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Downtown Goes Seriously Hollywood
  
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World Premier of ‘This Is It’ on Red Vinyl ‘Carpet,’ Grand Opening of Regal, Stars Abound, All in One Night
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – A red vinyl ‘carpet,’ a sequined glove and Mickey Rooney were three personal highlights of last night’s world premier of ‘Michael Jackson This Is It,’ L.A. Downtown News photographer Gary Leonard said. “They premiered it at the Nokia,” he continued. “They asked the press to be there at 3:00 p.m. The premier was at 6:00. There was a HUGE number of photographers. About 3:30 they gave everybody their press credentials and filed the majority of the photographers into an area designated for photographers next to the red carpet, which was really a red vinyl floor. It didn’t matter that it was vinyl. This is Hollywood. It looked like a red carpet.”
You can see many of the evening's pictures here.
Gary shows us the sequined glove. He’s giving it to his daughter, Xiu Ling, but he wanted to show it to us first.
“Somewhere around 4:15 celebrities started to file by. I would like to have been able to move around. For me the story was not about the celebrities but about this premier at L.A. Live, this key new Downtown institution. Don’t think it’s the same for other photographers. But still, the celebrities filed by, and I photographed them, maybe 100 yards of photographers. And it’s a lineup. They stop every few feet, and photographers take their picture, and they go another few feet.
“I only photographed the people I recognized, which weren’t all that many. I need to watch more TV. But who I did see proved to be an interesting collection of characters. There was Michael Jackson’s manager (Frank Dileo), smoking a big cigar, his lawyer, the one who got him off the molestation charges, the one with long white hair. I recognize them from the news. His brothers – three of his brothers came together, and Jermaine Jackson came by himself, so the photographers shot them separately. Mickey Rooney was a highlight for me. Shows you how old I am. Not sure it was a highlight for anyone else.
“I found it extremely funny that walking by was Mark Ridley Thomas and his wife. He was surprised that anyone recognized him, but I did, so he stopped after I’d shouted out “supervisor.’
“I couldn’t help myself photographing Paris Hilton. I almost feel guilty getting sucked into that. I’m amazed I know who she is. She’s famous for being famous. And honestly she’s fun to photograph. She’s a great poser.
“Sid and Marty Croft. You know they did the puppets in the Saturday morning TV shows back in the ‘70s, in the stone age. Barry Gordy. Jennifer Lopez. Others. I had a good time, I’m glad I got the glove. I walk in when I got home and Xiu Ling says, ‘What did you get me?’ Her name means graceful and intelligent, and she is, and more important than that she’s got a great sense of humor.
“I look forward to covering the next premier. I hope I can cover it. It’s ‘2012.’” The premier is next month.
“The people from the movie were there, the director/producer (Kenny Ortega), the dancers, the band, the choreographer (Travis Payne). They had acrobats hanging from chandeliers.
“The premier was at Nokia at 6:00, but the Regal Theatres had their grand opening at 9:00. They put ‘This Is It’ on all 14 screens. The people who got to go into it were mostly those who had waited in line and bought tickets a month ago.
“In the middle of all this were my friends Mark Loge and Hal Bastian and their popcorn. They had the best seats in the house. I don’t think they waited in line because I was there and they are in none of my photos. Mark Loge said the parking was too expensive (off site at $25) and the popcorn should have been better for the price. He also said the movie was great and that he’d go back to see it a second time.”
You can see many of the evening's pictures here.
Gary shows us the sequined glove. He’s giving it to his daughter, Xiu Ling, but he wanted to show it to us first.
“Somewhere around 4:15 celebrities started to file by. I would like to have been able to move around. For me the story was not about the celebrities but about this premier at L.A. Live, this key new Downtown institution. Don’t think it’s the same for other photographers. But still, the celebrities filed by, and I photographed them, maybe 100 yards of photographers. And it’s a lineup. They stop every few feet, and photographers take their picture, and they go another few feet.
“I only photographed the people I recognized, which weren’t all that many. I need to watch more TV. But who I did see proved to be an interesting collection of characters. There was Michael Jackson’s manager (Frank Dileo), smoking a big cigar, his lawyer, the one who got him off the molestation charges, the one with long white hair. I recognize them from the news. His brothers – three of his brothers came together, and Jermaine Jackson came by himself, so the photographers shot them separately. Mickey Rooney was a highlight for me. Shows you how old I am. Not sure it was a highlight for anyone else.
“I found it extremely funny that walking by was Mark Ridley Thomas and his wife. He was surprised that anyone recognized him, but I did, so he stopped after I’d shouted out “supervisor.’
“I couldn’t help myself photographing Paris Hilton. I almost feel guilty getting sucked into that. I’m amazed I know who she is. She’s famous for being famous. And honestly she’s fun to photograph. She’s a great poser.
“Sid and Marty Croft. You know they did the puppets in the Saturday morning TV shows back in the ‘70s, in the stone age. Barry Gordy. Jennifer Lopez. Others. I had a good time, I’m glad I got the glove. I walk in when I got home and Xiu Ling says, ‘What did you get me?’ Her name means graceful and intelligent, and she is, and more important than that she’s got a great sense of humor.
“I look forward to covering the next premier. I hope I can cover it. It’s ‘2012.’” The premier is next month.
“The people from the movie were there, the director/producer (Kenny Ortega), the dancers, the band, the choreographer (Travis Payne). They had acrobats hanging from chandeliers.
“The premier was at Nokia at 6:00, but the Regal Theatres had their grand opening at 9:00. They put ‘This Is It’ on all 14 screens. The people who got to go into it were mostly those who had waited in line and bought tickets a month ago.
“In the middle of all this were my friends Mark Loge and Hal Bastian and their popcorn. They had the best seats in the house. I don’t think they waited in line because I was there and they are in none of my photos. Mark Loge said the parking was too expensive (off site at $25) and the popcorn should have been better for the price. He also said the movie was great and that he’d go back to see it a second time.”
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