GUEST BLOG By Hillary Harris

For a woman with a grueling event schedule -- she once produced 40 events in 30 days -- Hillary Harris, Director of Special Events at Warner Bros. Studios Special Events, is surprisingly laid-back and fun. Between producing events that run the gamut from small luncheons to huge premieres and events attended by everyone in Hollywood, she always finds time for a friend and a laugh.

It would be easy to use that Hollywood analogy and say that she just flips a switch and makes magic happen, but in reality, Hill uses good, old-fashioned hard work, experience and a keen eye for design to transform the ordinary into fantastical environments. This coupled with a killer sense of humor makes Hill someone everyone wants to be around. So please come by and meet her. She'll be part of the Design Dawgs III panel on January 27 at The Special Event in Phoenix. It's going to be informative, entertaining and Hill-arious!
Dave Merrell
AOO Events Creative Director and Lead designdawg

IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

By Hillary Harris

Event planners and our creations shine brightest at night. Sure we work during the day setting up events, taking meetings, and attending to details but it all really comes together as the sun sets. That’s when carefully selected saturated colors begin to wash over the unique architecture of the event, the candlelight creates a glow and the feeling of celebration hangs in the air. Without the drama that darkness brings to event design, it’s only natural that we’d find daytime events a little daunting.

But recently, I’ve committed acts of beautiful design … and in broad daylight. The secret? Go big and bold. I’ve outlined two events produced by Warner Bros. Special Events that illustrate my point.

BOLD: Go Bright

I had been looking for a theme for our annual L.A. Screenings at Warner Bros. when I went to The Special Event last year and saw the seed of a look I wanted in these trees by Pink Inc.


They were whimsical and fantastical; so bright in color they appeared to have popped out of a Dr. Seuss book. I found the trees could be custom-made in any color combination I wanted. They were ordered in two color schemes -- neon pink and orange as you can see in these photos. No lighting would be needed to light up the design.

After the trees had been ordered, we began the search for lounge furniture in the same color palette. I wanted the pieces to be modern and simple. The desired vibe was whimsical and playful. We found the furniture then added ottomans around the trunks of the trees and finished the look with pillows. The abstract flowers popped against the solid colors in the furniture.


The finishing touches were cocktail and end tables. I loved the playful curvature of the legs and the all-white enamel look. And although I've never used white chiavari chairs before at any event except a wedding they were perfect for this look.



But what to do about the sun? Because the trees were such a statement, I didn't want umbrellas, but we needed shade. To achieve this, our Warner Bros. scenic arts department created a brightly colors, sixties-style ceiling treatment made from 10-foot-wide, 50-foot-long panels of sail cloth that were rigged to the buildings on either side of the street. As the light hit the cloth, everything was suddenly washed in a very complimentary shade of pink. Everyone looked fabulous! The sun, I learned that day, can be an event designer's best friend.

BOLD: Go Big

For the premiere of the animated film, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, neon colors would be very out of place. Natural was the order of the day. Here, my goal was to make 800 guests feel as though they had been transported to Ga'Hoole, an enchanted forest inhabited by owls. This needed to be done in the middle of the day, and in the middle of Hollywood in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.


Without bright colors to help make this event pop, I chose to go big. Scale is a great way to suspend reality and make people feel as if they are somewhere else.

And the first thing to know about scale is that it begins at the bottom. You can't go big without laying a foundation then building upon it. So our design started from the ground up, literally. We used brown carpet throughout the event space. From here, the environment grew. As you can see from these photos we brought in trees (as well as structures built on site to look just like trees), rocks and shrubbery to create a transition entrance from the arrival carpet on Hollywood Blvd. to this fantastical world.


We had closed one lane of Hollywood Blvd. in order to park food trucks there, creating another wall of our environment. These trucks -- The Patty Wagon, The Grilled Cheese Truck, Border Grill and an ice cream truck called King Kone -- drove in at the last minute. Hedges between the trucks were added to further enhance the forest illusion.

All elements were as big and chunky as we could get. These included tables and benches from Town & Country Event Rentals, cabanas created with heavy burlap with rope ties, chunky art-directed signage made from wood planks and even cupcake stands made from tree stumps -- all went into creating the look and helping the event stand out in daylight. In addition we chose a crinkled taffeta linen in a deep brown (like bark) and moss green.

Our big look was built around a central place in the film called The Great Tree (shown in the photo above). Working with a landscape artist, we created the tree branch by branch. Standing at 22 feet high and 30 feet wide, the tree was a focal point of the event. We built or brought in about 40 trees in all to create the fully realized environment.


Everything, the activities and the decor, are part of the event experience. Design work during the day is not just about linen and how many trees there are. It's about layering in the activities and the design element. And since this was a family film the more activities the better! Here we brought in two owls that looked like Soren, the main owl in the film, and a green screen in front of which people could have their photos taken and it looked like they were in the forest with the owls.


The rock wall was both an activity and part of the decor. It certainly went a long way to make people feel they were the mountains.

In the case of this event we brought in big activities such as this Gyroscope installed on a stage that gave people the sense of flying. It took up sculptural space.

It's important to note that when designing by the light of day there are no unlighted spaces where you can sweep bad design under a rug or dark space. Layout out the space with clean lines and highlight the usable space.

Remember, everything will be out in the open so design wisely. Then let the sun shine in!

