For those who thought this year’s Oscars were going to be a disappointing Golden Globes-like press conference, void of red carpet, live performances and acceptance speeches ““ think again. The show will go on.
With the Writers Guild strike finally over, the 80th Annual Academy Awards are set to air live this Sunday, taking place at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and hosted by comedian Jon Stewart.
One might expect the Academy to be in a frenzy as they rush to put a show together in a few weeks time, but they have made it a point to prepare just as intently as they have every other year.
UCLA alumni currently employed by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and working at Sunday’s festivities (although not advised to comment on the strike), admit the preparation has been less hectic than it would seem.
“Everything kind of goes like clockwork,” said Class of 2003 UCLA alumna Stefanie Pollack, an awards assistant who will be working the red carpet for the fifth time this year, “It’s a well-oiled machine.”
If there’s one thing the Academy employees seem to agree on, it’s that the preparation is falling neatly into place, and although they are indeed busy, the excitement level at the Academy hasn’t been affected by the three-month-long strike.
“(Planning) hasn’t been terribly different. We’ve been going with full momentum and we’ve been preparing just as we would any other year. Not a single time did anything get off course,” said Class of 2005 UCLA alumnus Stevie Lee Lundgren, marketing assistant for the Academy. “We really sort of have this all down to a “˜T’ in terms of what happens, and predecessors that came before us have laid out a fantastic road map and we all sort of know what needs to happen, and we make sure that it gets done no matter what.”
Lundgren, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, works on the advertising and campaigning that goes along with the shows, and on Sunday night will be coordinating the red carpet experience for the 620 fans sitting in the bleachers while the celebrities arrive.
Though glamour, celebrity and the latest fashion does make up a large portion of the Oscars (and entices many a viewer to tune in), the ceremony is first and foremost a celebration of achievement
in film.
“The great thing about the Academy is that it’s not just about entertainment or celebrity or that aspect,” Lundgren said. “It’s very much about the art of filmmaking and really celebrating the achievements in film and the progress that we’ve made, and even celebrating the history of it. I think that this place in that sense is unique. It’s very different from other entities or company because we’re really about the films.”
Class of 1984 UCLA alumnus Robert Reneau is the Academy’s assistant programs coordinator in the educational and special programs department .
“I have been watching the Oscars pretty much every year since I was 8,” he said. Reneau will be working at the red carpet arrivals tent and the post-ceremony Governor’s Ball (a glamorous evening of 1,500 guests including Oscar winners and nominees).
“So it’s still something that I really, even just as a spectator, feel a real excitement about, beyond working at it. As an adult to be actually a part of it working there, it’s really cool. It’s kind of a culmination of my life in a way,” Reneau said.
Had the strike continued, the show was expected to consist of pre-recordings and musical numbers played by an orchestra with a very minimal number of celebrities present. However, the Academy has played catch-up quickly following the strike’s end last Wednesday and managed to put together a long list of celebrity presenters and performers scheduled to appear.
“It all ends up working out so smoothly. You try to anticipate for as many problems that you can foresee happening. … And everything ends up working out even if hiccups occur,” Lundgren said.
These Bruin alumni all express the same excitement, anticipating a show that will represent a culmination of their work.
“Afterwards we’re all in our formal wear and we all come together at the very end of the day, and it’s like midnight and it’s just such an exciting feeling for all of us,” Lundgren said. “I think we’re all just so anxious to be there and just have it all happen. I really think it’s going to be a fantastic year.”