Last night was a Hollywood first for me. Through my wife's work, I was able to attend the 2011 Academy Awards. Actually, I didn't attend; I was in the press room. And I didn't just sit around and watch, I had to work.
Tiffany was asked to work the Oscars again this year (she's done it twice before). Basically the job is to hand out radios for the press as well as pass around microphones for a few of them to ask the winners questions.
Basically we were stuck in this ballroom adjacent to the Kodak Theater for ten hours. We had a great view of the members of the press. The winners would come in periodically during the show and we would scramble around to get the microphones to the press people that were given a chance to ask the winners a question. And yes, there were several stupid questions.
Tiffany and I against a non-copy-written image
(seriously, we couldn't take pictures in the press room)
Believe it or not, this is the first time I've ever worn a tux.
It's not all that fun.
The food - my one and only payment for working (Tiffany was paid)
It was a pretty crazy night. Nothing too amazing happened, just a lot of hurried madness.
A few really fun things did happened:
- When the press were asking Melissa Leo questions I had to walk in front of her (like two feet away) and crouch down awkwardly. I didn't mind - she's still got it!
- Christian Bale was openly candid with the press - much more than I had expected. The best jokes of the evening came from his self-deprecating humor.
- One press woman asked Natalie Portman why she wasn't wearing Dior (apparently she's the face for that designer), then also asked about the designer that made anti-semitic remarks. The moderator avoided this by interrupting "we're going to move on to the next question."
- I saw Trent Reznor. Seriously guys - Trent Reznor!!
- Everyone of the winners looked exactly like they do on the screen. Some of them were smaller and shorter than I thought (except the Australian bloke who won best animated short, he is truly that short.)
- The food was seriously awesome. Well worth the free labor.
- Being that close to the winners made me feel extremely excited to meet and talk with them, but of course there's no chance I could do that in the venue and situation I was in. It also really made me want to try harder to make it there some day as a guest and possibly nominee. This is why I do what I do! To dress up in funny clothes and pat myself and others on the back. It's about recognition of your talents and abilities. It's about getting to know others who share your love and enthusiasm for the business of making movies. It's about partying and having a good time because you worked hard all year.
Would I do it again? Probably not unless Tiffany wanted me to. I would however take an invite to the show in a heartbeat (nudge nudge).
