How Stars Arrive on the Oscars on Time and in One Piece

When you’re ferrying tons of of A-listers to the Academy Awards, the very last thing you need is rain.

If it pours, the convoy of chauffeured automobiles slows, gridlock ensues and the up-to-the-second schedule for purple carpet arrivals collapses. Plus, it’s not secure. “Traffic in itself is a security risk,” says David Seelinger, CEO of EmpireCLS — among the many occasion’s largest suppliers of luxurious transport — since a bottlenecked parade of stars can change into a goal for paparazzi, rabid followers or worse. “And safety is our No. 1 priority, for attendees and for our staff.”

Seelinger’s workers on Oscar night time is prodigious. “We’ll have around 300 cars working the event this year,” he says. Vehicles are drawn primarily from Empire’s native fleets, although dietary supplements arrive from as far-off as San Francisco and Las Vegas.

If this have been the twentieth century, most of those rides could be stretch limos. If it have been the 2000s, a superb variety of stars could be rolling up in Priuses, as Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Harrison Ford did. These days, stars favor SUVs. “The Cadillac Escalade is the No. 1 request,” Seelinger says. “It’s comfortable, and when a client steps out of it, it’s a very elegant look.” Empire runs a big fleet of battery-powered Escalades, alongside gasoline variations, and provides six-figure electrical Lucid Air sedans for many who favor a conventional automotive. “Some studios will only hire electric vehicles for events,” he provides, and for the key nominees, studios usually cowl transport.

For attendees who journey in teams or with a stylist, Seelinger has different choices. “We use luxury Mercedes Sprinter vans,” he says. “They’re very spacious, with high ceilings and a low step-out to the red carpet, so for the ladies — or whoever’s wearing a gown, I should say — it’s easier to get in and out.”

The vehicles are stocked with bottled water, and the chauffeurs usually present snacks. Still, passengers often make supplemental “unique” requests. Though NDAs prohibit Seelinger from detailing these (or naming his shoppers), he attests that Empire does its greatest to accommodate. “It doesn’t matter what it is, we’ll typically do it, as long as it’s not against the law,” he says with fun. Since it’s a protracted night time, chauffeurs are fed a connoisseur dinner by the corporate on the staging space whereas their passengers are on the occasion.

The procession to the Dolby Theatre is as fastidiously choreographed as a Ok-pop video. Coordination among the many Academy, municipal organizations and first responders begins months prematurely. “For all planned events, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation develops a comprehensive traffic management plan that identifies the required road-closure timing and locations, parking restrictions and [traffic] signal timing changes,” says LADOT spokesperson Colin Sweeney.

For the Oscars, street closures start as early as two weeks prior and attain their full extent the night time earlier than. The division additionally coordinates with Metro’s public transit system to reroute buses across the caravan and implement subway station closures, Sweeney provides.

The precise chauffeured path to drop-off is prime secret and consists of contingencies. “There’s always a primary, secondary and tertiary route, so if something happens, we can switch mid-stream,” Seelinger says.

All Empire automobiles have monitoring gadgets, sharing location and timing data with scores of transport and Academy workers by way of two command facilities — one at company headquarters in El Segundo and one on the Dolby. Both websites are outfitted with triple redundant communications and logistics software program and satellite tv for pc WiFi. “Nobody pulls up without notification being given to the Academy folks on site,” Seelinger says. Sweeney provides that LADOT’s representatives “operate their own unified command structure to manage traffic flow, control congestion and respond swiftly to any disruptions.”

When arriving on the theater, actions are tightly managed. For instance, at a typical airport or company drop-off, chauffeurs would get out and open the door for the consumer. When they pull as much as the Dolby, they’re instructed to remain within the car. “We can’t have the chauffeur walking on the red carpet,” Seelinger says.

Remaining behind the wheel additionally ensures occupant security. “That way, the driver’s ready in the event that they have to get the client out of there quickly,” Seelinger says. When requested if Empire employs armored automobiles, Seelinger demurs: “We have to keep that stuff quiet.” But he admits that chauffeurs — who’re background-checked and subjected to a three-week drivers academy — are educated in “what to do in emergency situations.”

Vehicles are usually engaged for 12 hours on Oscar night time, Seelinger says, so a equally coordinated ballet takes place for departures: “No one waits. People are swooped up pretty quick and taken to one of the countless events all through the night.”

Seelinger demurs once more when requested how a lot a studio or particular person would possibly pay for this service and received’t even entertain our guesstimates, which hover within the $6,000 to $12,000 vary.

“I can’t really say the exact cost because of our NDAs. And it depends on who it’s for. But it’s a fair price,” he says. “Let’s just say, if you’re shopping at Louis, you know what it costs.”

This story appeared within the March 11 situation of The Hollywood Reporter journal. Click here to subscribe.