Edgardo Zamora and his full-time staff of 20 at Revelry LLC design more than 200 nonprofit, corporate, and social events a year, and it's not uncommon that they work on four in a weekend. Zamora and his design team have worked on dozens of movie premieres and wrap parties, including Matrix Revolutions and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle; corporate events for clients like Ralph Lauren and Nokia; and massive awards productions like this year's Sony Grammy party and the Academy Awards' 2001 Governors Ball.
You do a lot of private parties for celebrities. How does this influence your work on corporate events?
First of all, I can use some of the same props, furniture, and fabric from my warehouse. I think I have the largest quantity of furniture in our industry; we can seat 600 people with all the furniture we own. How do you manage working on events all over the country?
Sometimes my staff goes to events without me because I don't like to travel. We're pretty busy here in California. We also do some work in New York, and we want to work there more. We've just come from doing the Troy premiere there. New York has the most beautiful linens. But I think what I like about New York most is that the party atmosphere is more European, more like where I'm from.
What's the best part about doing events in Southern California?
It's very difficult to impress the Los Angeles crowd because they have seen everything. Sometimes I'm on the edge and worn out, but I do it because I love it. I'm used to that kind of challenge; it's similar to when I worked as a fashion designer and had to come up with new designs every season.
What is the largest event you've worked on?
The biggest was the Universal Pictures Christmas party on their back lot about six or seven years ago, before they started cutting costs. Employees could invite their whole family and 20,000 people were there. We had only two weeks to put together the party, and we had to dress the whole town square on the back lot. We had a five-story Christmas tree, fully decorated, and we had more than 200 other Christmas trees on the lot. Another bash that was really amazing had a circus theme with an ice cream cart and all the waitresses wore only body paint. All the guests were driven back to their houses in ambulances at the end of the party. You can find whatever props you want here for crazy parties like that, since we're in the town where all the movies are made.
How would you describe your style?
I'm very open-minded to a variety of styles, but I think simple and elegant are the keys for any designer. And it's really important for me that my style looks finished. Sometimes when I go to events and I see things that are sloppy and unfinished, I really can't understand how [the event designers] are still in business. Either you're a pro or not.
What's your favorite venue in the area?
I don't have a favorite venue, but if I had to say, it would be a tent because it's a blank canvas to work with. If you plan events in hotels, you're dealing with decor that's already in place. Sometimes we'll get clients who'll want to have an event at the Beverly Hills Hotel, but they don't want the room to look anything like it already looks—so why do they want to have their event there? I also love the Shrine Auditorium, because it's such a huge hall and it looks so ugly that you can come up with really creative ways to fix it up.
—Alesandra Dubin
You do a lot of private parties for celebrities. How does this influence your work on corporate events?
First of all, I can use some of the same props, furniture, and fabric from my warehouse. I think I have the largest quantity of furniture in our industry; we can seat 600 people with all the furniture we own. How do you manage working on events all over the country?
Sometimes my staff goes to events without me because I don't like to travel. We're pretty busy here in California. We also do some work in New York, and we want to work there more. We've just come from doing the Troy premiere there. New York has the most beautiful linens. But I think what I like about New York most is that the party atmosphere is more European, more like where I'm from.
What's the best part about doing events in Southern California?
It's very difficult to impress the Los Angeles crowd because they have seen everything. Sometimes I'm on the edge and worn out, but I do it because I love it. I'm used to that kind of challenge; it's similar to when I worked as a fashion designer and had to come up with new designs every season.
What is the largest event you've worked on?
The biggest was the Universal Pictures Christmas party on their back lot about six or seven years ago, before they started cutting costs. Employees could invite their whole family and 20,000 people were there. We had only two weeks to put together the party, and we had to dress the whole town square on the back lot. We had a five-story Christmas tree, fully decorated, and we had more than 200 other Christmas trees on the lot. Another bash that was really amazing had a circus theme with an ice cream cart and all the waitresses wore only body paint. All the guests were driven back to their houses in ambulances at the end of the party. You can find whatever props you want here for crazy parties like that, since we're in the town where all the movies are made.
How would you describe your style?
I'm very open-minded to a variety of styles, but I think simple and elegant are the keys for any designer. And it's really important for me that my style looks finished. Sometimes when I go to events and I see things that are sloppy and unfinished, I really can't understand how [the event designers] are still in business. Either you're a pro or not.
What's your favorite venue in the area?
I don't have a favorite venue, but if I had to say, it would be a tent because it's a blank canvas to work with. If you plan events in hotels, you're dealing with decor that's already in place. Sometimes we'll get clients who'll want to have an event at the Beverly Hills Hotel, but they don't want the room to look anything like it already looks—so why do they want to have their event there? I also love the Shrine Auditorium, because it's such a huge hall and it looks so ugly that you can come up with really creative ways to fix it up.
—Alesandra Dubin
