Wilshire Grand Voted One of the Top 3 Best Hotels for FREE Wireless Internet in Los Angeles by PC Magazine dated September 19, 2006
'Bourne' tops film sound editor honors
By Carolyn Giardina
Feb 24, 2008
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
CORRECTED 4:08 p.m. PT Feb. 24
The sound editing team from "The Bourne Ultimatum" won two awards in the feature film categories Saturday evening at the Motion Picture Sound Editors 55th Anniversary Golden Reel Awards.
"Bourne" won the categories for dialogue and ADR, and sound effects and Foley. Also in features, "Into the Wild" was recognized in the category for editing music, and "Hairspray" was honored for music in a musical.
"Ratatouille" savored a win in the animated feature competition, and "The Orphanage" topped the category for foreign language film.
In a ceremony at the
Wilshire Grand, the MPSE presented awards in 17 categories for areas including features, TV, direct-to-video and special venue, as well as a career achievement award to Bill Wistrom.
Director Michael Bay received the Filmmaker of the Year award.
Bay saluted the audience, saying, "You sculpt sound and breathe life in movies. You make edits work, you influence characters, you create strong feelings."
Then he asked "Why don't you guys change more?," as he received enthusiastic applause.
HBO's "Bury My Hear at Wounded Knee" won two awards for longform TV (dialogue and ADR, sound effects and Foley). "High School Musical 2" won for editing music in long form TV.
In the short form TV categories, awards went to "Lost" (sound effects and Foley), "House M.D." (dialogue and ADR) and "Scrubs" (music).
"The Batman" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" tied in the category for TV animation, "Starcraft" was honored for computer entertainment, "Return to House on Haunted Hill" and "Superman Doomsday" tied for direct to video, and "Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure" was honored for special venue work.
Wilstorm -- a six-time Emmy winner -- was a pioneer in electronic and digital sound editing, and spent many years working on "Star Trek" titles. "What I like is the camaraderie," he said of his field. "You can't beat it."
A student award was bestowed to "Shot Open" for the Australian Film, Television & Radio School.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Madonna, Moore to fill party gap
New options for Oscar goers
Talk about all dressed up with no place to go: Oscar night is going to see a surplus of guests and a dearth of hosts.
The 14-week writers strike took a toll, both emotional and economic, on Hollywood, but some have used it as an excuse to make cuts -- in deals, in holiday gifts and, apparently, in parties.
The Oscar-night party scene was getting to be pretty predictable, and this is the year that longtime traditions are taking a sabbatical. The net result is that with no Vanity Fair party and other cancelled events, and only about half of those at the Academy Awards invited to the Governors Ball, there will be quite the black-tie mob shuffling in their Jimmy Choo slingbacks seeking food and diversion.
In years past, the Governors Ball was the first stop on a serious round of party-hopping. But this year, there simply aren't many places to hop.
Beyond Vanity Fair's one-year hiatus, other party no-shows include People mag's fiesta; Dani Janssen's affair at her home, which has drawn the likes of Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood; and the latenight affair hosted by Rick Yorn and Patrick Whitesell.
For the second year, the Elton John AIDS fund-raiser is a viewing dinner followed by a John performance with no after-party (though about 75 nominees and execs have received invites to attend the perf).
One contender to fill this black-tie social vacuum is the party Madonna, her manager Guy Oseary and Demi Moore have put together at the last minute.
Whether this affair becomes an annual event hasn't been decided.
The party, to be held in a home in the Westside hills, will begin around 9 p.m. A few hundred people are invited, although this number will probably expand. One person who's seen the guest list said, "Everybody's on it. It gives the A-list Vanity Fair crowd someplace to go to. It will probably be pared down to where it's 85% talent, not a lot of suits."
But even if this party skims off some of the celebrity cream, the Governors Ball will still be the major draw. "It's the biggest game in town," said one exec. "This is going to put the glamour back into the ball."
In the past quarter century, the Governors Ball sometimes hosted cameo appearances by stars who then headed elsewhere: For a decade, Irving "Swifty" Lazar's affair was the hot ticket, followed by Vanity Fair's event.
However, out of the roughly 3,300 attending the Oscars, only 1,500 go to the ball. Plus the Academy's after-party has returned to the sitdown format after last year, when there was no assigned seating -- making it more difficult to slip in a few more guests this time around.
