How HBO Is Using Live Events to Showcase Multicultural Storytelling, Plus Creating High-End Experiences for Ultra V.I.P.s

1. FIRST LADY UNVEILS MUTED CHRISTMAS DECOR IN VIDEO PRESENTATION: After last year’s controversial White House Christmas decor display, First Lady Melania Trump appears to have played things safe this year. The 2019 theme is “The Spirit of America,” and most of the look is monochromatic. Trump unveiled the new decor yesterday in a video instead of an in-person appearance. The Washington Post: “White paper stars hang from the ceiling of the East Colonnade, a passageway that has been transformed by arches lined with clear plastic panels printed with white line drawings of more than 60 examples of American architecture and innovation…They are the least controversial decorations to adorn the colonnade in the first lady’s tenure as Christmas-decorator-in-chief. Gone from the colonnade were last year’s (“creepy” or chic, depending on who you asked) blood red trees made of branches of cranberries."

2. COULD TIFFANY HADDISH BE THE 2020 OSCARS HOST?: Tiffany Haddish addressed rumors that she could be the next Oscars host when she appeared on a Sunday night edition of The Tonight Show. On the evening talk show, Jimmy Fallon revealed that Haddish fans have created a petition for her to host the award ceremony. In a reader poll recently conducted on The Hollywood Reporter's website, the comedian earned the most votes among a number of rumored possible hosts—including Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, and former Oscars hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen DeGeneres—to emcee the 2020 Academy Awards after the broadcast went without a host this year. The Hollywood Reporter: “She said she would do it under two conditions. ‘I would if they paid me, and I could do it with somebody,’ she said… Haddish said that if she hosted the Oscars, she would ‘have it hot.' The comedian explained, ‘We would have twerk contests and everything. Yeah, I would get Meryl Streep up there to twerk with Susan Sarandon. You know, it would be crazy.’”

3. 'MARRIAGE STORY' AND NETFLIX WERE BIG WINNERS AT GOTHAM AWARDS: Award season kicked off Monday in Manhattan with the Gotham Awards, an annual celebration of movies hosted by the Independent Filmmakers Project. Marriage Story, the film about a painful divorce, beat out several other pictures to win best feature and other awards. Actors Laura Dern and Sam Rockwell, director Ava DuVernay, and FilmNation founder-C.E.O. Glen Basner all received individual tributes during the gala. But the night belonged to Netflix. Variety: “The streaming Goliath managed to wrestle away six trophies on a night that is largely devoted to independent story tellers. Marriage Story won four of those prizes. In addition to best feature, the movie also won best actor for Adam Driver, best screenplay for Noah Baumbach, and the audience award, decided by IFP members. Indeed, Netflix seemed to dominate the evening in more ways than one. Executives had bought up three of the V.I.P. tables closest to the stage, relegating indie distributors from other companies to the back of the Cipriani Wall Street ballroom.”

INDUSTRY NEWS: Tarsus Connect announced on Monday its purchase of BizBash. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition of BizBash adds four premier events—including the BizBash Live in New York and L.A. shows for event pros—to the current Connect portfolio of more than 30 national, regional, and vertically focused events around the United States. Connect will now also publish BizBash’s magazines and oversee all of its digital properties. In cities where Connect and BizBash events overlap, they will combine efforts, including some pop-up events in markets new to BizBash.

HOUSTON: Benchmark is set to operate a major new resort property: the first Margaritaville Resort in Texas. Scheduled to open the summer of 2020, the Margaritaville Lake Resort, Lake Conroe-Houston, an all-suite resort, will feature 335 guest suites. Bars and restaurants will feature signature Margaritaville dining concepts—the LandShark Bar & Grill with boat slips on Lake Conroe, the 5 o’Clock Somewhere Swim Up Pool Bar, the Lone Palm Pool Bar & Restaurant, the License to Chill Bar & Grill, Joe Merchant Grab n’ Go, and a Margaritaville retail shop.

LOS ANGELES: Geffen Events has a new brand identity: The event firm will now be called Ink Events and Design.

NEW YORK: The Outsider Art Fair has unveiled its list of exhibitors for next year’s edition, taking place January 16-19. New features will include a redesigned floor plan, revamped café, three curated projects, special programs, and first-time exhibitors from Japan, India, and various U.S. cities. Participants for the 28th edition of the fair include 61 exhibitors, representing 34 cities from nine countries. Seven first-time galleries will be in the show.

WASHINGTON: The eighth annual Embassy Showcase will be held December 5 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Over 50 embassies are participating.