The Hollywood Reporter Celebrates Inaugural Kids Power Event With Malin Akerman, Sebastian Maniscalco and More
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The Hollywood Reporter celebrated its inaugural Kids Power Issue — recognizing the top 75 power players in kids and family entertainment — on Saturday with a Kids Power event at Westfield Century City mall.
Presented by DreamWorks Animation’s Gabby’s Dollhouse, the day of family-centered festivities was free and open to the public and also welcomed stars like Malin Akerman, Sebastian Maniscalco, Lisa Ling, Josh Peck, Katharine McPhee Foster and The Loud House cast members Catherine Ashmore Bradley, Aubin Bradley and Sophia Woodward.
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Sponsored by Nickelodeon and Paramount+, the event featured a Gabby’s Dollhouse character meet-and-greet and Not Quite Narwhal giveaway station, an invitation-only screening of DreamWorks Animation’s Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken at AMC Century 15 (ahead of its theatrical release on June 30), personalized drawings by storyboard artists from SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House and PAW Patrol, coloring activities and outdoor screenings of Gabby’s Dollhouse, Not Quite Narwahl and Nickelodeon’s That Girl Lay Lay. (Lay Lay herself was the cover star for THR‘s Kids Power issue).
The day also included an Art of Elysium coloring wall, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation lemonade and Comfort Cases packing station to fill backpacks with items for youth entering the foster care system. Concessions were provided by Sugarfina, Hokey Pokey LA Ice Cream and Pure Life, alongside KidzBop giveaways and a dance-along session that got the crowd moving to learn the “KidzBop shuffle.” A Little Kitchen Academy experience station, THR Kids Power cover photo booth, step-and-repeat and DJ sets by DJ Vi were also among the event’s highlights.
Hundreds of children and their parents cycled through the space throughout the five-hour celebration, which began at noon with a VIP hour. Ling was among the first arrivals, as she and her children spun the Not Quite Narwhal prize wheel to take home stuffed animals and Gabby’s Dollhouse cat ears. Foster stopped by the photo both, which printed guests’ images on a THR cover backdrop, and Peck posed for selfies with fans while keeping his son close. Akerman walked the red carpet with her daughter and husband Jack Donnelly before heading into the Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken screening, and Maniscalco joined his wife and two kids as they broke out the crayons at the Nickelodeon and Paramount+ coloring table.
Guests also included DreamWorks Animation execs Michael Vollman and Kelly Kulchak, Jim Henson Company execs Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford, That Girl Lay Lay co-stars Kensington Tallman and Peyton R. Perrine III, actress Rupali Redd, animator/director Everett Downing Jr. and YouTuber GloZell Green.
Check out photos below.
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