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Get Me to the Dolby! How Stars Arrive at the Oscars on Time and in One Piece

When you’re ferrying hundreds of A-listers to the Academy Awards, the last thing you want is rain.

If it pours, the convoy of chauffeured vehicles slows, gridlock ensues and the up-to-the-second schedule for red carpet arrivals collapses. Plus, it’s not safe. “Traffic in itself is a security risk,” says David Seelinger, CEO of EmpireCLS — among the event’s largest suppliers of luxury transport — since a bottlenecked parade of stars can become a target for paparazzi, rabid fans or worse. “And safety is our No. 1 priority, for attendees and for our staff.”

Seelinger’s staff on Oscar night is prodigious. “We’ll have around 300 cars working the event this year,” he says. Vehicles are drawn mainly from Empire’s local fleets, though supplements arrive from as far away as San Francisco and Las Vegas.

If this were the 20th century, most of these rides would be stretch limos. If it were the 2000s, a good number of stars would be rolling up in Priuses, as Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Harrison Ford did. These days, stars prefer SUVs. “The Cadillac Escalade is the No. 1 request,” Seelinger says. “It’s comfortable, and when a client steps out of it, it’s a very elegant look.” Empire runs a large fleet of battery-powered Escalades, alongside gas versions, and supplies six-figure electric Lucid Air sedans for those who prefer a traditional car. “Some studios will only hire electric vehicles for events,” he adds, and for the major nominees, studios often cover transport.

For attendees who travel in groups or with a stylist, Seelinger has other options. “We use luxury Mercedes Sprinter vans,” he says. “They’re very spacious, with high ceilings and a low step-out to the red carpet, so for the ladies — or whoever’s wearing a gown, I should say — it’s easier to get in and out.”

The cars are stocked with bottled water, and the chauffeurs often provide snacks. Still, passengers occasionally make supplemental “unique” requests. Though NDAs prohibit Seelinger from detailing these (or naming his clients), he attests that Empire does its best to accommodate. “It doesn’t matter what it is, we’ll typically do it, as long as it’s not against the law,” he says with a laugh. Since it’s a long night, chauffeurs are fed a gourmet dinner by the company at the staging area while their passengers are at the event.

The procession to the Dolby Theatre is as carefully choreographed as a K-pop video. Coordination among the Academy, municipal organizations and first responders starts months in advance. “For all planned events, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation develops a comprehensive traffic management plan that identifies the required road-closure timing and locations, parking restrictions and [traffic] signal timing changes,” says LADOT spokesperson Colin Sweeney.

For the Oscars, road closures begin as early as two weeks prior and reach their full extent the night before. The department also coordinates with Metro’s public transit system to reroute buses around the caravan and implement subway station closures, Sweeney adds.

The actual chauffeured route to drop-off is top secret and includes contingencies. “There’s always a primary, secondary and tertiary route, so if something happens, we can switch mid-stream,” Seelinger says.

All Empire vehicles have tracking devices, sharing location and timing information with scores of transport and Academy staff via two command centers — one at corporate headquarters in El Segundo and one at the Dolby. Both sites are equipped with triple redundant communications and logistics software and satellite WiFi. “Nobody pulls up without notification being given to the Academy folks on site,” Seelinger says. Sweeney adds that LADOT’s representatives “operate their own unified command structure to manage traffic flow, control congestion and respond swiftly to any disruptions.”

 

When arriving at the theater, movements are tightly controlled. For example, at a typical airport or corporate drop-off, chauffeurs would get out and open the door for the client. When they pull up to the Dolby, they’re instructed to stay in the vehicle. “We can’t have the chauffeur walking on the red carpet,” Seelinger says.

Remaining behind the wheel also guarantees occupant safety. “That way, the driver’s ready in the event that they have to get the client out of there quickly,” Seelinger says. When asked if Empire employs armored vehicles, Seelinger demurs: “We have to keep that stuff quiet.” But he admits that chauffeurs — who are background-checked and subjected to a three-week drivers academy — are trained in “what to do in emergency situations.”

Vehicles are typically engaged for 12 hours on Oscar night, Seelinger says, so a similarly coordinated ballet takes place for departures: “No one waits. People are swooped up pretty quick and taken to one of the countless events all through the night.”

Seelinger demurs again when asked how much a studio or individual might pay for this service and won’t even entertain our guesstimates, which hover in the $6,000 to $12,000 range.

“I can’t really say the exact cost because of our NDAs. And it depends on who it’s for. But it’s a fair price,” he says. “Let’s just say, if you’re shopping at Louis, you know what it costs.”

This story appeared in the March 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Written by Brett Berk for The Hollywood Reporter.