Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1623 Insider Awards
After the Producers Guild's Gold Laurel Awards are presented, another iconic Oscar award, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, will also hold its awards ceremony.

This award, which was only established last year, surpassed the old Directors Guild Award and Writers Guild Award and won NBC's broadcasting contract.

The broadcasting rights of the Oscars have long been monopolized by ABC. The ratings of this award are very high, and the advertising sponsorship is a sky-high figure. NBC is very jealous, but the Golden Globe Awards it broadcasts are always a level lower...

Anyway, most of the Oscar judges are from the Screen Actors Guild, and they are willing to give the Screen Actors Guild Awards a try. Maybe it will become an influential award in the future.

Because there are so many members of the Screen Actors Guild, the awards ceremony could not be held in a hotel in Beverly Hills. However, the broadcast fee from NBC was not enough, and they could not afford to rent a large auditorium in Los Angeles. Finally, the Screen Actors Guild Awards chose the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica as the venue for the awards ceremony.

This was the first black community in Santa Monica, and building a civic auditorium here in 1958 was also meant to promote racial reconciliation.

However, racial conflicts did not diminish because of this auditorium. Instead, they became more intense because of the Vietnam War in the 1960s and the assassination of Dr. King.

The Civic Auditorium, with its good acoustics, cheap rent (because it is located in a black community), and the ability to accommodate more than 3000 spectators, has become a popular venue for various bands to hold concerts. David Bowie, Eric Clapton, and Elton John have all performed here.

The venue is large enough and the rent is cheap, so the second Screen Actors Guild Awards was chosen to be held here.

This is a small town in the western part of Los Angeles County, near the coast. It only takes Ronald half an hour to drive there from his home in Beverly Park.

But for the 3000 or so members of the Screen Actors Guild, this was not a good choice. They could not afford to live in a luxury house like Beverly Hills, and the driving distance was not to mention. Wearing a dress, driving a cheap car, and having to find a parking space was not a pleasant thing.

"Oh, I saw Diane Lane and Ronald Lee, what a perfect couple..." At the entrance of the Civic Center, TV reporters were interviewing celebrity guests.

"He came with me..." Facing the camera at the door, Diane pointed at Ronald beside her and said teasingly.

"I came with her..." Ronald followed up well. The Screen Actors Guild Awards are actually awards for actors. The audience who come to participate are all members of the Screen Actors Guild, and they draw lots to determine who can attend.

Ronald is not a member of the Screen Actors Guild, so he is technically Diane's "male companion" when he comes to the scene...

But his official purpose was to present the award. This year, the award continued from last year, with an award for Best Ensemble in a TV Series. Whether it was Seinfeld, Friends, or Sybil Shepherd's new play Sybil, or Helen Hunt, the heroine of Crazy for You, they were all related to Ronald, so he was a good choice as the award presenter.

However, the real reason was that Diane insisted on coming. The Screen Actors Guild Awards was a great opportunity for her to communicate with many of her fellow actors. Whether it was to reminisce about the past or to deliberately show off herself, there was no occasion more suitable than this.

Ronald was very happy about it. He didn't know much about the situation of actors in Hollywood. Face-to-face contact with them would help with future casting.

"My name is Michael Keaton, and I'm an actor..."

The host of the Screen Actors Guild Awards was Michael Keaton, who played Batman in the first two films. Judging from the intensity and duration of the applause, it was much stronger than that of the Oscars.

Ronald felt that this was a big gathering of "insiders" of actors. These people all had a consensus that we were all actors, and this award was also considered an internal selection of actors. There were no casting directors to comment, no producers to complain about their lack of fame, and no directors to complain about their acting skills. It was a complete "insider" award.

Every joke and every comment received a lot of laughter from the audience. This feeling of being an insider is very unique.

The Directors Guild is relatively small, and most directors are not as emotional as actors, so Ronald has never experienced such a strong sense of belonging.

The first award was for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, which was presented to Christine Baranski for "Sybil," Lisa Kudrow for "Friends," Julia Louis-Dreyfus for "Seinfeld," and Helen Hunt for "Crazy About You."

Christine Baranski looked stunning in a long white dress, but Ronald felt that she had trouble holding the trophy.

The trophy is a bronze statue of an actor, holding a drama mask in one hand and a comedy mask in the other, standing tall, with simple and powerful lines. The base is black marble, engraved with the winner's name and category.

The most noticeable thing is that it does not have a glittering gold coating, but instead has a bronze texture, which is completely different from the golden trophy like the Oscars.

Ronald estimated that the entire trophy weighed more than 10 pounds (actually 12 pounds, about 5.4 kilograms), which was visibly heavier and taller than the Oscar trophy (the Oscar weighs only 8 pounds).

Afterwards, every actress who went on stage to receive the award placed the trophy on the table before giving a speech, which was completely different from the situation at the Oscars where one hand tightly grasped the trophy.

The same is true for the male actors who received the awards. Most of them would raise the trophy with both hands and wave it twice, and then have to put it down temporarily. Although some people would still pick it up unwillingly and try to show it to the audience, they were forced to put it down.

For example, the winner of the Best Actor in a Drama category is Anthony Edwards, who played the backseat weapons officer of the protagonist in Top Gun. His performance in ER was very good, he was gentle and well-spoken, and he no longer looked like the "silly goose" he used to be. After all, there are few opportunities for a bald actor like him in the film industry, and TV series, which are closer to ordinary people, are a better stage.

