The name Robert Pattinson has a lot of pull these days, namely with two parties—paparazzi and young women. Both line up for hours to get even a glimpse of Hollywood's reigning heartthrob, and their presence is an important consideration at his film premieres.
So when fans took to blogs and message boards to plan New York pilgrimages to stake out the Paris Theatre premiere and Plaza reception for his film Remember Me—including proposed sleepovers in neighboring Central Park—the Summit Entertainment event team and producer Chad Hudson started troubleshooting long before the Monday event.
"We had to work with the city and parks department to make sure these girls were taken care of," Hudson said. That started with welcoming them when they arrived that morning. "We gave them wristbands in order of when they showed up and treated them to free coffee from Juan Valdez while they waited."
The spectators, who easily outnumbered the 600 actual event guests, got priority standing room in corrals based on their arrival times. Stations were set up outside the massive arrivals and step-and-repeat tent alongside the Pulitzer Fountain, in front of the theater, and around the hotel. After posing for photographers, Pattinson—along with girlfriend Kristen Stewart and co-star Emilie de Ravin—visited with screaming fans before stepping inside for the screening.
Pattinson fever didn't just affect the size of the crowd outside. "We originally planned to do the Oak Room for the post-screening reception, but the guest list hit the capacity in a second," Hudson said. "Luckily we were able to move from the Oak Room to the Plaza's grand ballroom."
Fans are persistent, and their potential lingering was another consideration. Summit needed to clear the area between the venues to dismantle the substantial arrivals tent and make room for guests to walk to the reception after the screening, so staffers passed out 400 tickets to a surprise advance screening of the film at nearby Florence Gould Hall. The fans got to see the movie almost two weeks early, and Pattinson and the other guests exited the theater in peace.
