The Rodeo Drive Committee (RDC) wants visitors to enjoy the ultimate VIP experience in Beverly Hills this summer. At its May 18 City Council Liaison Joint Special Meeting of the RDC/SpecialEvents/Holiday Program Committee, the RDC proposed a red-carpet photo experience with various social media installations along Rodeo Drive, enhanced audio along the street and new street pole banners for the 2022 BOLD Summer activation.
Mayor Lili Bosse and Councilmember Robert Wunderlich supported the funding request of $296,954 for the activation, which is scheduled to run from July 25 through Aug. 21.
At the meeting, liaisons also reviewed a proposal to co-host the CicLAvia open streets event in August with the cities of West Hollywood and Los Angeles, temporarily closing streets to vehicle traffic for a 7.5-mile route. The CicLAvia route would run along N. Santa Monica Boulevard, commencing east of the N. Santa Monica Boulevard/Beverly Drive intersection and continuing east into West Hollywood and Los Angeles. The result will be a 1-mile segment in Beverly Hills, 3 miles in West Hollywood, and approximately 3.5 miles in Los Angeles. However, the liaisons argued that the cost for the production should not be split evenly among the three cities, with Beverly Hills paying from $300,000 to $500,000 to participate.
“The cost should not be split evenly where you have Beverly Hills being 1-mile, West Hollywood being 3 miles and LA being 3 1/2 miles,” Mayor Bosse said. “So, I think that that particular clause has to be readjusted. There’s no common sense to that.”
Since Beverly Hills would have the western terminus of the route, the city would also be responsible for helping CicLAvia with programming for a pedestrian only “hub” located along the route with activities and places for people to rest or eat. Staff will continue to work on logistics and return to council liaisons with an update.
The RDC’s proposal, in collaboration with the Conference and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, received positive feedback regarding plans to make Rodeo Drive a pathway for guests exploring a number of immersive photo experiences. Each experience site features different backdrops to have your own personal paparazzi photos taken. Unique to the former Luxe Hotel on the 300 block of Rodeo Drive, this site will have a painted red-carpet installation ushering guests to the photo vignettes inside.
“This is a very big concept coming from the Beverly Wilshire, which is still getting visitors everyday asking for the ‘Pretty Woman’ hotel, and all sorts of memories and movies that are attached to the street,” President of the RDC Kathy Gohari said. “So, we thought what better way to invite our audience to be the stars of the street. We thought that to create an environment where everyone would feel like a movie star, everyone would be like a celebrity or to have a fashion or a classic red-carpet experience. That is truly what we would like to do. We would like everyone, human and pets alike, to be a VIP on Rodeo Drive. The concept is to have the ultimate red carpet, to use all three blocks strategically positioning different photo experiences on the 200, the 300 and the 400 block of Rodeo Drive.”
The proposed operating hours are 12 – 7 p.m. daily, with speakers installed in the center median to elevate the red-carpet experience.
“We have seen many people standing in the middle of Beverly Drive while traffic is zooming by to take pictures of these palm trees,” Gohari said. “So, here’s a safer version of something that they could do to be able to have a vintage black and white backdrop with the glitz and glamour of the red carpet and the logo behind to be able to take a picture.”
