Reel Outdoors

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LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL
THE
Volume 36, Number 19
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May 12 - 18, 2014 • $5.00
Aquifer Owner
Soaks Up Win
Reel Outdoors
WATER: Judge rejects lawsuits
against Cadiz’s desert project.
By HOWARD FINE Staff Reporter
Investors in Cadiz Inc. were pumped up last
week after a court ruling cleared a big roadblock
for the L.A. company’s controversial plan to draw
water from its remote desert property.
An Orange County judge May 2 upheld
approvals for the water plan, dismissing challenges from an array of conservation groups and a
mining company.
The ruling from Superior Court Judge Gail
Andler moves Cadiz a big step closer to construction of its water-pumping plants and a pipeline to
transfer millions of gallons of water from its
desert aquifer to thirsty residents and businesses.
That means the Cadiz project is closer to reality
than it has ever been since its conception more
Local shop has
loads of Beatles
stuff – just in
time for 50th
Beatlemania
anniversary.
Please see WATER page 88
Picture This: Sharon
and Jeff Sperber at
Autry National Center in
Griffith Park, where they
show movies at night.
News &
Analysis
Stars line up for alfresco movie screenings
By JONATHAN POLAKOFF Staff Reporter
J
Why you may
see fuel-cell
charging stations soon.
PAGE 6
Trade &
Transport
OHN Wyatt didn’t know it at the time, but a
dozen years ago when he projected an
Alfred Hitchcock flick on a mausoleum
wall for a few hundred film buffs, it was the start
of a full-on outdoor movie craze in Los Angeles.
Since that night at Hollywood Forever
Cemetery, outdoor movie screenings have grown
into some of the biggest shows in town. The
events draw thousands of people to lawns across
Los Angeles every summer weekend. Some of
the alfresco picture shows have morphed into
bigger events, featuring bands, DJs, photo
booths and food trucks.
The season was scheduled to kick off May
10 with Saturday night screenings staged by
Wyatt’s Cinespia at Hollywood Forever, as well
as by Eat See Hear at Santa Monica High
School and Street Food Cinema at Pan-Pacific
Park in L.A.’s Fairfax District.
There are others. All told, more than 100
such outdoor movie nights are planned this summer in Los Angeles, with outdoor movies also to
be screened for free at downtown L.A.’s
Pershing Square, Santa Monica’s Third Street
Promenade and Alfredo’s on the Beach in Long
Beach. Even Dodger Stadium will host three
after-game screenings.
Most are aimed at young adults, but some
outdoor flicks are family oriented, showing
Disney movies or other animated features.
PHOTO BY THOMAS WASPER
PAGE 3
Accelerator May
Brake on Space
INTERNET: Launchpad LA
could abort free-office model.
By OMAR SHAMOUT Staff Reporter
When you think of tech startup accelerators in Los
Angeles, it’s hard not to picture enthusiastic young
entrepreneurs huddled over laptops in communal
office space steps away from the Pacific Ocean.
But Santa Monica’s Launchpad LA, which
has touted an offer of “free office space in the
heart of Santa Monica (one block from the beach)
for four months” on its website, might soon be
shattering that image.
“We most likely won’t bring our startups
together to co-locate for the next batch,” said Sam
Teller, co-founder and managing director of the
accelerator and seed fund. Instead, startups would
have to find their own office space.
Please see ENTERTAINMENT page 87
Please see INTERNET page 89
Old-Guard Fund Sees Investors Bond With Rival
INVESTMENT: DoubleLine
Gross
New service
delivers by helicopter, chopping
carriage time.
PAGE 11
The
Lists
L.A.’s hospitals
and health
insurers ranked.
PAGE 13
has Pimco at loss for now.
By MATT PRESSBERG Staff Reporter
Things look bad for bond king Bill Gross,
head of Pacific Investment Management Co.
Investors have pulled money out of Pimco’s flagship fund for 12 consecutive months amid turmoil at the firm. Meanwhile, investors have
been pouring money into Jeffrey
Gundlach’s rival investment firm,
DoubleLine Capital, in downtown Los Angeles.
Followers of the financial news media
might have picked up the narrative thread of
this “clash of the titans” story, which goes like
this: Gross, 70, is losing his grip on the throne
and Gundlach, 53, might unseat him soon;
Pimco is the past, DoubleLine is the future.
But industry insiders are saying, “Not so
fast.” The recently diverging fortunes of
Pimco and DoubleLine might have more to
do with low interest rates and a hot stock
Gundlach
Please see INVESTMENT page 88
Awards Reception: Weds., June 11, 2014
REGISTER TODAY! See page 81 for details.
MAY 12, 2014
LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL 87
RINGO H.W. CHIU/LABJ
PHOTO BY THOMAS WASPER
Stars in Eyes: Clockwise from left, Cinespia’s John Wyatt at his Mount Washington home. Heather Hope-Allison and Steve Allison of Street Food Cinema at Exposition
Park in South Los Angeles. Field by Autry National Center in Griffith Park, where Eat See Hear will hold an outdoor screening.
Entertainment: Sky’s Limit for Outdoor Screenings
Continued from page 1
Many of the events turn a profit thanks to
high turnout and sponsors. Outdoor movies
have become so popular that a rivalry has
emerged among competing series that this
year scheduled the same movie on the same
night, just miles apart.
Looks simple
One surprising aspect to this business: It
takes a lot of work.
