Meet the scenester: Pantera Sarah

Fierce politico by day, tough club maven by night

By Alexandra Le Tellier, Metromix

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(Credit: wireimage/istock Carmen Vorse)

To rookie Hollywood clubbers, promoter and bar-owner Pantera Sarah can be intimidating. She cuts an imposing figure—long dark hair, bright red lips, deep voice and tough exterior—as she presides over the velvet rope at such venues as Joseph's, Shag and Central, which she co-owns. To this day, my heart still speeds up as I approach her, and when she recognizes me I feel a wave of relief. She once blew smoke in my face—unintentionally—as I was trying to talk to her, rendering me totally defeated; the next time I saw her, she smiled at me and I was giddy the rest of the night. No other promoter has had this effect on me. I am completely transfixed by her power, and my intrigue has only intensified in the last year as I've watched her, with a big Barack Obama pin fixed to her top, dive into the presidential election in support of the man she thinks "is going to change the world." And while she remains a fierce presence at the doors of her clubs, this Wisconsin native promises to swing her car door wide open to anyone who needs a ride to their polling place on Super Tuesday.

Read on for her tales of screaming and crying with Scarlett Johansson, getting political with Vince Vaughn, welcoming Senator Russ Feingold into Central, and who has the power to turn her into a softie.

Your club nights draw in some of the best crowds. What's your trick?
I'd rather have my club half-empty with the right people than full of the wrong ones. A lot of these [other] promoters don't run their own doors. I'm at my own door 80 percent of the night because I want to make sure exactly what's coming into the club, and I want them to see my face.

How do you get people to come to the club?
I don't have anybody that works for me. I do all of my phone calls myself. I do every email individually. I don't belong to Stun. The mass blast email is impersonal, and I don't do that because whenever I get one of those mass emails, I delete it. I don't want to feel fliered to; I want to feel invited when I go somewhere.

With so many clubs in the Hollywood arena, how do you keep your edge?
I don't think there’s an importance on quality anymore, because owners are desperate to make the money that they need to make the investors happy. It’s become really corporatized. It used to be a lot more organic. It was about really just having a good time.

Do you feel competitive with other promoters?
There are enough people in this town for everybody, and I don't think that getting nasty or talking badly about other people is going to bring you anything good. I think the universe gives you what you give it, and I just don't like fighting. I'll save my fighting for the political battle.

Let's talk about that. Have you always been so politically inclined?
Yeah. My mom worked for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for 10 or 15 years. I grew up in politics. My grandfather ran for governor of Wisconsin as a Socialist, my grandma ran for United States Congress on the Socialist ticket, and my father was mayor of Fitchburg, WI. And Russ Feingold, who was the state senator from Wisconsin, was my show-and-tell in fourth grade. It was a full-circle moment for me on December 8, which was the night we opened Central, because Russ Feingold was the first person who walked in the door.

How'd that come to be?
He happened to be in town that night. He has a PAC called the Progressive Patriots Fund, and we did a fundraiser at Christine Lahti and Tommy Schlamme's house in Brentwood earlier in the evening. He said, "I hear you’re opening a club tonight. I'm going to try to come if I can stay up that late." Ten o’clock, he was pulling up with a cab. Russ, you got to understand, he’s incredible. He’s the only senator who voted against the Patriot Act, mind you. The vote was 99-to-one, and when they asked him why, he said, "Because I read it."

It's not hard to entice kids to party, but how do you get them to vote?
It's not about telling people what to think, it's about asking them to think. Oprah said that in her speech when she went on the road with [Obama]. I want people to educate themselves. I want these young people to get involved. Vince Vaughn, who is more of a libertarian and we've argue politics for many, many years—one of my favorite quotes from him ever was when he asked a friend of mine who she voted for. She said, "I didn't get a chance to vote," and he turned away. She kept trying to tell him, "Oh, but you know, I tried to register but I didn't register in time, so they wouldn't let me vote." She was trying to make excuses and he was just not paying attention, and he finally turned back to her and said, "I can't hear you. You chose to not have a voice."

Speaking of your celebrity friends: You joined the campaign trail in Iowa with Scarlett Johansson?
We talked to high-school seniors and college kids all across Iowa, and they had such great questions, and they were so much smarter than most of the people out here in L.A. that I talk to. We actually watched part of the caucus in Ames, Iowa, at the Memorial Union at  Iowa State University. We'd been there all day, on the phone for about four hours, literally all of us just calling people and saying, "Hey, this is Sarah with the Obama campaign—just calling to make sure you're in a caucus at 6:30. Do you know where your precinct is? Do you need a ride?"

What was your reaction when he won the caucus?
My mom called me and she said, "MSNBC just called it: Barack." And we started screaming in the car and crying. Then we saw the senator, and he hugged me and was thanking myself and Scarlett and everybody for everything we've done. I was like, "I want to cry, I'm so happy" and he's like, "Don't cry." And then, of course, as soon as we got upstairs to watch him give that speech, I was bawling through the whole speech, and afterwards he saw me and just started laughing and said, "Pantera, you're such a softie."

Will you offer people rides to vote in L.A. too?
Absolutely. If someone needs a ride, I’ll pick them up. I will be obviously sending out an email to everybody to please go vote no matter who it is. Vote. Be a part of the process.

Alexandra Le Tellier is Bars & Clubs editor for Metromix Los Angeles.