The Kodak Theatre in the Hollywood & Highland mall, which helped kick off the Hollywood renaissance a decade ago, could be about to lose the two most notable things about it. Eastman Kodak is headed toward bankruptcy and could dissolve or restructure in such a way that it won't keep naming rights for the theater. Meanwhile, the Oscars are playing the field, seeing what other venue options are out there--it has a 20 year contract at the theater, but the option to leave after 10 (in 2013). The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood reported yesterday that AEG is courting the awards show to come to its Nokia Theatre at LA Live in South Park: "The downtown venue is offering a lease comparable to what the [Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences] currently pays CIM Group, owner of the 3,400-seat Kodak, but with a perks package that includes more seats, better infrastructure, greater promotional opportunities and more ancillary facilities for parties and press" (those promotional opportunities include scads of electronic billboard advertising, as well "flyers and emails to [AEG's] huge list of potential attendees").
As the LA Times points out, the Kodak was expressly designed (by frequent Oscars set designer David Rockwell) "to the academy's requirements ahead of the 2002 Oscar broadcast." The LA Business Journal reports that the Academy pays CIM "a couple of hundred thousand dollars, with a small annual increase" to use the theater for the awards, and speculates that it could be using the Kodak troubles to get a better deal or some sweet building upgrades. Image via Wikipedia
· Academy Begins Talks With AEG About Possibly Moving Oscars to Nokia Theatre (Exclusive) [THR]
· Hollywood Theater’s Next Stage May Be Rough [LABJ, sub. req.]
Loading comments...