Conventional wisdom among studio event planners is that the impromptu parties at the hotels are going to fill the gap.
"The Four Seasons, L'Ermitage, the Chateau Marmont -- these are the natural locales," said one studio event planner. "The Oscar winners go to the ball and maybe there's something later at their hotel. The losers go home."
In years past, stars and others have quietly taken over restaurants for their own private affairs. Two years ago, George Clooney famously took over Dan Tana's. (He won't this year.)
Event planners and publicists are coy about these private parties. There's an "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you" aspect to the discussion.
"It's going to be a low-key, private year with a lot of viewing parties," said one publicist. "But remember the context. This isn't the most exciting Oscars in years. A lot of wind was taken out of the sails by the strike, not to talk about the depressing movies that are being honored."
One studio event planner pointed out that since most of the nominees are pics from specialty labels, there isn't as much demand for the kind of large party that would be de rigueur for a major.
"If it's a major, you'd have all these creative execs to worry about," said the planner. "Plus the nominated films don't have huge casts. I think the demand is covered by the ball."
For those wanting to socialize on Oscar weekend, the solution may be to go out before Sunday.
Tonight is when the agents shine: CAA's Bryan Lourd hosts a well-attended party at his home, and Endeavor has a cocktail reception at a West Hollywood restaurant (this will be much smaller than the party that topper Ari Emanuel has thrown at his home in years past).
Women in Film is having a reception at Peter Guber's house for the female nominees. Warners and Fox Searchlight will be having dinners for their respective contenders. AMPAS hosts a reception for the foreign-language nominees at the Academy. BAFTA/LA has an afternoon reception for U.K. nominees at the British consul general's residence. And the Night Before the Night Before party is held.
Saturday daytime's big event is the Independent Spirit Awards, with the IFC throwing an after-party at Shutters. The sound editors present their Golden Reel awards downtown at the Wilshire Grand Hotel. The Intl. Documentary Assn. hosts its annual DocuDay screenings at the WGA. Both Miramax and Focus/Universal will be having dinner parties for their nominees. And Academy governor Charles Bernstein chairs the Society of Composers & Lyricists annual reception at a member's BevHills home for the music nominees.
The major event on Oscar eve will be the Night Before party, co-sponsored by Variety, at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
SOURCE: Variety Magazine
WILSHIRE GRAND LOS ANGELES WINS
GOLD KEY AWARD
FOR THE FIFTH YEAR IN A ROW
Secaucus, NJ - Meetings & Conventions magazine
recently announced the winners of its prestigious
Gold Key Award for 2004. Celebrating its 27th year,
this annual award is bestowed upon the world’s
finest meeting properties.
All winners of this award of excellence
were nominated and selected by the readers of M&C,
who base their votes on the overall professionalism
and quality of the property. This year, the readers
honored 183 domestic and 25 international hotels
and resorts as Gold Key winners. These experienced
meeting planners selected their winning properties
based on strict industry criteria: staff attitude;
quality of meeting rooms; quality of guest services;
food and beverage service; proficiency of handling
reservations; availability of technical support
equipment and range of recreational facilities.
"The trademark of M&C’s
readers, who represent the highest level of meeting
professionals, has been a dedication to quality.
The 2004 Gold Key winners have met their tough standards
by providing outstanding service," said Bernard
W. Schraer, Meetings & Conventions Group Publisher.
"The entire M&C staff commends the properties
that have demonstrated the qualities to earn the
Gold Key distinction."
With its fifth consecutive win
of the prestigious Gold Key Award, the Wilshire
Grand is the only Los Angeles area hotel to win
this award five years in a row. Besides the recent
announcement of the 2004 Gold Key Award, the hotel
received the 2004 Pinnacle Award last month for
excellence in meeting services by meeting planners
and subscribers of Successful Meetings.
According to James Durslag, Director
of Operations at the Wilshire Grand, "these
awards are particularly meaningful because we were
chosen by meeting planners themselves, the people
who actually use our hotel. In effect, they have
voted us the best meeting facility in Los Angeles.
Winning just one of these awards is a wonderful
recognition that we are achieving our objectives
in providing the finest meeting experience."
With 900 guest rooms and more
than 50,000 square feet of meeting space, most of
it on a single floor, the Wilshire Grand is Los
Angeles’ premier business hotel.
####
Contact: Marc Loge
(213-612-3920)
