Awards season is off to a bumpy start.
The fall film festival circuit, which traditionally marks the sprint toward all things gold and shiny, is in full swing with Venice and Telluride happening now and Toronto due to start in a few days, Sept. 8-18.
That means TIFF tramples over Sept. 12, the date of the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles and collides with New York Fashion Week from Sept. 9-14. While the latter is not an awards season event, it is a big draw for celebrities, stylists and glam teams.
The jam-packed calendar is causing logistical nightmares and explosive anxiety for industry insiders not experienced since pre-pandemic times. It’s become especially stressful for awards strategists, stylists, hair and makeup professionals, talent publicists and some actors who need to be in two places at once.
Take Amanda Seyfried. She told The Hollywood Reporter that she plans on taking husband Thomas Sadoski with her to the Emmys where she’s nominated for best actress in a limited series for her work on The Dropout even though he’s needed in Toronto to tout his new film.
“[But] here’s the problem: It looks like he has a premiere [for the upcoming Devotion at the Toronto International Film Festival] the same night as the Emmys. We found out a while back, and we were like, ‘Obviously, you’re coming to the Emmys,’ but I feel bad, because it’s a big war movie. I think it’s coming out at Thanksgiving. So he’ll just go to another premiere.”
A-list star stylist Kate Young, who maintains a client list that includes Margot Robbie, Dakota Johnson, Selena Gomez and Michelle Wiliams, calls the coming days “brutal.” Adding salt in the wound is the fact that the fashion insiders in Europe are almost exclusively signed off for summer holiday breaks, meaning it’s a challenge to get in touch and request or secure dresses.
“It’s incredibly hard to have so many things happening at the same time and while we are prepping for those events, all of Europe is closed,” Young details. “Everyone who has made a movie or TV show in the past two years needs [something to wear] and there aren’t really enough dresses. My schedule in the next two weeks is terrifying.”
Same goes for hair and makeup pros. Per multiple sources, it’s hitting the glam industry hard because of NYFW. “The artists are so spread out and spread thin,” one rep tells THR. “It’s a puzzle and frankly, it’s been a disaster trying to find the best people.”
Disaster to some, “an absolute bloodbath” to secure preferred artists, says another. “People who had Emmy nominations heard first before big Toronto titles so there was a lot of jockeying for bigger glam names,” says the source. “As a rep, it’s hard to choose your ‘favorite.’ On Monday, some people are needed at three events across different countries and it’s impossible to duplicate oneself. Everyone’s tired and over it.”
Insiders are said to be crossing their fingers that flights are running on time and there aren’t major delays on Sunday, Sept. 11, with many expected to either be departing TIFF or NYFW and heading back to L.A. for Monday’s Emmy Awards. Amping up the anxiety is a season that has marked by excessive travel delays due to a devastated and still wobbly airline industry.
That said, after a devastating pandemic that caused a prolonged absence of major events, not everyone is upset about having to manage the unique logistics imposed by this calendar crush. “
“Having such a wide range of talent at The Only Agency, our artists are working with top talent that are attending TIFF in Canada while simultaneously working with Emmy nominees that need to be on the ground in LA, so it can be challenging in terms of balancing so many travel schedules,” offers Kent Belden, founder and CEO of The Only Agency. “But overall it is super exciting for artists to continue evolving their craft and consistently be creative again, and we’re seeing that reflected in the artists’ eagerness to travel in the middle of the night and spend long days prepping in advance.”
