What does the weather have to do with dessert? At the Golden Globe Awards, scheduled for Jan. 8 at the Beverly Hilton, a sunny day can wreak havoc on the sweets course at the lavish preshow dinner in the International Ballroom.
Just ask Beverly Hilton executive pastry chef Thomas Henzi, who’s in charge of a 12-member team scheduled to spend the Friday and Saturday before the awards creating 30,000 individual pastries for the dinner and many ancillary parties at the hotel.
“When the weather is good, the celebrities spend more time outside on the red carpet and end up with only 10 minutes to eat,” said Henzi at this week’s official unveiling of the menu for the 74th annual Golden Globes. “When it’s cold, we prepare more desserts.”
That’s just a small part of the massive logistical undertaking of planning the hotel’s biggest red-carpet event among the roughly 200 it hosts each year, said Manager Michael Robertson. Sunday night’s Globes would mark the 46th time the Beverly Hilton has hosted the Hollywood event and the 42nd consecutive year at the iconic 61-year-old hotel.
It is the most complicated event hosted by the property.
“The Golden Globes transform the hotel into a small city,” Robertson said by email during this week’s flurry of event preparation, including the ceremonial rollout of 30,000 square feet of red carpet to dress up the hotel’s driveway and entrance for the arrivals show. “What makes this all the more complicated is the extensive security plan that closes the area surrounding the hotel to create a secure environment.”
The Golden Globes “city” includes nearly 6,000 people. The breakdown: About 1,300 guests participate in the live telecast of the awards show. About 3,000 additional guests attend viewing and after-parties held throughout the hotel. More than 185 media outlets (58 camera crews, 65 still photographers, and more than 100 journalists) are to be on hand to cover the event, along with 11 chefs, 120 culinary staff, 50 bartenders, and 160 stewards as well as 250 servers catering to both the awards dinner and after-parties.
Aside from those involved in the awards show, the only regular hotel patrons during Golden Globes weekend (Jan.7-9) are those who book the Golden Globes package, which includes such perks as reserved bleacher seats on the red carpet (with box lunch) and a Globes-themed gift bag. This year’s two-night package for two went for $3,220 and up.
“There is no question that the Golden Globes is the biggest event at any hotel for the awards season,” said Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group, an Irvine hotel marketing company not involved with the event. “I think of the Hilton and the Golden Globes being together. For a marquee location – as well as name recognition and free advertising for the Beverly Hilton – I think it’s unprecedented. Even when you see the Academy Awards (Feb. 26 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre) you don’t associate it with a hotel location, even though the surrounding hotels and restaurants do very well.”
Future in question
Despite the long partnership, the Globes days at the Beverly Hilton could be numbered.
Chinese real estate and entertainment conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group acquired Dick Clark Productions Inc., which produces the Golden Globes event, in November for $1 billion. Dalian Wanda is planning a major hotel and condo development at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards called One Beverly Hills, which is slated for completion in 2020.
“I would anticipate that Dalian Wanda Group would move the Globes” to the hotel in its own development, Reay said.
The Golden Globe Awards event was founded by the nonprofit Hollywood Foreign Press Association, comprising about 90 international journalists based in Southern California who cover movies and TV. The organization is a co-producer of the Golden Globes and funds its activities and grants programs through licensing fees from network broadcasting rights and other activities.
Beverly Hilton representatives declined to reveal the length of the hotel’s contract to host the Golden Globes. A spokeswoman for Dick Clark Productions declined to comment on the matter, and neither Dick Clark Productions nor Robertson would comment on the length of the production company’s contract with the Beverly Hilton.
“The Beverly Hilton treasures its relationship with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Robertson said, “and looks forward to continuing our partnership well into the future.”
Global event
Including this year’s events, Robertson has managed 18 Golden Globes at the Beverly Hilton. But this year’s event marks the first for hotel executive chef Alberico Nunziata, who hails from Italy.
While the chef seemed in high spirits during the week before the awards, he confessed: “I didn’t expect it was so much food.”
Meals will be served to about 1,200 media members covering the event, but the showpiece will be the dinner served to Globes nominees and guests in the ballroom before the awards are handed out. The extensive menu includes such delicacies as Chilean sea bass, filet mignon, and a vegetarian-friendly risotto. More than 10,000 silverware and plate settings will be used for the show and various viewing and after-parties around the hotel.
Under the direction of florist Mark Held, L.A. floral design studio Mark’s Garden handles the floral arrangements. This year’s designs included more than 15,000 roses.
“The Globes obviously employ a lot of people,” said Mark’s Garden event designer Michael Uncapher. “All the flowers (this year) are flown in from Ecuador, so it really is global.”
Dick Clark Productions would not comment on the overall cost of producing the Globes. However, the daunting scale of the undertaking might explain one more important event statistic: This year’s festivities called for lots and lots of Moët & Chandon champagne, including more than 1,500 mini/split bottles, 125 cases, and 500 cocktails including the signature bubbly.
At the Golden Globes, Uncapher said, “it’s much more casual; stars are able to drink and have a good time.”
