On June 2, The Century City Chamber of Commerce hosted its 34th Annual Citizens of the Year event at Fox Studios.
The individual honoree was Scott Johnson of Johnson Fain Architects, while the Corporate Citizen of the Year award was bestowed on City National Bank.
It was a sleek and sophisticated affair as over 100 people mingled first at the studio’s commissary for hors d’oeuvres and bid on dozens of items at a silent auction that covered everything from a walk-on part on Showtime’s Ray Donovan Show and a behind the scenes tour of Nakatomi Plaza from Die Hard to Dodgers Stadium tickets, island vacations and a NASCAR Hot Pit & Garage Pass.
Attendees then moved to the Darryl F. Zanuck Theatre on the lot for the official awards ceremony. Century City Chamber of Commerce President Susan Bursk said,
“We come together as a community and recognize those individuals and companies that embody excellence in community and business relations.”
A short video tribute was then presented highlighting the work of the honorees.
The video for Johnson, who designed some of Century City’s most notable buildings including 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Constellation Place and Fox Plaza, stated that Century City’s evolution was largely due to Johnson.
A strong advocate of sustainability, Johnson noted in the video that by “2050, 75 percent of the world will live in cities. I think we have to think about density not necessarily as a negative thing but as a positive, mixed use environment that has public access, open space, infrastructure, recreational amenities the full range of uses that are accessible without getting in your car.”
Johnson said that “Citizen of the Year for Century City is a great honor but I have to take it as a collective honor. The projects are large and complex and involve not just many creative people in my office but artists and consultants and without the ambition thoughtfulness of clients they probably wouldn’t have happened.”
Accepting his award on the podium at the theatre, Johnson said his secret weapon is “a series of really smart, beautiful women I call on regularly.” They included Chamber President Bursk, clients Jody Tarantino and Sarah Shaw at J&B, his assistant Natalie, and his wife Meg and daughter Zoe.
City National Bank was established in 1954 and currently has two offices in Century City. Former CEO Bram Goldsmith who passed away in February was nicknamed “Banker to the Stars,” and his legacy was a highlight of the video presentation as well as the acceptance speech given by Michael Hausknost, senior vice president of private client services at CNB.
Goldsmith grew the company’s assets from 600 million to 3.2 billion, put the company on the New York Stock Exchange and successfully guided the bank through two recessions.
The bank is also known for its philanthropic endeavors and has several programs that focus on giving back to the community, including its Dollars and Sense program that encourages students to deal with financial management at a young age.
Hausknost who has been with the company for 25 years thanked the Chamber for recognizing the bank’s and Bram Goldsmith’s spirit of giving back to the community, saying, “Everyone that gives back is well worth celebrating. I think that’s the spirit of why we’re here this evening. At City National we take great pride in investing in the communities where we work, live, and do business.”
