Golden Globes Awards 2017 - Last-Minute Preparations Focus on Weather, Security, Shuttles

08/01/2017 - The Hollywood Foreign Press Association must’ve put Ray Donovan on the case of handling the weather for Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards ceremony. Most of California is expected to feel the lash of Winter Storm Iras on Sunday, but the forecast for Beverly Hills calls for rain and high winds to hold off until about 10 p.m. The weather report for the peak red carpet hours Sunday afternoon calls for a high of 70 degrees with partly cloudy skies.

In other words, a picture-perfect day in La La Land for the glitzy assembly of movie and TV stars (including Liev Schreiber, a nominee for “Ray Donovan”) at the Beverly Hilton. Host Jimmy Fallon spent most of Saturday filming a lengthy video for the opening segment. Fallon and the producers have also been grabbing numerous cameos from boldface names including Justin Timberlake. “It’s going to be colorful, it’s going to be musical, it’s going to be fun,” Fallon said Saturday during a Facebook Live Q&A to promote the Globes. Nonetheless, the HFPA and Globes producer Dick Clark Productions have contingency plans and plenty of tenting at the ready in the event that the rain blows its cue and arrives early. Security plans in and around the Hilton are also tighter than ever this year. Beverly Hills police, the FBI, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and private security contracted by Globes organizers are looking to ward off any potential disruptions at a time of heightened political tensions in the country. The combination of celebrities, free-flowing champagne, and live TV could make for a charged night if winners decide to weigh in on President-elect Donald Trump or any number of divisive cultural issues. In the entertainment industry, few issues were more hotly debated than the epic fail of last year’s Golden Globe after-party shuttle service from parking lots in Century City to the Hilton. Partygoers wound up waiting an hour or more to get a seat on a shuttle. This year Hilton officials assure that the process has been streamlined and the shuttle route changed in order to speed up the turnaround time for each shuttle.

Related How Golden Globes Party Planners Hope to Prevent Shuttlegate Sequel With rain in the forecast for the post-show revelry period, organizers had better hope they’ve solved the problem of long shuttle delays. If not, not even a high-end Mr. Fix-It like Ray Donovan will be able to diffuse the anger that will boil over among soggy executives. (Pictured: Miss Golden Globes Sophia Rose Stallone, Sistine Rose Stallone, and Scarlet Rose Stallone; the HFPA’s Lorenzo Soria; host Jimmy Fallon; and Dick Clark Productions’ Allen Shapiro and Barry Edelman roll out the red carpet outside the Beverly Hilton)

(VARIETY)