Whale of a Tie-In; NBFF Scores in UK; Doti at Shea Center

Here are a couple of big OC names that make a natural marketing match: Pacific Life and filmmaker MacGillivray Freeman. The insurance outfit is widely known for the image of a humpback whale that graces its much-advertised logo. Hardly a leap, then, to lend its name as presenting sponsor for the latest film from Imax specialist MacGillivray Freeman and its One World One Ocean initiative. The production is titled Humpback Whales and promises to take viewers on “an extraordinary journey into the mysterious world of one of nature’s most awe-inspiring marine mammals.” A special screening is set for March 4 at the Edwards Irvine Spectrum IMAX. Find other times and locations at humpbackwhalesfilm.com. Or mark July 29 on your calendar to catch Greg MacGillivray as keynoter at the Business Journal’s annual Family Owned Business awards… Another name game: How did Tustin-based smartphone accessories maker Mophie Inc. settle on that particular appellation? It’s a combination of the names of a one-time employee’s two dogs—Molly and Sophie. The Mophie brand is much better known now than it was before the Super Bowl, when the company bet $4.5 million on a half-minute ad for its charger-equipped cases. Mophie got plenty of additional attention, leading the Wall Street Journal’s day-after coverage of the Super Bowl ad blitz and generating buzz on Twitter and elsewhere with a humorous spot by Deutsch LA that showed the world going bonkers as the battery on God’s cellphone ran out … No shortage of ink for the high-life of Newport Beach last week, which found Lindsay Dickhout, founder and CEO of Million Dollar Tan, on the front page of the Feb. 6 Mansion section of the Journal. She and her two daughters were pictured above the fold in a $70,000 playroom that’s in the works at their home … The Dickhouts’ star turn came about the same time the UK’s Daily Mail reported that a private reception hosted by the Newport Beach Film Festival at London’s ME Hotel before the recent Bafta awards—think across-the-pond Oscars—drew Brit beauty Keira Knightley, who “carried a silver box purse and wore silver heels” and “seemed to be color coordinated” with Imitation Game co-star Benedict Cumberbatch. The plug came amid a larger promo campaign by tourism booster Newport Beach & Co., which counts the UK as a key market … Chapman University President Jim Doti is lined up for the keynote at the Shea Therapeutic Riding Center’s 7th Annual Leaders for Philanthropy Night, set to be presented on April 2 by Farmers & Merchants Bank. Doti is a champion fundraiser who’s generous with advice, reminding any would-be askers to put their personality into the challenge—because people give money to people. Doti will no doubt get a chance for an up-close look at what horses at the riding center in San Juan Capistrano give to so many people in need. Visit sheacenter.org for more information … Doti will be busy this week welcoming David Janes of Janes Capital as chairman of Chapman’s Board of Trustees … Memo to Murray Rudin: No one stands taller when it comes to taking it as well as you dish it out as the emcee at the Business Journal’s annual CFO of the Year Awards (see item, page 7; check next week’s issue for profiles of the five honorees). Nothing like delivering a good zinger, but the Insider thinks you’ve got the natural instincts of a straight man—the traditional straw that stirs comedy’s drink.