A student journalist’s Oscar diaries

All Photos by Izzy Betz

Thursday, Feb. 27 

For the second year in a row, The Panther was granted access to the press room at the 97th Academy Awards, both in-person and virtually. In the press room, I was able to be mere feet from the night’s biggest winners — and even had the opportunity to ask a question of a creative myself! Consider this article a breakdown of my time at the Academy Awards and my experience in the press room. 

My journey to this year’s Academy Awards began last semester, when I was nudged by Molly Rose Freeman, a class of 2024 screenwriting alumna and former Panther features & entertainment staff writer, to apply for a press credential for the 97th ceremony. Freeman attended the press room last year for The Panther, which is 100% the reason I am even able to write this article.

After receiving confirmation that The Panther could attend, I received dozens of emails from the Academy Awards office over the last few months with information about picking up my credentials (I know, crazy!) and doing a run of show and walk-through of where we would be stationed on the big day.

I dressed up — you only take a photo for your Oscar credential as a student journalist once (hopefully, I get to go back again someday)! My bag was, of course, my John Waters pink cockroach patterned puffy Baggu purse that I purchased from the Academy Museum (I should have worn my Nicolas Cage “Dream Scenario” pin that I got at the same time).

Driving up to L.A. is always brutal, but I made my way to the Loews Hotel to get my credentials. I genuinely thought that I would pull out my ID card and those checking would say, “You are definitely not press and aren’t supposed to be here,” but thankfully, my paranoia didn’t ring true.

In one room, I was given a parking pass for Sunday. In another room, I stood before a backdrop and stared at a man with a luscious beard as he took my photo. In another room, as I waited for my pass to be printed, “Barbie” played on a TV in the corner.

When my pass was finally printed, I felt an extreme adrenaline rush as I slung it around my neck. I was official!

I waited around for the press room run-through to start (I get everywhere way too early) and  tried peeking into the windows of the Dolby Theater, but I couldn’t see anything inside. I had time to shop at Sephora for some last-minute big night things, and then walked out to a balcony lookout area with a view of the city. One of the staircases to the top read, “We are all stars.” The top had a perfect view of the Hollywood sign; I thought to myself, “How am I here right now?”

While waiting in the lobby minutes before the run-through, I spotted two of my absolute favorite celebrities: Mia Lee Vicino and Annie Lyons, the West Coast editor and film festival correspondent, respectively, for Letterboxd — the best app ever created. They were the sweetest women ever, and they both loved the tattoo I have of my childhood stuffed animal, so bonus points to them.

Academy officials scanned our passes and led us to the press room, where I coincidentally found a seat across from the ladies at Letterboxd. The press room team ran us through the show, where winners would enter from, where the Academy librarians would be stationed to fact-check throughout the night and, of course, where the food would be set up outside. 

Then, the academy guides took us on a walk from where the shuttle would drop us off to where the room was so that we could retrace our steps on Sunday. On that walk, I met Nia Lucky, a reporter at CBS Newspath. We showed each other our Sunday outfits and decided to take a trip down to the red carpet to take photos, promising to meet again on the big day.

It was surreal seeing the red carpet being constructed in front of my very eyes. Men were walking around covered in paint, hauling giant sheets of metal and pointing at the ceiling. Journalists were setting up tripods to get video content before the red carpet was closed for special credentials only on Sunday.

Saturday, March 1 

I decided to head to the red carpet a day early when I still had access and take photos with my Sunday outfit (yes, I wore my outfit two days in a row; you have to do what you have to do). I even got some crazy black, white and silver nails done, because we must go all out for the Academy Awards!

I drove to L.A. and got dressed in the Loews Hotel’s bathroom — very glamorous. 

It was crazy that I could just show my credentials and pass all security checkpoints, getting farther than the people watching the red carpet behind the barricades and farther than where I would have been in another universe. 

There was no way I was going to be on the red carpet and not ask someone to take a good photo of me. Two women there from Turner Classic Movies took my pictures — they were the best. Every journalist, including them, who I talked to and asked about my outlet, was so excited for me when I told them I was a college journalist.

As for celebrity sightings — because I know you all are so curious — I saw Cole Walliser, the Glam Bot guy, prepping his shots for Sunday. Another niche celebrity I saw that many of my theatre baddies would know was a portrait photographer for Broadway and Hollywood, Emilio Madrid. Just a crazy thing for me. 

