Covering the Oscars is all about the fast and the furious – but it is one of the best jobs there is

The best thing about covering the ceremony is witnessing classic moments that’ll be talked about for decades to come, writes Jacob Stolworthy

‘La La Land’ producer Jordan Horowitz (centre) looks at the card reading ‘Best Film: Moonlight’ as it becomes clear a mistake has been made (Getty)

With the arrival of the Oscars comes what is quite possibly the culture desk’s busiest weekend.

Despite the fact that the annual ceremony has lost heaps of credibility over the years thanks to a series of undeserving winners (Green Book over Roma anyone?), the Academy Awards remain the most discussed event on the film calendar. In fact, my job’s pressure never feels more overwhelming than when I’m hunched over my laptop moments before the ceremony’s due to start.

During the show the winners are announced thick and fast and the news lines are being generated at a speedier pace than an average working day. It really is as stressful as it sounds.

Delegating jobs beforehand is a military operation all in itself. On the night, we have a small crack team, whose task is to break the big news as soon as it happens. Then, a few people will be on hand to to write longer features on the evening’s most talked about moments. Editors are key given the time the ceremony takes place and the speed we are working. It’s an experience that starts slow enough before descending into a seemingly endless blur of coffee sipping and keyboard clacking before bam, it ends as quickly as it arrived, almost feeling like it never happened.

The best thing about covering the ceremony is witnessing the classic moments that’ll be talked about for decades to come, firsthand. There’s something special about watching somebody mess up a name or deliver an awkward speech in real time as opposed to viewing it as part of a highlights reel while scrolling through Twitter the following morning.

The year of the most famous blunder of all – La La Land incorrectly getting named as the Best Picture winner in 2017 – proved the most enthralling. “Pack up and leave,” my former editor had instructed me, assuming the evening’s festivities were wrapping up. Thirty seconds later, it was announced that Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway had announced the wrong film and Moonlight had, in fact, won.

It was a defining Oscar moment – the biggest such mistake on the biggest stage – and, thanks to the job, we had witnessed it live. If that’s not a perk, I don’t know what is.

Yours,

Jacob Stolworthy

Culture reporter