{"id":224630,"date":"2026-01-09T07:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T07:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/224630\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T07:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T07:30:09","slug":"construction-couture-and-controlled-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/224630\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction, couture and controlled chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three days before the Golden Globes<\/a>, the venue is very much a work in progress. Power tools and honking horns replace gowns and applause. Traffic crawls past the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where construction crews weave through unfinished hallways and torn-up pavement. There\u2019s no obvious sign that, by the weekend, this same space will welcome George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Miley Cyrus \u2014 or transform seamlessly into Hollywood\u2019s biggest party.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a contrast that feels impossible to reconcile … unless you\u2019re the ones responsible for pulling it off.<\/p>\n

When we meet on Thursday, Glenn Weiss, the returning Golden Globes showrunner, is candid about the real challenge ahead of this year\u2019s show on Sunday, which airs on CBS. It isn\u2019t lining up presenters or figuring out seating placement for talent, but tackling \u201cwhat\u2019s left of this building.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNecessity is the mother of invention,\u201d Weiss laughs. \u201cWe had a red carpet in a certain place here for years, and then the construction just took it away. We had to come up with something different.\u201d<\/p>\n

That meant rethinking how the arrivals will unfold, with nearly 500 feet of carpet laid directly onto bustling Wilshire Boulevard, and designed to conceal disruption while preserving an illusion of ease.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a reminder that while audiences tune in for trophies and speeches, the real Golden Globes drama unfolds out of sight \u2014 engineered by designers, chefs and crews whose job is to make everything feel effortless.<\/p>\n

A red carpet curveball<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s most high-risk accessory isn’t a hemline: It\u2019s a set of stairs.<\/p>\n

Meet Jitter Garcia and Kyle Absalom, the designers tasked with reimagining the Golden Globes red carpet after construction forced it off its longtime footprint.<\/p>\n

The problem wasn\u2019t just how to make arrivals look glamorous. It was how to make the venue safe, camera-ready and functional for celebrities in towering heels, sweeping gowns and heavily styled looks, while photographers snap away.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, after stars arrive, instead of taking photos behind a traditional flat press backdrop, they\u2019ll now make their way down a descending staircase designed by Garcia and Absalom. Each step creates multiple photo moments, allowing stars to pause naturally, with reporters on both sides. But what looks effortless on camera requires meticulous, real-time risk mitigation \u2014 because when couture meets gravity, there\u2019s no margin for error.<\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/p>\n

Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser stands before the new red carpet stairs where stars will arrive on Jan. 11. (Michael Buckner\/Penske Media via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very intentional about the measurements of the tread and how long they are,\u201d Garcia says. \u201cWe were thinking about the skirts and the heels.\u201d<\/p>\n

That meant real-world testing. Garcia brought heels and multiple outfits to the build site, walking unfinished steps to see what caught, what pulled and what photographed poorly. Adjustments were made inch by inch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt kind of silly,\u201d she admits. \u201cBut it actually helped a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even after the scenic design was complete, the team scrapped it \u2014 starting over when they realized it wouldn\u2019t read correctly to those at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were done, we were complete,\u201d Absalom says. \u201cAnd then we re-looked at it and were like, \u2018I\u2019m not sure if this is going to look good on camera.\u2019 So we ended up redoing the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The designers hosted a private stylist luncheon, offering a sneak preview of the new arrival experience so stylists could plan accordingly. Vertiginous heels and long trains? This year calls for confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was really, really appreciated and very well received,\u201d Garcia says. \u201cSo they know what their clients are getting into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting stars inside is only the first test. Keeping them fed is another.<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Nobu Matsuhisa previews the menu he will serve at the 83rd Golden Globes. (Monica Schipper\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The sushi strategy<\/p>\n

Inside the Beverly Hilton, the Golden Globes kitchen operates less like a celebrity hot spot and more like a control room. Timing is everything. There are commercial breaks to hit, hundreds of guests to serve simultaneously and zero tolerance for delay.<\/p>\n

Chef Nobu Matsuhisa isn\u2019t here as a celebrity cameo. He\u2019s here as an operator.<\/p>\n

The scale alone is staggering. Matsuhisa tells Yahoo that roughly 1,200 plates will be served throughout the night \u2014 a number that requires military-level coordination. His signature black cod, one of the most requested dishes at his famed Nobu locations<\/a>, is prepared at a volume that would overwhelm most restaurants, let alone a live televised event. But it\u2019s a must-serve dish, he says, as is his signature yellowtail jalape\u00f1o sashimi.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, everyone loved it,\u201d Matsuhisa says. \u201cBut this year, I did a little bit of a switch \u2014 we changed the lobster with spicy lemon, and caviar with mashed potatoes. Sushi, people always like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out of camera view, another sushi bar will be kept fresh throughout the night, giving guests a steady place to snack between speeches and commercial breaks.<\/p>\n

For a room filled with Hollywood\u2019s biggest stars, there\u2019s little chance of the celebrity factor rattling the famed chef.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the people I already know \u2014 everyone,\u201d Matsuhisa says, matter-of-factly. \u201cThey come to Matsuhisa and Nobu. So I\u2019m very comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Nobu Matsuhisa, Mayor of Beverly Hills Sharona Nazarian, Barry Adelman, Nikki Glaser, Glenn Weiss and Helen Hoehne get together to roll out the red carpet for the Golden Globes. (Monica Schipper\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The one decision without a playbook<\/p>\n

Once the logistics are locked, the final decisions this year that behind-the-scenes creatives are weighing are not so much technical as emotional.<\/p>\n

Hollywood is still processing the deaths of the much-loved director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner<\/a>. Whether or how to acknowledge that tragedy during the broadcast remains an open question. The issue was already confronted at the Critics\u2019 Choice Awards, where the host, Chelsea Handler, acknowledged the couple from the stage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Weiss is carefully considering how to frame this. Historically, the Golden Globes hasn\u2019t included an in memoriam segment, and he\u2019s mindful of preserving the show\u2019s tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Globes, historically, is not a show that has an in memoriam in the first place,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep the vibe in a different place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honoring one life inevitably raises questions about others \u2014 colleagues, collaborators and creators whose losses are also felt deeply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also want to be very cognizant that when you start making special mention of one, there\u2019s a lot of others that we\u2019ve lost who are sad as well,\u201d Weiss says. \u201cAnd we\u2019re just trying to keep the tone where it\u2019s been.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a reminder that even the most meaningful moments on awards night aren\u2019t automatic. They\u2019re debated, balanced and sometimes left unresolved \u2014 part of the invisible work that shapes what viewers ultimately see.<\/p>\n

By the time the lights come up and the room fills, those decisions will already have been made. The stairs will hold. The food will land on time. The tone will be set.<\/p>\n

If everything works as intended, the chaos will stay hidden \u2014 and Hollywood\u2019s biggest night will feel, once again, effortless.<\/p>\n

Watch the Golden Globes live Sunday, Jan. 11, at 8 p.m. ET\/5 p.m. PT on CBS. It\u2019s also streaming on Paramount+<\/a>\u00a0and here on Yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three days before the Golden Globes, the venue is very much a work in progress. Power tools and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,134406,156,15183,3714,134403,102252,134405,117431,134408,111,139,134407,69,3482,134404],"class_list":{"0":"post-224630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-christina-house","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-george-clooney","12":"tag-getty-images","13":"tag-glenn-weiss","14":"tag-golden-globes","15":"tag-jitter-garcia","16":"tag-michael-buckner","17":"tag-monica-schipper","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-nobu-matsuhisa","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-red-carpet","23":"tag-the-beverly-hilton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}