Los Angeles Times Opens The Envelope

October 31, 2005 – Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles Times announces today that on November 1st, 2005 it will launch The Envelope (www.TheEnvelope.com), the entertainment industry’s most comprehensive, year-round awards show Website. Providing essential, up-to-the-minute insider coverage throughout the awards season and beyond, The Envelope will feature breaking news and analysis of all things awards: business, fashion, celebrities, predictions, trends and pre- and post-show coverage.

An insider’s resource, The Envelope is an original content, multimedia Website featuring exclusive in-depth reporting, photo galleries, videos, podcasts, lists, forums, polls, expert roundtables, archives and analysis of awards shows by some of the biggest names in entertainment journalism, including writers from the Los Angeles Times. The Website will also provide access to more than 80 years of unparalleled awards show coverage from the archives of the Los Angeles Times.

“The Envelope will be the destination for everything awards, from sharp commentary to the glamour of the red carpet,” says Joel Sappell, the Los Angeles Times executive editor/interactive. “The Envelope represents the most ambitious online initiative launched by the company since the Web version of the Los Angeles Times was introduced in 1996.”

In addition, The Envelope will be home to exclusive content from Hollywood awards expert Tom O’Neil, whose popular awards Website, www.GoldDerby.com, was recently acquired by the Los Angeles Times as the ideal complement to The Envelope’s news coverage. O’Neil is a respected entertainment journalist, on-air personality and author, whose books Movie Awards, The Emmys and The Grammys make him the ultimate awards show authority.

The Envelope will be all things awards: Fashion – who is wearing what and how they are wearing it; Celebrity – who are the biggest names and the brightest lights during the awards season; Industry – every aspect of the business of entertainment and awards shows; Dish – all the behind-the-scenes drama and intrigue of the awards races; Shows – the Web’s best start-to-finish coverage.

The Envelope will be the most extensive awards show resource -- online or offline – for all the major awards shows, including The Academy Awards, The Golden Globes, The Grammy Awards, The Screen Actors Guild Awards and The Independent Spirit Awards. Plus, The Envelope will provide extended coverage of leading indicator shows, including The Writers Guild Awards, The Producers Guild Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Awards and The Directors Guild Awards.

The Envelope will draw on The Los Angeles Times’ top critics, feature writers and entertainment business reporters, as well as a new cast of insider analysts and bloggers, for content exclusive to the Website. The Envelope’s executive producer is Scott Robson, a former founding editor and editor-in-chief at E! Online, and a contributing writer and editor for Variety and The New York Times.

Featured editorial contributors to The Envelope will include:

Elizabeth Snead, veteran fashion and entertainment writer (USA Today, Washington Post) whose columns on E! Online and the LA Daily News set the standard for awards show fashion commentary and party coverage.

Brandon Gray, Boxofficemojo.com founder, publisher and editor, whose commentary and analyses are closely followed by industry insiders.

Steve Pond, former Premiere magazine Academy Award tracker, and a long-time Academy Award chronicler, will blog on all things Oscar.

James Bates, Los Angeles Times’ entertainment business editor, will offer weekly insight and perspective on the critical business trends, issues and players as they relate to the major awards.

About The Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 37 Pulitzer Prizes, including two this year. The Times publishes five daily regional editions, for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange County, Ventura County, the San Fernando Valley, and the Inland Empire of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as a National edition. Additional information about The Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.

Contact:
Roy Bodner
323-662-2264
roybodner@aol.com