Have you dreamed of attending award shows like the Emmys? My first award show experience was back in 2013 when I was selected to go to the Oscars Red Carpet. It was until 2014 that I got to be inside the theatre for an award show. A friend invited me to be her guest for the People’s Choice Awards as a seat filler. Both times I absolutely loved getting to be part of the process. I began doing research and have made an effort to be involved in more awards shows in any way that I can. Keep reading to find out how to get into the Emmys for free without being a big star.
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If you are interested in attending various award shows you can check out this blog post with a complete list of all the shows fans can attend. My past week has been very busy. Last weekend I was a seat filler for one of the two days of the Creative Arts Emmys and last night I was blessed to be at the prime time Emmys. The Creative Arts Emmys air on FXX and are given out for categories like guest actor, cinematography and sound mixing.
That particular Emmys show is easy to get tickets for and you’ll get to bring up to four guests if you’d like. Most of the pictures in this post are from the Creative Arts Emmys due to how much easier taking photos that night was.
The prime time Emmys are much more difficult to get tickets for. A website called Seatfillersansmore had tickets available for red carpet fans and seat fillers. If you’re interested in attending events like the Emmys consider joining my private Facebook group. I share tickets to events like the Emmys, movie premieres and more! I do all the research so that you don’t miss out on great events! How can you join? Anyone who purchases my ebook on How to Meet Celebrities in LA is able to join. You can find more information here.
From what I have heard thousands of people submitted for the Emmys and only 300 us were selected to be seat fillers. Unfortunately, no one was given a plus one which would have been nice with all the waiting around you have to do. Everyone had to go through a background check. They take security at this show very seriously. Two weeks before the show I got my confirmation email with my ticket and parking information. Free parking is provided close to the venue.
Check-in for seat fillers for the Emmys began at 1pm and closed at 3pm. Around 4pm they began moving us over to the Microsoft Theatre. It was close to 5pm when we finally got to sit down so please consider wearing flats if you go in the future. You’ll be on your feet a lot. While I was standing on the side of the theatre some of the stars began to pass by us. My first celebrity sighting was Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones who I was really excited to see.
Seat fillers are given a lot of rules. The gist is they don’t want you to have your phone out taking photos and asking for autographs. Don’t argue with anyone who claims you are in their seat. We had to leave our wristbands and ribbon pins on at all times so that the seating coordinators knew who they could pull from seats towards the back to fill the spots of winners and presenters. All in all, I changed seats about 7 different times. It kept things interesting!
The first seat I was in was directly behind Tony Hale who was busy talking to D’Arcy Carden from the Good Place. In front of Tony were Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ted Danson, and Kristen Bell. Later in the night, I was moved next to friends of Sterling K. Brown and Amy Poehler both of whom came to chat with them on a commercial break. I was also thrilled when I got moved to an aisle seat. Hugh Grant walked next to me twice.
It was such a wonderful experience to get to witness the show in person and see all of the moving pieces. One of the most interesting things to see was the camera crews moving around the find the various nominees. While seat fillers are threatened with being kicked out if they take any photos before or during the show once it ends you can take them. I had an easier time with photos at the Creative Emmys because I had a friend with me to help me out. This show was trickier because so many people were ready to leave as soon as it ended to head out to the parties.
It was also easier for seat fillers to get on the purple carpet post-show at the Creative Emmys for photos. The prime-time Emmys have such a different situation security-wise. Only those with the governor ball tickets could exit out by the purple carpet. Everyone was able to grab a program which is a great souvenir from the experience. The seat filler coordinators told us that some of the guests at the show paid $3,000 for their tickets. Not only did seat fillers get to attend for free, but we also had great seats.
Interested in attending the Oscars Red Carpet? You can read about my experience here.
