Event Producer
Business//Event Producer
words by > Sally Howard
Party Politics
*From White House inaugurals to the Miami Winter Music Conference, Bruce Orosz knows what it takes to throw a good bash.
There aren’t many men who can boast that they’ve nestled up close to J-Lo, but Miami mover and shaker Bruce Orosz is one among their privileged number—at least on paper. Orosz and J-Lo both featured in Florida Magazine’s esteemed 2006 rundown of statewide power players.
Not that you’d ever find Orosz throwing a diva-style tantrum over the number of white lilies decorating his office. His is a more humble attitude, even if his ascent up the silken slopes of business success has been far from modest.
Orosz, 55, started out in business in New York in 1981, taking advantage of the famously vibrant ’scraper-clad backdrop of his home city to pitch and project-manage photo shoots and videos for a roster of clients worldwide. Within a couple of years, everyone was lining up to buy a slice of the Big Apple visual magic served by Orosz’s ACT Productions company, from British Vogue to French ELLE, plus a raft of leading international catalog companies. In 1982, Orosz expanded his business to Miami, discovering a good-looking but underexposed town ripe for his NYC knowledge and experience.
“Suddenly, it was just crazy,” smiles Orosz through his expertly groomed beard. “At any given moment, I’d have fift een shoots occurring across Miami simultaneously.” Th e world, it seems, couldn’t get enough of Miami’s sun-drenched, palm-fringed perfection. And, in Orosz’s capable hands, Miami soon became a fashion center—an idyllic, city-sized photo studio.
Th e creation of an ACT events arm was a natural extension of Orosz’s imaging business, as clients started to request photo shoots of promotional events. Orosz already had a background in organizing music events in NYC, which he drew on to create a package for his clients. “Th ey could pick and choose from our events—if they wanted something, we could ratchet it up for them. So we moved from music events to big political events, oft en with a music focus.” Indeed, Orosz’s proudest achievements are his political firsts, such as his event management of American rock ’n’ roll stars’ first performance in Russia (featuring Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel), or Th e Kirov Ballet’s inaugural visit to the US. Both required extensive negotiations with national government bodies.
Orosz claims he thrives on “taking the ordinary and turning it into something truly unusual,” and his events are renowned for their dramatic eff ect. One of ACT’s recent productions for a real estate developer was typical: “Th e New World Symphony opened the event,” explains Orosz. “We served champagne and canapés; it was very elegant, with fireworks in the background. Th en, as the symphony played their final note, a huge curtain suddenly dropped, revealing a hidden area that had looked like a construction site.
We’d created an impromptu disco aft er-party without missing a beat.
“I just love the theater of surprise,” Orosz continues. “It works best if there’s no skip, and people become engaged in a new atmosphere.” Sometimes the setting itself provides the theater. “One of my most challenging events was a show for a fashion designer in New York’s Grand Central terminal during rush hour. It was crazy, frenetic, but that’s what we were aft er, the energy of the setting.”
Although Orosz now lives in Miami full time with his wife and 15-year-old son, he oft en touches base with New York. “It’s critical in this industry to keep up with what’s happening there. New York to me always seems to be on the edge.” But his heart lives in Miami: “Even though Miami has changed so much in the past 20 years, it’s still small in good ways. You can still get to people, even though it’s so international, with up to ten nationalities on every street corner.”
Orosz’s client list is impressively broad—from world electronic music festival the Miami Winter Music Conference, to the Bahamas Tourist Board, Ford Supermodels catwalk shows, “Sex and the City” season premiers and major events at the White House (including Clinton’s inaugurals in ’93 and ’97). So how does he manage to pull off such diff ering events with his trademark panache?
“At the start of every new event, I’ll pull together a team of people who are in the know about the target demographic. I’ll ask, ‘Who are the sponsors?’ ‘What do they want?’ If it’s a corporate event, I’ll ask what the brand means, and what they’re seeking to communicate. Political events are doubly challenging, as you’ll have to factor in the secret service at the event, the metal detectors, and a much lower budget, too!”
The event Orosz is most excited about at the moment is a unique project dreamed up by ACT—Miami Beach Polo Cup, an annual sand polo event staged on South Beach’s warm beige sands. The three-day tournament, every April, features nine matches, with teams sponsored by major fashion brands. The “stomping of the divots” ritual of standard polo play is replaced by a more Miamian “stomping of the sands”—by a stream of models sporting looks from local designer stores. Symptomatic of his no-holds-barred ambition, Orosz is set on taking the event to New York.
But Orosz has bigger aspirations yet. Th e ultimate challenge he’d love to take on is nothing less than the world’s most watched event. “Th e Superbowl—it truly is the event management Holy Grail.” And what would Orosz’s Superbowl look like? “Well, you just ask me next year, and I’ll tell you exactly…”
Bruce Orosz’s tips for the top
1. Surround yourself with self-starting and forward-thinking people.
2. Stay current with an emphasis on imagination.
3. Create interesting storytelling and branding tools.
4. Use inventive marketing opportunities.
5. Be creative and resourceful to get the job.