Irena Medavoy Reveals Her Jam-Packed, L.A. Staycation Itinerary

This story first appeared in the Jan. 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.  

My husband, Black Swan producer   Mike Medavoy, was going to Spain to scout locations for The Promise with Terry George directing, and Sly Stallone was getting ready to head to Philly to start on Rocky reboot Creed, so we decided to stay in town for the holidays and host a small dinner at Hotel Bel-Air. It started in the kitchen with Wolfgang Puck, a close friend for more than 30 years, cooking and feeding us right-off-the-stove appetizers like foie gras pizza with champagne and Negronis. In the kitchen were Al Pacino; Laura Dern, who came from a screening of Wild; Starz CEO Chris Albrecht with wife Montana Coady; Sly and Jennifer Stallone (their own holiday party had Arnold Schwarzenegger with new girlfriend Heather Milligan); Netflix COO Ted Sarandos, who just landed from London, and wife Nicole Avant, who is producing a documentary about her father, music exec Clarence Avant, with Legendary Pictures; and other close friends. We then moved to the bar for dinner — with piano playing, a fire going, lots of old-fashioned Hollywood warmth and Wolfgang’s white truffle risotto.

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