Paramount Pictures spared no expense when it threw a lavish party earlier this month that took over the famed Griffith Observatory.
An enormous projection of the Starship Enterprise glided across the front of the building. Special “Star Trek”-themed drinks were served by staffers clad in Starfleet uniforms, and actors from both from the original TV series and from director J.J. Abrams’ celebrated franchise reboot cruised the room.
When told of the lavish bash, an Oscar campaigner for a rival studio had two responses:
This season, few studios have the money.
Gala premieres are still taking place, as are frequent cocktail receptions for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. (With fewer than 100 members, the group that hands out the Golden Globes is still a cost-effective organization to lobby, and one known to appreciate face time with the stars.)
But when it comes to Oscar, the landscape has changed. In place of $10-$15 million campaigns featuring splashy soirees, now it’s mostly trade
advertisements, online ads and the aggressive booking of guild screenings followed by Q&A sessions with the filmmakers.
Parties, particularly the lavish ones that require a $20,000 party planner and a budget that spirals upward into six figures, no longer clog the calendar the way they did in the days of “Gladiator” and “Seabiscuit,” which launched its campaign with a lavish Polo Lounge soiree — also tied to the DVD release. (At left, the film’s William H. Macy poses with a classic car brought in for the occasion.
The “Seabiscuit” gambit worked, boosting the summer release’s profile and helping it land a surprise Best Picture nomination. But with a slumping economy and real questions about whether you can reach enough voters to warrant the cost, activity on the party circuit has been slashed to a fraction of what it once was.
“The days of taking over restaurants are gone, at least for the studios I work for,” says one consultant who has done plenty of parties in the past — and who, like everyone else contacted for this story, didn’t want to be identified talking strategy.