Step-and-repeat: Siegal and Saffir duke it out on the red carpet (WSJ)

By Nancy Vialatte

Today�s Wall Street Journal takes a look at a battle between the Cinema Society�s Andrew Saffir and veteran publicist Peggy Siegal.

Saffir's company hosts exclusive film screenings and parties for the elite in New York's celebrity, fashion and media circles and he�s now added a new twist to these gatherings: the luxury brand sponsor who pays for the event.

In the past two-and-a-half years, Saffir has quickly established himself in territory that New York-based film publicist Siegal has dominated for the past two decades.

And Siegal is none too happy.

As their rivalry intensifies, Ms. Siegal takes frequent swipes at Mr. Saffir. She says it's distasteful that he includes his own company's logo on the backdrops for his step-and-repeats. "The Cinema Society is good at promoting the Cinema Society," Ms. Siegal says. Moreover, staging such photo opportunities at the screenings amounts to "the bastardization of the red carpet," she says.

But Saffir makes no apologies. "This is a business," he says. "I'm trying to create a brand." His company put on 15 screenings in 2006 and 23 so far this year. He says he doesn't want to do many more than that because he doesn't want them to be "run of the mill." Siegal plans around 100 events each year, ranging from 100 to 600 attendees, with the occasional party for 1,000, notes the Journal.

With costs spiraling, studios are increasingly counting on the small-scale "special screenings" or "tastemakers screenings" that Siegal and Saffir produce to market films.

With small guest lists, free of the hoi polloi, the events end up attracting the A-list. Late fall is the busy season for such screenings because producers are hungry for buzz that translates into Oscar nominations -- now all the more, since a writers' strike has stopped production of many late-night talk shows, a crucial vehicle for promotion.

As studios tighten marketing budgets, Mr. Saffir's approach of getting sponsors to foot the bill is becoming more attractive. "All we have to do is show up," says Meryl Katz, vice president, awards and special events, at Miramax, a unit of Walt Disney Co. She has worked with Mr. Saffir on four screenings.

Last week, the Cinema Society hosted a screening for "Atonement" at New York's IFC Film Center, followed by a party at Balthazar. Chanel paid for the event, which was attended by Keira Knightley and Michael Stipe.

The following night, Saffir's company held a screening for "Revolver" that was underwritten by Piaget. Afterward, director Guy Ritchie and wife Madonna held court at the Gramercy Park Hotel's private roof club.

A Cinema Society event costs the sponsors $35,000 to $70,000, including Mr. Saffir's fee, which ranges from $10,000 to $20,000. Many luxury brands are happy to absorb the cost of hosting an event because it helps associate them with glamour in the minds of their consumers. While it's become common for brands to underwrite film festivals, charity events and other celebrity bashes, Mr. Saffir has made a specialty of using sponsors for tastemaker film screenings. "Andrew found a way to marry film, luxury and exposure to brand," says luxury marketing consultant Robert Burke.

For Siegal, part of her appeal is her connections to members of the Academy. But the Academy prohibits studios from courting members who vote so Siegal says any member attending her events is invited despite their membership, not because of it: "You have to be careful," she says.

In November, Siegal held a "filmmakers lunch" for Miramax to celebrate "No Country for Old Men." Amid a crowd of 100, blue-jean clad Ethan Coen sat at a table with CBS News's Jeff Greenfield, Emmy-winning writer Lawrence O'Donnell and Miramax president Daniel Battsek. The room was dotted with Academy members such as actor Joel Grey. "I fill the room with young, pretty, smart people and old Academy members," Siegal told the Journal.

Saffir, meanwhile, says he likes to include filmmakers, "so if a member of the Academy ends up in that mix, so be it. But I don't make any concerted effort to include Academy members. The goal is to create a buzz-worthy and press-worthy night."

Siegal says studios are increasingly insisting she come up with sponsors to pay for their events -- and to cover her fee. "I'm resentful," she says. Still, she is trying to give the studios what they want.