What if the celebrities on the red carpet were asked questions such as “What is your purpose?” instead of “Who are you wearing?” PwC wants to find out. A partner in tallying the Oscar ballots and delivering the results on the big night, PwC aims to rethink the role of the red carpet.
“Movies can help drive a focused interest in complex issues that many would ordinarily shy away from. They celebrate great heroes who could otherwise go unnoticed. They bring to life critical moments in history, and they tackle important societal issues -- from education and poverty to women’s empowerment. Yet, sometimes, within the sea of beautiful gowns and tuxedos on the red carpet, the purpose behind the films may get lost,” PwC explained in a statement.
PwC is hosting a pre-Oscars party before the main event, where PwC Chief Purpose Officer Shannon Schuyler will interview social entrepreneurs, educators, fashion designers and professional sports players about their sense of purpose: What drives them to get up every day? Who inspires them to make a difference in someone's life? How are they working to change the world for the better?
Confirmed guests include: Avery Willamson, linebacker for the Tennessee Titans; Andrew Yang, Founder, Venture for America; Carrie Hammer, Fashion Designer; Genein Letford, 2015 Hart Vision Teacher of the Year winner and Donorschoose.org board member; and Richard Lui, MSNBC Anchor and HeforShe advocate. The guests know that they will be interviewed, but the conversations will not be scripted; they will cover a wide range of topics including gender equality, women’s advancement, changing the dialogue of the news, education, entrepreneurship, and more.
The event will be livestreamed on The Huffington Post from 4:00-4:30pm PT on February 28, from the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California. PwC has also said it will continue the conversation on purpose “throughout the year with diverse stakeholders across organizations and communities.”
Other parties are also highlighting sustainable products amidst the glitz and glam of the Oscars award ceremony happening this Sunday.
One such event happened earlier this week: On Wednesday, more than 500 guests, including celebrities, eco-luminaries, environmental companies and political leaders gathered to celebrate sustainable solutions and hear the latest green messages from some of Hollywood's biggest stars at Global Green’s 13th annual Pre-Oscar Party.
The Global Green event featured an all-organic menu, was planned to be zero-waste, and saw celebrities arrive in ‘eco-friendly’ vehicles. Aquafil and Milliken partnered to create and debut a custom-designed green carpet that greeted the celebrity guests at the event; Milliken manufactured the PVC-free carpet using Aquafil’s sustainable ECONYL nylon yarn. It was made completely from various nylon waste materials such as abandoned fishing nets.
“This green carpet helps us showcase a growing trend at the intersection of world-leading quality and sustainable design – a critical component to the greater environmental movement,” said Jim McCallum, the president of Milliken’s global flooring division. “Our partnership with Aquafil enables us to create products that are at once beautiful, functional and sustainable, and the Pre-Oscar Party with Global Green is the perfect venue to showcase this trifecta.”
Celebrity guests included Seal, Yoko Ono, Paula Abdul, Ed O'Neil, Jason Ritter, Emily Ratajkowski, Heather McDonald, Josh Radnor, Justin Baldoni, Maggie Grace, Melanie Lynskey, Amy Berg, Radha Mitchell, and Walt Goggins.
Meanwhile, after the main event, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck will be hosting his 22nd Governors Ball, a star-studded Award Show After-Party, where he will also be celebrating the launch of his newest innovation in coffee packaging.
Wolfgang Puck’s line of coffee includes blends such as Rodeo Drive, Go Bold, Jamaican Me Crazy, and Breakfast in Bed. The unveiling will include an array of sizes such as single cup capsules, ground coffee, and soft pods. Recyclable EcoCups and compostable packaging are among the existing environmentally-preferable packaging options for the products.
Several companies have already begun packaging single-serve coffee in a more environmentally-friendly way than the initial plastic cups: Last year, Club Coffee introduced the first fully compostable coffee pod on the market, and White Coffee Coporation introduced biodegradable, compostable BioCups for its organic coffees. Keurig Green Mountain has a goal to make its K-Cups recyclable by 2020.
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Published Feb 26, 2016 3pm EST / 12pm PST / 8pm GMT / 9pm CET