Demand rises as award season nears

Laura Sturza

With show-biz awards season in high gear, local businesses can be

hectic workplaces.

Added demand at the Burbank office of Music Express Limousines can

be challenging for dispatchers who must juggle their fleet to also

accommodate airport transfers, said Craig Friedemann, the company’s

director of special events.

“The stress level increases considerably,” Friedemann said.

“[Dispatchers are] not quite air-traffic controllers, but close.”

Burbank resident Bill Boyd Jr., a post-production supervisor for

the Golden Globe Awards, can also attest to a heightened sense of

urgency, much of it prior to the show since nominees are announced

Dec. 19.

His work at Burbank’s dick clark productions involves requesting

film clips that are shown when nominees are announced during the

Golden Globes. Boyd must make his requests mid-December when people

are on vacation, and needs the footage by early January.

“That makes your job crazed because you have to get a hold of 90

nominees [during the holidays],” Boyd said.

Burbank does not host a major awards show, and Burbank Chamber of

Commerce Executive Director Susan Bowers said that most of the

businesses that see an increase are closer to where the awards take

place.

“Some of our local businesses have a reputation with the studios,

so they may get [added work],” Bowers said.

Wrap It Up is one of those Burbank shops. Its workers create

personalized gift baskets, with 85% of its orders coming from the

industry. Business almost doubles during awards season, when workers

put together specialty baskets as thank-you gifts for

behind-the-scenes staff, shop owner Lisa Marquis said.

“We already have two designers and I bring in one more,” Marquis

said.

Things heat up considerably at Burbank’s American Fine Arts

Foundry, which casts the bronze statues for the Screen Actors Guild

Awards.

“This is probably the busiest time of the year,” said Angel Meza,

the company’s production manager.

With about twice the casting demand from mid-January to mid-March,

the company hires temporary employees to fill out its workforce, Meza

said.

At The Enchanted Florist, Burbank business owner Kimberly Randolph

said about 40% of her regular clients are connected to the studios.

Though the amount of business generated during awards season does not

change much, the type of orders change, with arrangements going to

honorees and winners, she said.

“We get larger, more tasteful orders,” Randolph said.