As film festivals go, the Malibu Film Festival may not be the biggest (clocking in at four days with 25 screenings) or the oldest (having just wrapped its seventh year), but its host town may indeed offer the most picturesque location. Suitably, the party celebrating its final night—which was coupled with an awards ceremony given by independent film studio and distributor IndieVest—was on a stretch of Malibu beach in front of Gladstone's where crashing waves and sand underfoot set an appropriately cinematic scene.Working with the festival's founder, David Katz, Gladstone's event producer Lori Llevano put together the oceanside bash. It began with a cocktail reception for press inside the restaurant, where 20th Century Props provided stylish modern seating in angular black leather. Later, the crowd swelled to more than 300 and moved outside to comfy all-white slipcovered seating areas from Royal Events, surrounded by illuminated end tables for a splash of diffused white light and heat lamps to cut the nighttime spring chill.
When it was time for the meal, guests moved under the dining tent via a red carpet set up right in the sand, where they found tables set with chocolate brown and fuchsia napkins folded together from Classic Party Rentals (a major event sponsor, along with 20th Century Props and Royal Events). Val Eule of Just Flowers created squat, bright, square centerpieces filled with geometrically arranged flowers in hot pink, yellow, and green. The assembled throng dined on surf and turf after an awards ceremony honored the festival's superlatives. Because of a statute requiring guests to clear the beach at 10 PM, coffee and dessert were served back upstairs in Gladstone's private room.
—Alesandra Dubin
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When it was time for the meal, guests moved under the dining tent via a red carpet set up right in the sand, where they found tables set with chocolate brown and fuchsia napkins folded together from Classic Party Rentals (a major event sponsor, along with 20th Century Props and Royal Events). Val Eule of Just Flowers created squat, bright, square centerpieces filled with geometrically arranged flowers in hot pink, yellow, and green. The assembled throng dined on surf and turf after an awards ceremony honored the festival's superlatives. Because of a statute requiring guests to clear the beach at 10 PM, coffee and dessert were served back upstairs in Gladstone's private room.
—Alesandra Dubin
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Manhattan Beach Opens the Shade
Related Stories From New York
Tribeca Family Festival Draws Soggy Crowds
Dalzell Productions' Karen Dalzell