Demystifying the Red Carpet: The 65th Creative Arts Emmys

Menschen director Sarah R. Lotfi on the red carpet.

This year I was invited to attend the 65th Creative Arts Emmys and so the stars aligned and I found myself in Los Angeles again this year. I once spent a summer working on HBO's Cinema Veritae: The Saga of an American Family through the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences National College TV Internship when I first began this blog a few years ago. The Academy's invitation came in the middle of the festival run of my independent film Menschen with screenings in Big Bear Lake Film Festival and First Glance Film Festival the week following the Emmys. So with Menschen's producer Anastasia Cummings at the helm to circumvent any unforeseeable challenge, I packed my gown and got on the plane with a light heart.

   As my guest I invited my old friend "Alex" or Alexandria Olson, now the designer of Hunt Rowe in the middle of launching her first collection in LA's fashion world. Alex wore the crowning gem of her collection and I matched her in color wearing a beautiful black gown from Adrianna Papell. The day of the Emmys we navigated traffic with route specific directions from the Academy, and were ushered through by the identifying car pass we were issued. 

Hunt Rowe's designer Alexandria Olson and Menschen director Sarah R. Lotfi.

Outside the impressive Nokia theater the real wide red carpet awaited. To one side was a seemingly endless row of press with cameras and microphones working in a frenzy behind the barrier. Limos arrived, stars got out, and all of us together traversed down, stopping for social media posting before went in. Just like any high-profile event security was there. I had to open my clutch and walk through a scanner to get in. In the lobby there was a line to the bar and everyone mingled. Alex and I ended up talking to one of the nominees on Killing Lincoln before we made our way to our seats in the orchestra. 

The Creative Arts Emmys honors the wonderfully talented people 'below the line' with awards for casting, editing, costuming, music and more. It was great to see our favorite shows like Game of Thrones, Downtown Abbey, Scandal, Breaking Bad, Project Runway, DaVinci's Demons and Vikings in consideration.  HBO's Behind the Candelabra swept many of the categories. Joel McHale (Community), Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn (Project Runway), Rupert Friend (Homeland / The Young Victoria), Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage (Mythbusters), and Katharine McPhee (Smash) were among the presenters. Celebrities Morgan Freeman, Seth Green, Neil Patrick Harris, and Anthony Bourdain were some of the featured audience members. Like any televised award "show" the crew opened first by capturing footage needed for the cut when the show airs next weekend cueing us to laugh, applaud, and smile for the cameras.

You can view the same show we saw on Saturday, September 21st on FXX at 9PM with an encore at midnight.

Six hours later, Alex and I emerged from the theater and made our way across the street to the bar at the Ritz where we ran into Emmy-winner Heidi Klum herself. The Emmys was an evening I'll never forget, and an experience I was honored to be a part of.

Sarah R. Lotfi, Heidi Klum and Alexandria Olson