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.
That coverage is now more varied and layered, she told the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society on Dec. 4.
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| Aida Mayo, MAYO Communications attends the launch of the Envelope in Hollywood, CA. |
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 works bests...
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.
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| LA Times 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.
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 media 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.
'The Envelope' Contacts
Betsy Sharkeyeditor Betsy.sharkey@latimes.com Joseph Kapsch senior producerJoseph.Kapsch@latimes.com Elizabeth Snead contributing editor Elizabeth.snead@gmail.com |
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