If anyone knows the importance of finding the right setting for a creative brainstorming meeting, Larina Adamson does. A producer for "The Simpsons" since 1989, Adamson has sat in many a pitch meeting for the celebrated animated TV series, during which the show's writers gather to present ideas for new scripts.
Most years, Adamson says, the pitch meetings were held "in our boring offices" at the Fox Studios in Century City, CA. But in 2014, that changed when she decided she wanted to move the meeting to the 129-room Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, CA, just seven miles west of the studios.
"We decided we wanted to go to place that was really cozy and creative and had a history of Los Angeles and Santa Monica," she explains. "It has a ton of history, and the views are phenomenal. We did our meeting there, and the writers absolutely loved it. The hotel is modern in its amenities, and it had perfect food and service."
That simple change in locations, she says, had a powerful effect.
"All of that together evokes creative juices in people," Adamson explains. "It gets them out of their normal day-to-day routine, and gives them a view of the ocean. It helped them a lot."
Adamson's group of 30 writers and production staff members met at one of the hotel's two-story Penthouse Suites for a full day of meetings, and even though the group was only at the property from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the "sense of place" that it created left a lasting impression on Adamson and her group.
"Just being out of the office gives people more energy," she says. "I hate to sound all Californian, but you're closer to nature and being outdoors, and with the way they set it up for us, it just creates a sense of place. When you have that kind of view, you just feel freer. You don't feel as trapped. When you're able to look out onto the ocean and nature, you can flow with your ideas much easier than being crammed in a room with no view, eating doughnuts."
The rich history and top-notch customer service at the hotel, she says, was an added bonus. The Hotel Casa Del Mar, first constructed in 1926, retains much of its original architecture and character, and the staff, likewise, are trained to deliver "that old-fashioned, classic caregiving," says Adamson.
"It's what you used to see in the movies when they went to those fine old hotels," she says. "It's almost like you're transported back to the 1930s or 1940s when you're there. For creative people in the industry, it's nice to be able to go into a place where you feel like you're in a different time period, instead of driving to the Fox studio lot and going to the meeting room where we do every single meeting all the time."
In addition to the Penthouse Suite where the "Simpsons" staff met, the hotel also has a 4,800-square-foot ballroom attached to a 1,640-square-foot terrace overlooking the Pacific. Other meeting spaces at the Hotel Casa Del Mar include a private dining room, a library, and a boardroom. The hotel has three Penthouse Suites resembling Italian villas, each of which is two stories and has a living room with fireplace, a formal dining area, and either one or two bedrooms with separate sitting areas.