One of the biggest awards show of awards season is the SAG Awards (or, officially, the Screen Actors Guild Awards). Nominations for the awards come from two committees, one for film and one for television, each numbering 2100 members of the union, randomly selected anew each year, with the full membership available to vote for the winners. It is considered an indicator of success at the Academy Awards. The awards, which have been telecast since 1998 on TNT, and since 2007 have been simulcast on TBS, are always an elegant affair. This year expect to see (from your TV unless you’re really lucky) delicate chandeliers flourish over the audience and stage like sparkling clouds, while the stage is outlined by gleaming tubes of steel that suggest futuristic organ pipes. A pair of majestic Actor statues on pedestals stand sentry over a giant center screen, which is framed in additional sleek silver. Far upstage a fiber-optic stardrop curtain provides a celestial twinkle, contrasting with the shimmering light reflected off a cascade of sheer metallic panels and a high-gloss floor.
Trust us, a lot of work goes into making one of Hollywood’s biggest affairs look ab fab. Here are the SAG Awards by the numbers in preparation of the 22nd annual event, held this Jan. 30 at the Shrine Exposition Center.
THE 22ND ANNUAL SAG AWARDS BY THE NUMBERS
The Arrivals
· Guests walk past international media and fans along 17,100 square feet of red carpet
· There are 12,500 lineal feet of hedges used for edging
· Three rows of six-foot high bleachers, totaling 180 lineal feet, accommodate 300 fans
· Attendees are shielded from the weather by 21,500 square feet of tenting that covers the red carpet
The Award
· Three 10-foot-tall replicas of The Actor® statuette, each weighing over 200 pounds, watch over the red carpet before moving to the official Post-Show Gala
· Two additional 10-foot-tall Actors® grace the stage during the ceremony
· Each solid bronze Actor is 16 inches tall and weighs a substantial 12 pounds
· It takes a team of 10 craftspeople at American Fine Arts Foundry three to four weeks to make The Actors® each year
· Since 1995, the 1st Annual SAG Awards, 952 Actor® statuettes have been awarded
· Each statuette is individually numbered, with The Actor No. 1 on display at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles.
The Venue
· The iconic Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall was the largest theater in the United States when it was built in 1926
· At 194-feet wide, the Shrine’s is the largest proscenium arch stage in the country
The Showroom
· It takes at least four days to transform the Showroom for the SAG Awards
· The Shrine Exposition Center’s 34,000 square foot wooden floor is cloaked in 11,800 square feet of black carpet
· About 15,000 square feet of black drapery swathes the previously bare walls
· Over 25,000 linear feet of silver beads – over half a million individual beads – are used to create the chandeliers and adorn the surrounding curtains
· Each of the five chandeliers includes over 500 feet of strung silver beads illuminated with 50 linear feet of LED lights
· The stage floor is overlaid with 300 sheets, 4 foot by 4 foot each, of black glossy Formica
· There are 14 panels of metallic sheers, each of which is 30 feet long, for a total of 420 lineal feet
The People
· All SAG-AFTRA members in good standing are eligible to vote in all categories, which means 116,741 peers in the actors’ union choose the honorees this year
· 234 actors have been nominated for the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards
· It takes more than 700 staff and crew to make the SAG Awards a reality
· 491 performers are nominated in Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble categories
The Audience
· About 300,000 pedestrians a day walk past the giant Spectacolor HD electric billboard in Times Square that will be showing the live webcast of the official 22nd SAG Awards Red Carpet Pre-Show
· The Spectacolor HD billboard display is 744 pixels x 992 pixels, and it requires video encoded at 10,000 – 25,000 kbits/sec
