Don't make that right hand turn...

Winning an Emmy Award is very special as accolades go. For American television, it’s the Oscar. I have been fortunate to be on the first team for 10 documentary programs that received Emmy consideration and actually won several times.Our friends seem to enjoy it as much as we do.

Producer/Director Laszlo Pal has been my muse in most of these ventures.  We have spent countless hours ruminating over pictures, voices and music, trying to tell the story in just the right way.  When we do it right, we make people laugh and we make them cry. (Jane is Laszlo’s ultimate test for tears and for embarrassment…a bare bum or an f-bomb will set her off in an instant.) Making people understand what happened in a particular situation and why is truly an art.  I’ve learned from the best.

Last weekend’s Emmy Awards show brought back memories of the year that Laszlo and I decided we would actually attend the ceremony in LA. One of our solo sailing stories was nominated. We were in the “Network Specials” category, along with a couple of other documentaries and the likes of the New Year’s Rose Parade and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day celebration. Could we win? Hell, we were nominated!  Let’s go.

We got to LALA in time to have a little Hollywood fun, getting our palms read on Venice Beach (nothing but good news there) and having a real Jewish deli experience at Nate and Al’s. To my back at the booth was John Lithgow, who was presenting and not nominated for anything.  He overheard us talking about our project and as he left, he stopped to say he’d use whatever influence he had to see that we would win. (That’s called “Hollywood BS” in  most circles, but it felt good at the time.)

After some primping, we tuxed up and headed for the gala.  The budget got stretched a bit to make the trip so I made sure we had an economy car for all the freeway back and forth.  A Ford Fiesta seemed a lot cooler on the autobahn in Germany but it fit the bill for getting us around. As we approached the entrance, we easily slid into the line of towne cars and limos heading toward the entrance.

It’s here that I have to confess, out of an otherwise spectacular weekend, I made a big mistake. I saw the Red Carpet coming but somewhere in the back of my mind I thought, “We can walk down the carpet later, just not after this huge land yacht in front of us empties its passengers and Joan Rivers is faced with the Fiesta.” So I made the abrupt right hand turn into “Self-Parking”.

 

The sound that came out of the mouths of Jane and my cohorts was similar to that of the crowd in Mudville when Mighty Casey struck out.  “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Clearly, the Red Carpet was more important than the red car we were in. Now my only hope to save the evening was to win the Emmy.

Drinks around the pool and Hollywood chitchat ensued. Finally, we moved inside to our table.  Oprah was on one side of us. The Macy’s gang and Ellen flanked us at the other two adjacent tables.  There was no pressure.  We were there and deservedly so, win or lose.  They flashed the category and then the nominees on the big screen. It was Leeza Gibbons who read our name and we were awestruck. We’d won and even Oprah congratulated us. Laszlo and I high-fived all the way to the photo session.

Several more stops were made that evening and each time we placed the Emmy in the middle of the table, the drinks were free. As we drove out of the parking lot, I had a small moment of redemption when I shook the Emmy in the attendant’s face and he waved us on through with no charge. We even got free hot dogs at Pink’s.

Say what you will about awards and their true value, it still feels great to win. We celebrated on the beach near the Santa Monica Pier the next day with Class A seats for the latest Cirque du Soleil show in the Big Yellow and Blue tent. What a time.  I highly recommend it for a good solid rush. But remember one thing…just don’t make that right hand turn.