A former Sony Pictures Entertainment executive is drawing on her experience running major entertainment events to launch a business planning classy funerals for the famous.
Final Bow Productions is the Marina del Rey company set up last month by Alison Bossert to send stars and other VIPs out in style.
“You can’t predict how or when you’ll die, but you can impact how you are remembered,” said Bossert, who as Sony’s senior vice president of special events organized premieres and parties for the studio’s tent-pole releases.
But her job also occasionally required lending her expertise to staging elegant memorial services for Hollywood luminaries such as the late Heath Ledger, Laura Ziskin and Ronni Chasen – and it was those sad occasions she found the most fulfilling.
So when she lost her job in a recent round of Sony downsizing, she decided to go into business for herself to bring show-biz frills to the world of funerals.
“I’ve worked on the biggest movie launches over the last 17 years in my time at the studio,” she said, “but I was most emotionally rewarded when assisting loved ones while planning these distinctive and distinguished celebration of life events.”
I’ll Be App
Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn’t missed a single trick to promote his new “Terminator” film while lending his voice to GPS app Waze.
In addition to giving drivers routine commands like “Take dah next left” and saying “Hasta la vista, baby” at the end of each journey, he will also alert them whenever they are close to a movie theater showing “Terminator Genisys.”
The former California governor returns to his iconic role in the July 1 release and adopts his Terminator persona for the free app, which earns revenue from advertising.
“Celebrity voice prompts are one of our most popular features,” said Julie Mossler, a Waze spokeswoman. “Arnold as the Terminator is a cultural icon with a presence and a voice so big that he barely fits in the car.”
And getting a voiceover job is sweet revenge for Schwarzenegger on all the doubters who told him early in his Hollywood career that he would never find work here due to his thick Austrian accent.
L.A. Sky
Executives from big spending British TV network Sky are in Los Angeles for the next few days looking to form partnerships with content creators in Silicon Beach.
Sky already has deals with every major Hollywood studio but is now looking to extend its relationships here to startups, indies and tech firms.
“In a changing marketplace we want to be ahead of the curve and so we’re looking to invest in the wide range of talent and content here, said Ian Lewis, Sky’s director of acquisition.
Short Takes
Hollywood magician Franz Harary has landed a residency at “the Las Vegas of China,” the Cotai Strip in Macau. Starting in September, he will perform in his own $40 million showroom, Franz Harary’s House of Magic, at the new Studio City Macau, a $3 billion hotel and casino resort complex. … Veteran Hollywood publicist Neil Koenigsberg, co-founder of public relations firm PMK, has started a new career – as a playwright. His first effort, “Off the King’s Road” – about a retired American businessman’s voyage of discovery to London – has just opened at West L.A.’s Odyssey Theater. … More than $1 million was raised, via ticket sales, auction items and donations, at the Los Angeles Zoo’s annual Beastly Ball on June 20. On hand to enjoy the fundraising party, and after hours animal viewings, were celebrity supporters of the zoo including Betty White and Lance Bass as well as Sarah Michelle Gellar and Pauley Perrette. … James Wan, director of megahit film “Furious 7,” has hired movie executive Michael Clear to head his L.A. production company, Atomic Monster, which is looking to step up its development slate after scoring a big hit with its debut release, horror film “Annabelle.”… Los Angeles Convention Center, managed by downtown L.A.’s Anschutz Entertainment Group, just signed a five-year deal with the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation to continue as the host venue for the largest Japanese anime and manga event in North America, Anime Expo, which next takes place July 2-5 and is expected to attract a record 100,000 visitors. … CBRE Group Inc., a global commercial real estate and investment giant headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, has launched an online magazine, Blueprint, that focuses on the world’s most fascinating buildings and neighborhoods.
Staff reporter Sandro Monetti can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext 226.
