Editor-in-chief Spencer Beck introduces the September 2019 issue of Los Angeles Confidential.
Doing the red carpet thing with Mandy Moore at Los Angeles Confidential’s first Impact Awards.
Let awards season begin! Once upon a time in Hollywood, it was all about movies, movies, movies. Boy, has that changed. These days, it’s TV, baby, and all its streaming iterations. This September, as the countdown to the Emmys kicks off, our magazine celebrates three big-ticket not-so-small-screen headliners in a row: This Is Us’ Mandy Moore, Russian Doll’s Natasha Lyonne and our current cover star, Dead to Me’s Linda Cardellini. With so much good material—and so much talent—rolling out from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and FX (not to mention mainstream networks like NBC et al.), “oldfashioned” movie stars are getting a run for their money in the pages of magazines and in online outlets across the globe. Including ours. Bravo.
Not only do we photograph and interview our cover stars, we also toast each one at a luncheon, dinner or party during the shelf life of the issue. It’s part of the unique DNA of Los Angeles Confidential and the fun part of my job. In addition to our glam-bam marquee events, we’ve recently partnered in the burgeoning events space with content creators such as Amazon Prime, as well as launched our own awards ceremonies. For the former, yours truly, along with my co-hosts, stunt master Jean Frenette and Jack Ryan/John Krasinski stunt double Maxime Savaria, led a rip-roaring panel discussing the wacky world of movie stunts. It was an interactive evening for a sold-out house of 400-plus Industry insiders and fans, who got to drill the masters as well as perform their own stunts (under the guidance of our bemused experts, of course). In an increasingly saturated entertainment market, accessible, personal events such as these bring big added value to what we deliver editorially. (It also gets me out of the office to indulge my inner ham.)
In anticipation of the run-up to Emmy nominations this past summer, LA Confidential also launched its first FYC event, the appropriately named Impact Awards, to honor the brilliant, if unsung, behind-the-camera players in the TV and streaming industry who make so much of the magic we enjoy on screen. Hollywood’s A-list came out to toast their own “backstage” talent with personal accolades as well as present them with trophies. It was the first time in the history of the magazine that we had two of our cover stars, Moore and Lyonne, co-host one event. It was the perfect opportunity for this delightful celeb duo to share the spotlight to tout the cast and crew of their award-winning shows—as well as just hang out, chat each other up and enjoy a fun, intimate Tinseltown evening.
For over 20 years, I’ve worked at just about every magazine in town. My favorite? Los Angeles Confidential because here I can really indulge my personal obsession: Hollywood. Our company execs know that. At our recent annual Modern Luxury editorial summit, my boss and colleagues presented me with a Lifetime Achievement Award—my very own mini Oscar! For someone who has been watching and reporting from the other side of the show-biz stage all these years, it was a touching and adorable tribute. Whoever said it’s better to give than to receive?
Photography by: PHOTO BY DYLAN LUJANO
