NEW FIRM TO GUARD OSCARS; PINKERTON OFF STAR BEAT.Byline: Dereck Andrade Staff Writer The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has replaced Westlake Village-based Pinkerton's Inc. as its security provider for the annual Academy Awards with InterCon Security ''' Wikipedia is not the place for advertisement or self-advertising. Intercon Security, Ltd. is a global security solution provider with headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Intercon Security provides services for a wide range of organizations and individuals. Systems Inc. of Pasadena. Pinkerton had held the Oscar contract since 1989, providing security for the show at both the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or and the Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. near the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission . Pinkerton officials did not return several phone calls on Thursday. But Academy officials confirmed that InterCon won the contract, although Pinkerton uniformed security officers will still be used at the Academy's Center for Motion Picture Study on La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north/south arterial road that runs from El Segundo Boulevard in El Segundo, California on the south to its end on the Sunset Strip/Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. in Beverly Hills. ``InterCon had written a very nice proposal, and we wanted to be sure that we were getting the best that we could get,'' said John Pavlik, the Academy's communications director in Beverly Hills. Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. R. Brown, Pinkerton's former president and chief executive officer, said he was surprised to hear that Pinkerton had lost the contract. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. why they lost it,'' said Brown, who retired from Pinkerton in October after 5 years as the firm's top executive. ``I am a little surprised because they had the Oscar contract for years.'' Security experts valued the contract loss to the publicly traded Pinkerton ``in the millions of dollars,'' in addition to the publicity lost from losing such a high-profile contract. The Academy contract is the second major business victory for InterCon, following a recently signed deal for the security contract at the Staples Center. That deal includes uniformed security for all special events at the $375 million complex, including February's Grammy Awards and the 2000 Democratic Convention. InterCon's Oscar contract calls for the company to supply uniformed security for the Academy Awards beginning March 26 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In addition, InterCon will provide security at the Academy's Foreign Language Film Award event and the Feb. 15 annual early-morning Oscar nomination announcements. Neil Martau, InterCon vice president, said the new contract will also cover the Academy Awards when they move to the Oscars' new home, a multimillion-dollar facility under construction on Hollywood Boulevard. It is expected to be completed by 2002 for the 74th annual Academy Awards show. ``For us, it means the trust and confidence from the Academy Awards has been placed in us for an event with the world's most famous celebrities,'' Martau said. ``It presents such a large security endeavor. This coupled with Staples secures our place in the (security) business.'' |
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