About Hillary Harris

Hillary Harris is Director of Warner Bros. Studios Special Events. Every year she produces more than 250 events both on the lot in Burbank and at outside venues. Clients range from private individuals to large corporations such as Lexus and Apple to non-profits such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Environmental Media Awards. She is in the BizBash Hall of Fame, winner of four BizBash Style Awards, a popular speaker at many industry events and currently nominated for a Special Events Gala Award for Best Decor for the LA Screenings event (featured in the photos at the top of this blog).

And this year Hillary also started her own blog: Hill on Hollywood.

Night Falls on the City

Los Angeles was in perfect form while 5,000 association executives were in town for the ASAE Conference. They got perfect weather and were able to see some of the city's most well-known sites as well as some of it's lesser known gems, such as Watercourt at the California Plaza, an amphitheater like setting nestled between the city's skyscrapers, received the award for Best Hidden Fountain Rendezvous from the L.A. Weekly.

And in fact, final night was a rendezvous of sorts -- a meeting of Los Angeles' varied cultures that culminated in a bluesy performance by Cyndi Lauper on the stage in the photo above.

As you can see, it was a perfect night. The event was produced by AOO Events, LA Inc., and Watercourt was actually a co-producer of this event as they own the facility and also run summer concerts here.

HERE COMES THE SUN!

The two main areas represented Los Angeles' major cultures -- Latin and Asian. We included African-American culture with dance groups and bands throughout the event and Old Hollywood was represented by some of the food dishes by Good Gracious! Events such as Phillippe's French Dips and the Brown Derby's Cobb Salad. There was something for everyone at this party, just like Los Angeles!

AOO's producer of this event, Jahon Pilichowski, had a lot of fun working with both these bright and colorful main themes. At the Soleil bar, that sense of playfulness so inherent in Latin art and culture (and food!) came out from papier mache art created by Tony Dominguez from the Dominguez Design Group.


We gave Mr. Sunshine his own lighting to make him pop as, well, as the real sun went down.

The Soleil bar complete with padded brown leather walls and blond wood columns framing the set.

Dessert buffet. These oversized cacti were great and tied into the Soleil bar. These were also created by Tony Dominguez.

THE BUDDHA BAR

Lounge areas complete with Asian pillows and orchids.

Here Good Gracious served little Asian bites in take-out containers that guests could grab and go.

A great Buddha bar...The custom-designed bar facade was created to carry the look all the way through. Bamboo arches framed tall golden coral pieces. And our Buddha, holding a bouquet of white orchids stood out against a black fringe curtain.

DRAGON LOUNGE

A central pagoda was decorated with Asian paper umbrellas of varying sizes, shapes and pattern on every leg and an oversized dragon on top. Decorating the top of the pagoda made sense in this case as the second level of the event was used, giving us multi-levels on which to design. Next to this pagoda you can see one of the bars that was decorated with strings of silk Asian lanterns as a backdrop.

And yet another lounge.

Umbrellas!

Linen by Classic Party Rentals set with a simple white orchid with river rock.

As the event came to a close, and Cyndi Lauper left the stage, the guests could wander into the beautiful Omni Hotel that overlooks the Watercourt or head out into the Los Angeles night to explore what has become a thriving nightlife. Many of these attendees had not been to Los Angeles in years. Thanks to the efforts of City Hall and LA Inc., downtown Los Angeles has definitely changed for the better. Hope to see you all here soon!

LA is Truly Live Now!

I know, I know...but I just never get tired of seeing our logo on the big screen!

This was a great event for a lot of reasons. For the first time in about a decade the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) had brought its highly coveted convention to Los Angeles. This was a big deal for the city. LA INC. had worked hard at bringing downtown up to a level that would attract and support this type of group and the people they could potentially bring to the city for conventions and meetings. LA Live, the AEG complex, consists of such powerhouse venues as the Staples Center and Nokia Theatre, as well as dozens of name restaurants and movie theaters. And with the Ritz Carlton and J.W. Marriott directly adjacent, the city now has high-level hotels in the downtown area.


Doesn't Los Angeles look great? ASAE thought so as its 5,000 attendees enjoyed this opening event produced by AOO Events' Jahon Pilichowski. Guests danced the night away to a performance by Melissa Etheridge and enjoyed a delicious fare by Wolfgang Puck.

At the entrance, a backlighted silhouette board of paparazzi was a nod to Hollywood.

The "living" red carpet and AOO Events before guests arrived. From left to right: Laker girls, Jahon Pilochowski AOO producer of this event, the Red Carpet Girl, me, Nick Gentile, another of AOO's event producers, and more Laker girls.

The model's red dress flows down this pedestal and actually becomes the entrance carpet. This effect has been very popular as you can imagine!



Another look at the main area of the party. And as an example of how much this venue (a "Location We Love" in my post of November 8) can handle, the Daytime Emmy's were being televised live right next door at Nokia Theatre.

In fact, during our event setup we had to create a red carpet entrance for the Emmy's (shown above), using hedges to block out the bars and lounge decor. And, we had to leave a lane of the street out front open for their limos. As soon as the Emmy's began, we closed the street, removed this carpet and reconfigured the space for ASAE.

A performance by Melissa Etheridge closed this 5,000-person event! We love L.A.! And now, so do thousands of association execs!