LOS ANGELES—Welcome to BizBash’s Los Angeles-based column, where West Coast bureau chief Claire Hoffman covers the week’s biggest local news. Got a tip? Get in touch!
Moves & Milestones
This week, NVE Experience Agency acquired media start-up the Future Party. The millennial-minded media brand started as an online community for young professionals and has grown into a popular email newsletter; through the collaboration with NVE, the brand hopes to grow its event capabilities.
The Greek Theater has announced a collaboration with chef Neal Fraser, owner of Redbird and Vibiana downtown. Beginning this season, the chef will handle the venue's box suite menus, express dining options, and special events catering.
In Case You Missed It
Music festival season has clearly begun: This week, we chatted with the founders of the upcoming BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, discussing their live streaming strategy, ways to overcome festival fatigue, and how they're avoiding Fyre Festival comparisons.
We also rounded up the most notable parties and brand activations to look for at Coachella this weekend.
In the News
A public memorial for rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle was held at the Staples Center on Thursday. Los Angeles Times: "The family of the 33-year-old, who was shot to death on March 31, gave the rights to stream a three-hour memorial service at Staples Center to Tidal, the streaming music service owned by rap mogul Jay-Z. Instead of relying solely on Los Angeles police, the family tapped members of the Nation of Islam to handle their personal security and control the crowd along a lengthy procession route through South L.A. ... Tens of thousands of mourning fans, many of them dressed in blue and white, came out on Thursday to grieve and celebrate the life of Hussle—a beloved hometown hero whose music and community activism reverberated from Los Angeles to his father’s homeland of Eritrea."
Netflix is in talks to acquire the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood from venue owner American Cinematheque. Variety: "But that doesn’t mean the streamer will be using the movie palace to run theatrical releases of its films to qualify for Oscars. At least not in the near future. Variety has learned that Netflix’s primary use of the theater will be for weekday and evening premieres, screenings, panels, and other special events for its films and TV series. ... Netflix plans to do some restoration of the 97-year-old theater and will replace some of its aging equipment, Variety has learned."
L.A. County supervisors voted this week to approve $117.5 million for a redesign of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Curbed: "Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor’s design for the new Miracle Mile campus would take the form of a long, irregularly shaped horizontal gallery raised on columns on either side of Wilshire Boulevard. That bridge-like design has been skewered by art and architecture critics ... mainly due to concerns about how well a skybridge would draw museum visitors up into the space while preserving sidewalk accessibility to people who are using Wilshire below."
Surprise Event Metric of the Week
2,000 pounds—the weight of a giant Freddy Krueger glove at the horror-theme pop-up I Like Scary Movies, an exhibition from experiential artist Maximillian Castillo. The space offers photo ops based on The Shining, A Nightmare on Elm Street, IT, Beetlejuice, and The Lost Boys, and is open through mid-June.
Venue Buzz
The 395-room Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills has completed a renovation to its event spaces. The 143,000-square-foot ballroom has all-new carpeting, hand-painted trim, and new chandeliers and sconces, plus additional power and rigging points. It seats 880 banquet style. Meanwhile, the Le Grand and Petit Trianon spaces got a remodeled stage green room, which has new mirrors, lighting, and furniture. The Four Seasons property, which opened in 1928, has more than 38,000 square feet of event space.
Arts District restaurant Simone, which had a buzzy opening last fall but has since been plagued with problems, temporarily closed this week. It's expected to reopen on May 4 as Duello and will be overseen by chef Jason Beberman.
Overheard
"We want to acknowledge that the staff and management at the Hotel Bel-Air have been incredible partners of ours through the years—wholly generous, hospitable, respectful, and kind. ... However, given recent developments, we have taken time to earnestly reflect on this relationship. We focused on the very mission of our organization and our responsibility to build a future without violence. Simply put, we will never overlook the support or use of violence against L.G.B.T.Q.-identified people. As a result, to underscore our commitment to bringing an end to violence—wherever it exists—we are relocating our Los Angeles Dinner to the Sunset Tower Hotel, while keeping the original date of April 25, 2019."
—Ali and Joe Torre, in an email explaining why the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation's annual dinner is being relocated from the Hotel Bel-Air. The Dorchester Collection property is facing boycotts because its owner, the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, has made adultery and homosexuality punishable by death in Brunei.
On the Scene
For a wedding designed by International Event Company last weekend, floral designers Mark's Garden created chandeliers made from fresh calla lilies.
What's Next
While Coachella is likely to dominate headlines for the next couple weeks, this weekend will also see the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which will host 500 authors, celebrities, artists, musicians, and chefs at the University of Southern California. More than 150,000 attendees are expected; JJLA is handling design and fabrication.
Looking into next week, the Association of Bridal Consultants is hosting a Frida Kahlo-theme networking event at Candela La Brea on Monday night.
And on Wednesday, the city's latest pop-up museum will open. Aimed at increasing women's financial empowerment and literacy, the interactive space—founded by She Stacks and sponsored by Zelle—will have money-theme photo ops and educational opportunities; it will be open downtown through May 17.