After I took my photos and videos for The Panther’s Instagram, I took one really good last look at the red carpet and the three statues of the golden Oscars. Who knows if I would be back anytime as press (fingers crossed).

Sunday, March 2

What a life I live.

Even getting ready on the big day was insane — putting on my fancy dress, jewelry and makeup felt like an out-of-body experience.

I parked at the designated spot, and the Academy bussed us over in a lovely air-conditioned charter and dropped us off right in front of the Chinese Theater. We crossed through various security checkpoints, including a sniffer dog, and then made our way to the press room.

I was not allowed to take any photos at all inside the press room, so you will just have to believe what I say for the rest of this diary. In the room, there was a board in the back that the press room organizers told us would list where we were supposed to sit. Certain press ordered WiFi routers specifically for the room so that their internet connection would be perfect, but a hotspot would do just fine for me.

The press room team told us there would be an unreserved section in front of the stage where you could sit if you didn’t have a reserved spot on the board. What a lucky duck I was. I showed up with no reserved seat and plopped myself down in the second row, placard number 393, six feet from the stage where this award season's winners would be showing up very shortly.

I befriended a woman named Hope Sloop, a features creator for Decider and a film social media star of her own. She was so sweet, and I took some photos of her for her socials.

The girls in the front rows of the press room and I spent the rest of the time before the award show scrolling on X and Instagram, seeing the live reports of what stars were wearing on the red carpet and eating the bougie snacks in the hallway outside. The standout red carpet looks for us were Cynthia Erivo’s gorgeous green dress and Timothée Chalamet’s very “Curious George” Man in the Yellow Hat outfit. 

And then the show began. Chills immediately went up the arms of me and everyone in the interview room when the montage of films set in L.A. played. Even more chills and clapping erupted when Erivo and Ariana Grande sang their intro. I liked “Wicked” enough, but these performances were absolutely spectacular (Grande’s ruby slipper shoe dress included).

Overall, the room seemed to think Conan O’Brien was a great Oscars host. He was hilarious, opening the show with climbing out of Demi Moore’s back à la “The Substance.” Only so many people can pull this off (please let Nikki Glaser do it eventually).

The most significant moment in the press room from my perspective was when “I’m Still Here” won Best International Feature Film. The outlets in the room had some reactions to the other award wins; when Mikey Madison won over Demi Moore and Adrien Brody won over Timothée Chalamet, there were some gasps and cheers. However, nothing beat the rush everyone felt when we heard that “I’m Still Here” was taking the award home. The entire room erupted; it was the best feeling in the world. As a Brazilian woman myself, my mother and I absolutely adored this movie (it is the best film I have seen in a long time), so being able to be there when the moment happened that the world recognized the film for being so great was an honor.

I was a little nervous about being the person to ask a question in the room. There were at least 200 people in the room, each from a publication dying to ask a question. You can walk up to and butter up the moderator before the winners arrive to try and secure a question for your publication, but I didn’t feel like I needed to. 

I knew I wanted to ask a question to either a cinematographer, production designer or producer and ask for advice they would give to students (The Panther is a student newspaper after all). 

I immediately put my number up when Lol Crawley, the cinematographer of “The Brutalist,” entered the room. I turned my head to look at the moderator and she gave me a little nod. My heart began to race. I stayed professional and stared directly into Crawley's eyes to ask him a question. If you want to watch what I asked him, read my coverage of the technical awards in the interview room here.

Aside from the cringy questions some reporters asked and the questionable responses winners gave, which you can read about in my coverage above, the interview room was a blast for me as a journalist.

One of the best parts of the interview room was there being no commercials during the show! I heard that there was only one film trailer — for “Ballerina,” the upcoming John Wick spinoff movie — that played, which tells a whole other story about how vital the Academy Awards are to the movie industry these days.

We were bussed back to parking in a very hilarious party bus — really treating the journalists right. I ended the night by waiting half an hour in line for In-N-Out Burger. It felt like honoring a new tradition put into place by Paul Giamatti after last year's Golden Globes Awards, and the team behind “Flow” did the same.

To read what was said in the press room by the winners in the acting categories, read The Panther’s coverage of the acting awards.