Chamber Media
Center Serves Dozens of Press Reps
The Hollywood
Chamber of Commerce, for the fifth year in a
row, hosted a media center this week to serve
press in town for the Academy Awards. The center
provided them with a place to rest, catch a bite
to eat, and to interview local businesses that
have a connection to the awards ceremony. Ana
Holler, the Chamber’s Vice President of Media
Relations, coordinated the Chamber effort. She
noted that the media information center allows
the Chamber to take advantage of the opportunity
provided by the Academy Awards to pitch
Hollywood stories to the press. Besides
numerous reporters from the U.S., crews and
reporters from countries such as England,
Ireland, Russia, Spain, and Canada visited the
center. Holler expressed appreciation to the
many businesses who made contributions to the
center, including Pink’s Hotdogs, the Hollywood
Roosevelt Hotel, Music Box @ Fonda, California
Pizza Kitchen, Rolbeca Bakeshop, Lexus of
Glendale, Joseph’s Café,
and Hansen’s Beverages and Frito Lay.
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Board Elects Chamber
Officers for 2007-2008
 The
board of directors this week elected leaders to
run the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in its new
fiscal year. Jeff Briggs of Briggs Law Office
was elected to a second term as Chairman of the
Board, the first time that a chair has served a
second year since 1993. Senior Vice Chair will
be Charles Armstrong of Paramount Pictures.
Vice Chairs will include Elizabeth Peterson of
EPG, Inc.; Robert Swift of Iron Mountain Film &
Sound Archives, and Steve Tronson of
Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate.
Continuing as Treasurer will be Mark Panatier of
A.F. Gilmore Co., while Maureen Schultz of
Capitol Records will serve a second year as
Secretary.
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Economic Development
Committee Reviews Projects
The Chamber’s
Economic Development Committee reviewed two
proposed developments this week, including a
boutique hotel and a mixed-use project. The
Glass House is a 50-room boutique hotel planned
at the southwest corner of Seward and Sunset
Blvd. It will wrap around a historic building
on the corner and would include a restaurant,
rooftop pool and a spa. Developers hope to be
through the entitlement process by this fall and
to break ground shortly thereafter. Newport
Capital is proposing an 11-story, 87-unit
residential development at the northeast corner
of Argyle and Yucca, replacing a five-story
office building. The apartment units would
range from 1,000 to 1,300-sq.ft. Developers
plan to submit the project for approvals to the
City in about a month. Jeff Kreshek of CIM
Group also announced that the British firm,
Tesco, had agreed to locate their U.S. flagship
neighborhood grocery store on the ground floor
of the former Galaxy complex. Construction on
the 14,000-sq.ft. store will begin immediately.
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Chamber Foundation
Awards $7,500 in Grants
The board of the
Hollywood Chamber Community Foundation met this
week and approved grants to three local
charities. They agreed to fund a $2,500
scholarship program for the Musician’s
Foundation for a four-year period. The
Foundation is associated with the Musician’s
Institute, a school for aspiring musicians
located in the heart of Hollywood. They also
agreed to support the Hollywood Arts Council
with a $2,500 grant for the SOAR program, that
will furnish arts supplies to local schools.
They also awarded a $2,500 grant to the Oasis, a
local agency that provides programs supporting
at risk teenagers residing in the Hollywood
area.
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Camden Development
Updates Board on Whole Foods Market
Rick Holcomb of
Camden Development updated the Chamber Board of
Directors this week on their proposed project at
the southeast corner of Vine Street and Selma
Avenue. The project will include a
67,000-sq.ft. Whole Foods Market, 306 apartment
units and provide 800 parking spaces. He
reported the project is on schedule. A hearing
is set before the City Planning Commission on
March 8th, with City Council action
expected in April. A groundbreaking is planned
for mid-2008, with occupancy planned by 2010.
The 11-story project is designed to complement
the adjacent Hollywood & Vine project, now under
construction. Located on the site of the first
Hollywood studio, the development will pay
homage to the film industry with sunken relief
sculptures.
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A-LISTers Have a
Magical Mixer
Some 60 Chamber members and guests were in
attendance at the Chamber's A-LIST MIXER held on
February 20th at the world famous, and treasured
Hollywood landmark, Magic Castle. The A-LIST is
a networking opportunity held quarterly for
young executives and future leaders of the
community. Attendee Benedikt Brydern, 2006/2007
President of the Rotary Club of Hollywood,
stated, "The A-list mixer at the Magic Castle
surpassed my expectations! Having been to many
large networking events where you hurry from one
guest to the next (and by the next day you
hardly remember anyone)the A-LIST Mixer allowed
me to get into more detailed one-on-one
conversations due with its smaller more select
guest list. The location was fabulous, the
appetizers excellent and the magicians simply
stunning and entertaining. An enthusiastic and
young selection of professionals I'd like to
meet and see again at the next Chamber event."
For more information regarding how you can get
on "The A-LIST," please contact bj@hollywoodchamber.net,
or go to
www.hollywoodchamber.net.
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 Call for
Nominations for Women of Distinction Awards
The Hollywood
Chamber of Commerce is now accepting
nominations for the 14th annual Women of
Distinction Awards luncheon, which will be held
on Tuesday, May 15, at the Globe Theatre at
Universal Studios. Each year, the Chamber
honors women from the community who have shown
outstanding dedication to Hollywood.
Nominations for this year’s awards will be
accepted through February 28th. Applications
are available for downloading on the Chamber’s
website at
www.hollywoodchamber.net, or at the Chamber
office, 7018 Hollywood Blvd. Past nominations
may be reconsidered, but an application must
still be re-submitted. Co-chairs Maureen
Schultz of Capitol Records and Laurie Goldman of
GO! Goldman Organization note that they are
seeking active members who would like to serve
on the Planning Committee and help raise
awareness, funding and prizes. It is a great
way to get involved with the community and with
the honorees! If you are interested in serving
on the committee or sponsoring or promoting your
business with a prize donation for this
important event, please contact Elizabeth at the
Chamber (323)785-1760 or via email at
info@hollywoodchamber.net.
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