Wichita natives Ethan McCord & Tammy Duntz-Radcliff on the red carpet
On a mission to bring more celebrity talent, film,
entertainment projects and national brand sponsorships to events held in
Kansas, I made it a point to do as much networking as possible during Oscar
week in Los Angeles, CA. My company plans on connecting the dots from Hollywood
to Kansas over the next couple of years due to its centralized location between
New York and Los Angeles where most of the celebrities live and create their
projects.
Wichita had a special connection to the Oscars this
year - Wichitan Ethan McCord is the subject of “Incident in New Baghdad,” which
was nominated for best short documentary film.
His film did not win, but he is a national hero in many ways. Running into Kansas native Tammy Duntz –
Ratliff and her fiancée Ethan McCord was the highlight of all of our festivities. The moment we connected when they made it to
town, I wanted to connect them with brands and see how I could make their Los
Angeles experience a good one. The first
night we went to an event where the champagne was flowing and I connected them
with jewelry designer, Nicolina Royale.
Nicolina Royale was a contestant on Lifetime’s debut season of Project
Accessory is a jewelry designer with Rock n Roll flare. Her designs are
favorites of the Hollywood Elite and can be seen on some of today’s hottest
celebrities from Lebron James to Miley Cyrus, in
some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster films, The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn to Rock of Ages and on today’s hottest shows X
Factor, American Idol, True Blood, and Pretty Little Liars, and
now Ethan McCord and Tammy Duntz – Ratcliff to name a select few.
Being invited to and
attending events and gifting suites are a great way to find out about new
products interested in product placement as well as running into some of your
favorite celebrities. Getting free stuff
isn’t all that bad either. During Oscar
week, we attended events for Global Green, QVC, Marina B, Hollywood Reporter,
and several gifting suites introducing luxury products and services to Oscar
nominees and celebrities. We ran
into various celebrities, but I remember having direct contact with the
following: CSI’s Eric Szmanda as well as
Nicole Richie, Chris Noth, Rex Lee and Kim Kardashian at the QVC party in the courtyard at The Four
Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Nicole was hosting the party for the evening.
Our gifting suites of
choice were: Stylab’s
Jewelry Preview for the Academy Awards.
Stylist Michael O'Connor showed off a dazzling array of
one-of-a-kind jewels valued in the millions, just in time to help make their
last-minute decision as to what to wear for Sunday's big bash. Top brands
included, Joseph Weinreich, Michelle Buxani, Edward Mirell and V. Saravanan. We
always love stopping by the Style Lounge
which we also visited during Sundance Film Festival this year in Park City,
Utah. There are gifts for everyone even
if you are not a celebrity. The key is
to receive an invitation to attend the suites.
This year the Style Lounge
supported the Creative Coalition’s anti-bullying initiative. Upon
visiting the Style Hollywood Suite which
benefited Safety Harbor Kids we received modular magnetic jewelry, a clutch and
spray on foundation. Actress Wendi
McLendon – Covey loved the clutches and received one as well.
Later this year, we are
launching, OTGC – On The Green Carpet® therefore we were really focused on the ECO gifting
suites. Our favorite “Green Suites” as
you would say were: Eco
Oscars Music, Celebrity & Pet Lounge which
took place at the Hancock Park Estate where “The Artist” was filmed. There
were beauty treatments paired with cocktails and guests were invited to bring
their pets. Uggie, from “The Artist” was
onsite and owners were able to get their pets picture taken with the celebrity
dog himself. The Secret Room benefited the Humane
Society and gifted jewelry from vintage watch parts, designer tweezers and Swarovski
crystal jewelry.
In terms of the awards
ceremony, it was one of the best. If you didn’t watch the awards, visit: http://oscar.go.com/nominees
for highlights of the show. Our favorite fashion divas of the evening
included: Our Wichita princess for the evening, Tammy Duntz–Ratliff, her
prince Ethan McCord (he is a winner in our eyes), Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez,
Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie and Octavia Spencer. We have
talked to several of the designers who dressed these fashion icons and will be
aligning with them for various projects we have lined up throughout the
year. Wichita had a presence at the Oscars and in Hollywood and it
is my hope and dream to bring a bit of the glitz and glamour to our city and
state. Kansas is a great place from a historical perspective and the
people who reside in our state are some of the best people to get to
know. If you are interested in joining forces with my company to bridge
the gap between Hollywood and Kansas please send an email to:hollywoodonlocation@indievixens.com.
About Jewell Sparks and Her
Connection to Kansas
Having part-time residences in Los
Angeles, San Francisco and New York, Jewell was born in Wichita and is a
graduate of Wichita Collegiate Preparatory. She is the CEO / Founder of
Jewell and Company ® / INDIE VIXENS which "bridges the gap" between
creativity and business by aligning products and services with film, music and
fashion. The management team is made up of philanthropists, socialites,
entrepreneurs, brand managers, marketing and pr professionals interested in
cultivating the arts. INDIE VIXENS® is a subsidiary of Jewell and Company®
which is a multi - linear strategic consulting firm focused on business
development, brand alliance, marketing / pr and social network strategy
services for non-profits, start-ups and large corporations starting new
divisions. We help brands, corporate entities and go-to publicists incorporate
the new "Who's Who" into their traditional invite lists, networks and
consumer base enabling them to expand their scale and scope and increase ROI.
For more information send an email to: info@indievixens.com.