· Viewers can watch the live SAG Awards Red Carpet Pre-Show on sagawards.tntdrama.com, sagawards.org and People.com beginning at 6 p.m. (ET) / 3 p.m. (PT)
· Following the pre-show, the 22nd SAG Awards Ceremony will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS at 8p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT)
· TBS and TNT subscribers on-the-go can watch the 22nd SAG Awards live on their device of choice through the networks’ websites and mobile apps
The Dinner
Among the culinary creations created by master chef Wolfgang Puck for the evening are: Grilled Chicken with Meyer Lemon Salsa and Lemon Scented Fingerling Potatoes; Farro and Black Rice with Mustard Greens, Currents and Toasted Pine Nuts; and Puffed Rice Crusted Salmon with Carrot-Ginger Puree and Crispy Shiso Leaf. The preparations require:
· 500 pounds of Jidori Chicken
· 450 pounds of fresh Atlantic salmon
· 1,300 pieces of Shiso leaves
· 1,800 Meyer lemons
· 10 gallons of olive oil
· 250 pounds of mustard greens
· 20 pounds of pine nuts
· 50 pounds of wild rice
· 15 pounds of currants and golden raisins
· 800 strawberries
· 650 pieces of garlic
· 300 pounds of Weiser Farms heirloom carrots
· 100 pieces of fresh ginger
· 300 pounds of Weiser Farms fingerling potatoes
· 4,800 pieces of housemade lavosh and homemade breadsticks
The Flowers
CJ Matsumoto & Sons is creating floral arrangements inspired and textured by nature that are designed to be a look into a harmonious and serene garden. The elements include:
· Over 5,000 of white spray roses
· Many thousands of white Dendrobrium orchids and acid-green Cymbidium orchids
· A balanced selection of green Dianthus, green Trachelium, Equisetum, various succulents, green variegated flax, Galax leaves and Dusty Miller.
The Dining Experience
· Guests are seated at 86 rectangular dinner tables that are draped using 1,306 lineal yards of silver doupioni silk
· There are 1,200 place settings, each with a square white dinner plate and a black shantung napkin
· Place settings require 2,400 pieces of Vogue silver flatware
· Beverages are served in over 3,600 stemless champagne, wine and water glasses
· An additional 2,400 glasses at two 16-foot beverage bars and two wine tasting bars
Champagne
As the Official Champagne of the SAG Awards, Champagne Taittinger is pouring:
· One magnum of Champagne Taittinger Brut La Française at the traditional Champagne Taittinger toast that officially opens the SAG Awards Red Carpet
· 160 magnums of Champagne Taittinger Brut La Française at the official Post-Awards Gala hosted by People Magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation
· Each magnum contains 500 million bubbles!
· 480 standard 750 ml bottles of Champagne Taittinger Brut La Française inside the Showroom and at the Post-Awards Gala
· Champagne Taittinger is also providing Two Methuselah (6 liters, also known as a Balthazar) bottles of Champagne Taittinger Brut La Française to be signed by Actor® recipients and donated to the auction benefiting the SAG-AFTRA Foundation
Wines
Vintner Treasury Wines is serving in the Green Room, the Showroom bars and the Post-Awards Gala, and it has chosen:
· 396 bottles of Beringer’s 2014 Napa Valley Chardonnay
· 372 bottles of Beringer’s 2013 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
· 216 bottles of Matua’s 2014 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
· 192 bottles of Matua’s 2014 Marlborough Pinot Noir
Tequila
Patrón Tequila and Ultimat vodka are offering three specially crafted cocktails at the Showroom bars and the Post-Awards Gala, for which it requires:
· 55 bottles of Patrón Silver Tequila
· 35 bottles of Patrón Reposado
· 100 bottles of Ultimat Vodka
· 30 bottles of Patrón Citrónge
· 20 bottles of Pyrat Rum
· 20 bottles of Patrón Xo Café
· 25 bottles of Patrón Citrónge Lime
· 50 bottles of Fresh Pineapple Juice
· 30 bottles of Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
· 10 bags of Organic Sugar
· 5 cases of Fever Tree Club Soda
· 50 bottles of Fresh Orange Juice
· 40 bottles of Cranberry Juice
· 20 bottles of Simple Syrup
· 50 Fresh Oranges
· 25 Fresh Pineapples
· 20 bottles of Grenadine