He also couldn't hold the trophy and give a speech throughout the whole process. This trophy is really not meant to be held up for show, it is more suitable to be kept at home.

After all, the trophy was designed by sculptor Robert Graham. It is more like a sculpture imitating ancient Greek style than a trophy.

However, everyone knows that the leading actor in ER, the guarantee of ratings, is George Clooney, who plays another doctor. Unlike Anthony Edwards, Clooney is rumored to leave this popular TV series and look for opportunities in the film industry.

Ronald was more concerned about the film awards. The next award was for Best Supporting Actress.

The nominees were similar to those for the Golden Globes, including Angelica Huston, Kate Winslet, Mira Sorvino, etc. The award presenter was Kevin Spacey, who harshly criticized the Oscar judges.

Spacey said that the judges of the Screen Actors Guild Awards are all actors, and it is an affirmation of actors by actors, rather than some anonymous committee that sits in the cinema with flashlights and can't wait to vote against the film before watching the whole movie. This is a complaint about the scandal of the Oscar for Best Documentary last year. It seems that many actors are dissatisfied with this.

In the end, Kate Winslet won the award. Sure enough, Harvey Weinstein's magic has its limits, and Mira Sorvino's performance in a movie he produced is unlikely to win an award for such a large-scale voting award.

However, Kate Winslet stayed in Britain to attend the British Academy Awards there and did not attend. The presenter accepted the award on her behalf, which was somewhat embarrassing for Kevin Spacey.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards also adopted the Oscar system, and the Best Actress award was presented by former Best Actor winner Tom Hanks. When he received the award for Apollo 13, he did not go on stage, leaving the opportunity to other actors, which was in line with his usual modesty.

However, he was very enthusiastic about the award ceremony and prepared a set of words to connect the scenes. He also thanked many Hollywood directors for their innovation, which allowed actresses to get more types of roles and roles of different ages. For example, this year's award will be given to a housewife in a small Midwestern town, a prostitute in Las Vegas, a noblewoman involved in politics, and a first lady...

The Best Actress in a Motion Picture Award was finally given to Susan Sarandon. Her performance in Dead Man Walking beat Emma Thompson, Joan Allen, Elisabeth Shue, Mel Streep and others...

This is a very obvious indication that the final winner of the Oscar will most likely coincide with the Screen Actors Guild Award. Half of the thousands of Oscar judges voted for the Screen Actors Guild Award.

The Best Actor award was presented by last year's winner Jodie Foster.

She didn't try to deliver a humorous hook, but simply announced the winner of the award - Nicolas Cage, the actor of "Leaving Las Vegas".

Cage wore a white suit and took the stage to accept his first major award.

Among the many Oscars this year, the most stable and consistent winner is the Best Actor. Nicolas Cage has been winning all the way, and with the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which has the highest overlap of judges and the largest number of judges, the Oscar for Best Actor is already beckoning to him...

Therefore, Cage was particularly excited and talked a lot about how he was moved by James Dean's movies when he was young and how he wanted to follow the footsteps of the great actor...

After his award presentation, some pre-recorded clips of famous actors were inserted. They all talked about how they got their SAG cards. For example, John Mahoney, the supporting actor in Ronald's "Moonlight", had his first acting job in a laxative commercial...

"The award presenter is Ronald Lee, a famous Hollywood director, the discoverer of many young actors, and the man who once did the casting for the movie Endless Love..."

At the beginning of the second half, Ronald came on stage to present the Best Ensemble Award for a Drama TV Series.

"I worked on the casting for the movie Endless Love... Ha, what an interesting introduction..." Ronald complained about his introduction as soon as he came on stage...

"Hahahaha..." Everyone below was laughing so hard that they were bent over. This might be the least famous of all the film-related jobs Ronald has ever done.

"This is an internal award of the Screen Actors Guild, and I am not a member of the Screen Actors Guild. This is the result of the organizing committee spending so much time helping me find the close relationship between me and the actors. Only then am I qualified to stand here and present the Best Ensemble Award for Comedy..."

"Hahahaha..." The audience below burst into laughter again. We all want Ronald to come and present the award, right?
"In fact, they don't have to go through so much trouble. My closest partner, my wife Diane Lane, is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, which means I am also covered by the Screen Actors Guild's medical insurance..."

"Hahahaha..." The audience laughed the loudest tonight out of respect for Ronald's status. Of course, Ronald's words were indeed humorous, and they didn't need to use their acting skills to make the whole room laugh.

"The winner of the Best Ensemble Cast in a Comedy TV Series award is...Friends..." Ronald stepped aside and gave the main positions to the leading actors of Friends.

Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani, rushed to the front excitedly and gave Ronald a very exaggerated and powerful hug.

"Many actors talked about their experiences of getting their Actor's Guild cards in the short film. What I want to say is that I want to thank Mr. Ronald Lee for his Coca-Cola commercials, which gave me the possibility to join this great industry of actors..."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Matt LeBlanc spoke in a similar way to Joey in the TV series, which made the audience laugh again.

After the awards ceremony, there was another after-party. Ronald felt that the people in the Screen Actors Guild had a kind of internal camaraderie that was different from other professions. It might be because actors always become famous overnight, and everyone has friends from when they were little. Their enthusiasm showed a little bit of sincerity.

"The Directors Guild Award should also be better..." Ronald thought, and he was a little envious of the Screen Actors Guild Award.

I had some work to do today, so the update was late.