When it comes to a surefire attendance draw, the star power of Los Angeles is a klieg light and red carpet rolled into one.
What other destination is blessed like L.A. when it comes to highly publicized events? Whether it’s the Oscars, Grammy Awards or any number of other big time to-dos, Los Angeles shares the spotlight with no other—and its party prowess is beamed into living rooms throughout the world.
One purveyor of splashy A-list events is Tony Schubert, owner and founder of Event Eleven (www.eventeleven.com), a high-end events production and design company based in Los Angeles, and which also has an office in Miami.
If anyone questions Event Eleven’s “cred,” all they have to do is thumb through the 12-page list of the events it has produced, including work for the Latin Grammy Awards, MTV, the Emmy Awards, and Warner Bros. Studios, to name a few.
According to Schubert, more than 90 percent of Event Eleven’s high-profile, entertainment-related events get broadcast on TV.
But the glitz and glamour showcased to the rest of the world via sparkly television-ready events is only the tip of the iceberg, as there is much more right under the surface that waits to be discovered.
“The amusement parks are great as well—Universal Studios, Magic Mountain,” Schubert says. “And we have great museums, such as MOMA [Museum of Modern Art], LACMA [Los Angeles County Museum of Art] and The Getty [J. Paul Getty Museum]. The Hollywood Bowl in the summertime? There’s nothing better. And there’s also the Greek Amphitheatre.”
For those who think outside of the box, Los Angeles offers a wealth of options.
“Even abandoned venues that have gone out of business are great,” Schubert says. “If you can catch it at a great time and find a large enough venue to host the event, those are fantastic.”
Schubert also notes that rooftop venues—even rooftop parking structures—and other outdoor locations are also worth looking into for planners who want to create something unique, although many parts of the city have noise ordinances that must be considered.
“So it’s hard to just rent a parking lot up on Sunset [Boulevard],” he says.
No matter what venue is selected, however, a party in L.A. has got to be cutting edge.
“The clients want the newest thing, the freshest thing—things people have never seen before,” Schubert says. “We’re a creative bunch, but it’s challenging. That’s really where the love for what I do comes into play—the challenge.”
Of course, one of the best ways to bring a little creativity into your event is to hire people who are creative for a living. Venues such as the backlots of Paramount Studios and Warner Bros. Studios serve as one-stop shops for amazing events, and come with a dedicated events team to make sure the event runs as smoothly as a movie production.
One up-and-coming area of L.A. is its downtown, which is seeing billions of dollars pumped into the massive L.A. Live Sports and Entertainment District that promises to deliver a wealth of off-site options steps from the Los Angeles Convention Center and Staples Center, and at the same time breathe life into a neighborhood that has basically been ignored by most Los Angelenos in the past few decades.
Besides all of the unique venue options, the Los Angeles area is blessed with one undeniable benefit for meetings and events.
“Certainly the weather is a big plus for us,” Schubert says. “The great thing about Los Angeles is that in the same day you can be at the beach and three hours later be in the desert, and in another two hours be in the hills skiing—there’s no other place like this, as far as I know. As far as location, the sky’s the limit here.”