“There’s a perception that it looks so simple, but it’s not,” said Heather Hope-Allison,
chief executive at event production firm TIL
Lifestyle Marketing + Events of Eagle Rock
and a producer of the Street Food Cinema
series. “It looks like you pop up a screen and
let everyone eat, but there’s a lot that technically goes into it.”
That work often starts with getting permits
to use land from schools, museums or government buildings, and then working with
movie studios to license films. There’s also
the task of preparing technical components
such as giant screens and audio that can reach
thousands of people in an outdoor setting.
Advertising, crowd control, hiring event staff
and getting toilets can also factor into the
equation. Each event for the most part costs
in the five figures to produce. Organizers say
they’re profitable.
The screenings have prospered by tapping
into a few things particular to Los Angeles,
such as dry weather, a desire to celebrate the
local movie industry and a rare chance to
gather in public spaces.
Many of the events have become hip
hangouts for young adults.
Patrons usually spread out on a blanket
and have a picnic with food, drinks or maybe
a board game to kill time before the movie
starts. Some events look more like a lawn
party than a movie screening. And unlike
indoor theaters, there is often chatter during
showings and sometimes people will cheer
during their favorite lines.
It’s a growing phenomenon. The companies interviewed for this article said attendance has increased and some say they’re
signing new corporate sponsors.
“Every year it becomes more and more
popular,” Wyatt said of the Hollywood
Forever screenings.
Cinespia is hosting five screenings at the
cemetery this month, and will continue at that
pace for the rest of the summer. Eat See Hear
will produce 19 outdoor screenings this year
at locations such as the Autry National Center
at Griffith Park and Santa Monica High.
Street Food Cinema will produce 26 screenings at locations such as South L.A.’s
Exposition Park and Glendale Central Park.
Films this year will include “Jaws,” “Pulp
Fiction” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”
There are also signs that movie studios are
loosening up on their resistance to licensing
more of their movies.
Film beginnings
Wyatt started Cinespia as an esoteric
Italian film club for less than 100 friends and
acquaintances. But then he attended a tribute
to Italian actor Rudolph Valentino at the
cemetery in 2001, which included images
projected on the outside wall of the mausoleum. That gave him the idea to produce
events at the site. He worked out a deal with
the cemetery’s operator, exchanging a share
of proceeds to help with upkeep.
The first Cinespia event at the cemetery
the following year was low tech by today’s
standards. Wyatt projected a 35 millimeter
film from the back of a truck on the mausoleum wall.
The first couple of events didn’t make
money, but Wyatt knew he was on to something.
“When the movie ended and people started cheering, it was exciting,” he said. “I knew
it could be popular.”
Cinespia now has about five full-time
employees and its cemetery screenings have
reached peak capacity. Each screening last
year brought in as many as 4,000 guests, he
said, but that was too crowded. So this year
Cinespia will limit attendance to 3,500 to
allow people to sit on the lawn and get a view
of the screen. Tickets sell for $14. Those sales
sustain the series, since Cinespia does not sell
“presented by” sponsorships as Eat See Hear
and Street Food Cinema do.
The popularity of the cemetery events –
and the increasing availability of digital projectors – also opened up the opportunity for
others to enter the market.
J.J. Snyder, president of Hollywood
Outdoor Movies in Oceanside, produced
outdoor movie screenings in San Diego over
the years. In 2010, Snyder linked up with
Hope-Allison and her marketing firm to produce outdoor movie series Outdoor Cinema
Food Fest. In 2012, Hope-Allison’s company
broke off from Snyder. She and her husband,
Steve Allison, launched a series, Street Food
Cinema, on their own.
Snyder then teamed up with Jeff and
Sharon Sperber, who run Sherman Oaks firm
Trailhead Marketing. Hollywood Outdoor
and the Sperbers partnered to launch the Eat
See Hear series in 2012. The Sperbers said
they’re not making a lot of money, but they use
the event as a calling card for their marketing
business to show potential clients they can build
relationships to get permits and sponsorships.
Both companies travel to multiple locations around Los Angeles, where they offer
food trucks and live bands before screenings.
Both series make money from a combination
of ticket sales and corporate sponsorships.
Both series have also scheduled to show
musical comedy “Pitch Perfect” on the same
day, June 28. Eat See Hear has planned the
showing at Paul Revere Middle School in
Brentwood, while Street Food Cinema plans
to show the movie at Poinsettia Park in West
Hollywood.
“It’s just a challenge to constantly redirect
so we’re not doing anything too similar,”
Hope-Allison said.
‘Vibrant scene’
Still, thanks to a huge, spread-out population of moviegoers in Los Angeles, the series
have continued on a growth track.
Demand was high enough at Street Food
Cinema last year that ticket prices were raised
from $10 to $12 for general admission this
year. Hope-Allison said the series doubled its
total attendance from about 25,000 in 2012 to
50,000 last year.
Eat See Hear also grew attendance to
1,500 to 2,000 people per event last year, up
from about 1,000 the first year, Sharon
Sperber said. This year, the couple reserved
new venues that can accommodate even more
people, such as the Autry. Eat See Hear tickets purchased in advance go for $10, or $12 at
the door. Both Street Food Cinema and Eat
See Hear occasionally host free movies when
sponsors have stepped in to foot the bill.
“We grew in terms of everything we did
last year,” Jeff Sperber said. “We’ve got an
incredible, vibrant scene in L.A.”