Luxury travel concept: Star in your own movie experience

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Exciting and engaging the most seasoned of travellers can be near impossible, especially among those for whom money is no obstacle. With bespoke travel experiences to surprising locations, however, luxury travel companies are curating opportunities for even the most jaded adventurer, and immersive experiences appear to be the way of the future. In this series, Canadian Family Offices explores exclusive, uniquely crafted travel experiences.

Whether you planned to be a successful actor but never completed the required scene-study workshops, or you felt you were destined to be a star but your parents sent you to Ivy League business school instead, or you and your loved ones are simply crazy about Hollywood movies, a bespoke, luxury travel company is offering you your big break.

Black Tie Travel is offering guests the opportunity to live in a film of their choice for a couple’s, family or group holiday.

Conceived by Black Tie’s founder and CEO, Andrew Newman, along with his creative team, the custom curated project – called Live the Movie – involves fully immersive movie experiences for parties of up to 200 people. Guests are asked to dress in accordance with the genre of the film in order to attend the event, and 30 professional actors are hired to re-enact full-length feature films such as Moulin Rouge, and The Great Gatsby.

Clients can also choose their own film for a uniquely crafted holiday or special occasion.

“These are not shows, these are fully participatory roles that the guests play,” said Newman. “You have a mission; you are choosing your own adventure and so are all your friends. It’s fully interactive. You can participate two nights running and have an entirely different result and experience.”

This concept was inspired by conversations overheard on the streets of London, England, Newman says.

“Our Live the Movie was developed because we wanted to create experiences where we put the client at the heart of the narrative,” he says.

“Our creative director walked through Central London one day after a long meeting, frustrated with the limitations and boundaries in the creative process. He looked around and saw vignettes being played out between strangers, and they were so animated. He thought it was roaming street performance, but there were no cameras and no stagehands. This moment, and many similar moments, ignited the idea for our first immersive show, using the city of London as the set, and its people as the characters entirely responsible for the plot.”

Unique city landmarks bring authenticity to each travel experience

says the company aims to use bars, hotels, iconic landmarks, and other unique aspects of the city to bring authenticity to each movie “set.” While the company’s initial experiences will incorporate Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, they are aiming to offer the Rocky Horror Picture Show in future, and there is always opportunity for people to contact Newman to recreate their own favourite film.

“This was the springboard for Live the Movie, and the start of creating experiences that are limitless and boundaryless, only particular to the location, the guest, the client,” Newman says.

“There is no limitation to how we can develop an idea, and how an experience can evolve. Our client’s desires and imagination are at the epicentre of the event. And, moreover, they can play a true part within the experience. They can travel location to location or country to country, with a narrative thread intertwining each moment.”

Clients can take their journey on as many geographic twists and turns as their plot dictates. Each Live the Movie experience can be curated to suit the size of the group, the celebration, and the place in which the movie is set.

Fans of Babette’s Feast, for example, might want to take their group of friends to Denmark to retell not only the story, but to cook the meal and pair it with the wine and gourmet desserts inspired by the film.

For a more raucous journey, a family reunion might want to travel to Greece to act out Mamma Mia!, complete with musical numbers and scene re-enactments at iconic landmarks. Additionally, Black Tie is open to guests bringing their own original screenplay or movie concept to life for an entirely personal holiday with friends or family.

“Our experiences have been and can be entirely unique,” said Newman. “A typical immersive experience might be the recreation and reimagining of a known body of work like [Agatha Christie’s] Poirot [mysteries], Moulin Rouge, The Grand Budapest Hotel, or insert your favourite movie or moment in time. Or it can be a bringing to life of everything our client is inspired by, a narrative created that’s entirely unique to the inner workings of their mind. The concept is unique and exceptional, and the event for one day, or one week, but certainly only one moment in time. The further from reality, the better.”

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