By
George McQuade West Coast Correspondent TheEnvelope.com,
which is billed as the "ultimate awards site," has enabled the Los
Angeles Times to significantly broaden its coverage of the entertainment business
during the past year, according to editor Betsy Sharkey.
Betsy
Sharkey |
That coverage is now more varied and
layered, she told the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society on Dec. 4.
The Envelope's purpose, according to promotional materials, is to raise
awareness of award contenders, drive box office numbers, boost DVD sales, influence
voting considerations of Academy and guild members and target consumers.
The
Envelope receives three million visitors during the high season between
November and February. It features interactive photo galleries, video clips of
red carpet coverage, celebrity podcasts, blogs and a "Buzzmeter."
Emails
work best
The
EPPS panelists prefer emails. "Don't call me, email works best, because I
work out of my home literally blogging all day," said Elizabeth Snead, contributing
editor of The Envelope.
Elizabeth
Snead |
The former fashion editor and entertainment
writer for USA Today prefers "10 days advance notice of story pitches,"
since she covers three events a night. "I might not get back to you right
away, but I do read my emails," she said.
At The Envelope, Snead
writes a daily "Styles and Scenes" blog about awards, parties, stars,
styles, secrets and sins. She also writes for the Times' Sunday Calendar section's
new "Party Page."
The LAT re-launched The Envelope to make
it "more accessible to our users and the industry," said its senior
producer Joseph Kapsch.
Kapsch |
The
site is broken down into sections on awards and includes photos, features and
anything to do with the awards show in the subsections.
"There
is Academy news and breaking news on the site. We've created these multimedia
models on each page for photos. We also host podcasts of nominees or anyone associated
with the awards show," said Kapsch.
Kapsch was the former managing
editor of AccessHollywood.com, as well as a producer of TV sites at ABC, NBC,
Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment and Viacom.
A tip: don't pitch a
hodge-podge of clients to The Envelope. "We're looking for a window into
the lifestyle of a person so exclusives are given much more consideration,"
said Snead. |