The Academy Awards are all about pageantry and popularity, but what you don't see on screen is the grunt and grind of 18 workers who devote 900 man-hours every year to roll out the red carpet for all of those film stars and other celebrities.
For the record, the 50,000-square-foot (4,645-sq-m) carpet isn't exactly red, but more burgundy in color. It is officially known as Academy Red, a secret hue that is meant to make all of the stars who tread upon it look heavenly.
Since 2008, the responsibility for making sure all of those famous faces make their way from car to carpet and back without any slips or stumbles has ridden on the shoulders of the flooring company Signature Systems Group. Moises Arteaga, the firm's national distribution manager, says that while the Texas-based company handles work all over the country, the Oscars are special. "We are dealing with a lot of different events, but there is none other like this one," he says.
Inside the Oscars:
- No one knows for sure why the golden statuette officially called the "Academy Award of Merit" has been known as an "Oscar" since 1939.
- Only about 270 guests attended the first Oscar night, which was held as a private dinner in 1929, with tickets going for $5.
- If they wish to sell their statuettes, Oscar winners are contractually obligated to first offer them to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for $1 apiece.
