Variety On the Town

Echo Chamber

Drink tickets.

It was that kind of Tuesday night at the Echo, which hosted a book party celebrating the publication of Neal Pollack's fatherhood memoir, "Alternadad."

Pollack's got Hollywood cred - his Anonymous Content manager, Shawn Simon, helped him develop "Alternadad" and sold the movie rights to Warner Bros. and Billy Gerber - the same team that picked up feature rights to his last book, "Never Mind the Pollacks: A Rock and Roll Novel."

However, the Echo isn't the kind of place that John Lesher or Billy Gerber go to; they may not even know where it is. Located on an easternmost stretch of Sunset Boulevard, past even the gentrified environs of Silverlake, it's a club known for hosting acts like one-time Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Pitchfork favorite the Ponys and worthy local bands like I See Hawks in L.A. They also host the city's most eccentric wine tasting.

However, this was not a night for nice wine. It was a night for drink tickets, which Simon happily handed to a luminary-free crowd (unless you count Defamer editor Mark Lisanti. Nice to put a face with a name.). You could buy something to eat from the Echo kitchen or you could step behind the counter and help yourself to some free gelato, courtesy Pazzo Gelato.

And that was fine. The DJ played sets that would put Brent Bolthouse and all the rest to shame: the Hollies' "Long Cool Woman" (as sung in Mandarin), Velvet Underground's "Temptation Inside Your Heart." Pollack read, to good effect. And he signed his funny book. (D. Harris)

Big Toast to Little Children

Among those sipping Chianti and nibbling on arancini and mini pizza margaritas in the subterranean dining room of Madeo’s last Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, in honor of New Line’s “Little Children,” were the film’s producers and hosts Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, director Todd Field, novelist Tom Perrotta, New Line bigwigs Toby Emmerich, Rolf Mittweg, Russell Schwartz and David Tuckerman, and CAA agent Hylda Queally.

The general mood was one of either resigned reacclimation to the vagaries of awards season after brief holiday sojourns, or the sighs of fatigue from overworked handlers who won’t be able to come up for air until after the Oscars. But certainly congratulations were in order, not only for the film’s three Golden Globe noms but for the recent Producers Guild nom for Berger and Yerxa — only it was for their other “Little” film, “Little Miss Sunshine.”

Clearly the producers take the most pride in Field’s suburban drama, and still hold out for additional recognition before all is said and done.

A relaxed-looking Field had flown in from Maine for an event that conveniently coincided with a Saturday night gala at the Palm Springs Film Fest, where he, Winslet and Cate Blanchett are being honored.

The Madeo soiree also served as a sort of prelude to an SRO event at Book Soup at which Field and Perotta signed copies of Perotta’s novel and their just published joint effort “Little Children: The Shooting Script.” (S. Chagollan)