Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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