Guess what: we’re reporting live from the Grammys this year *screams*. Follow @pedestriantv on Instagram for all the BTS action from 4pm AEST. Special thanks to our m8s at Discover Los Angeles for flying us to the home of glitz and glam, L.A. If you’re booking a trip to the City of Angels, be sure to hit them up for all the best tips on what to see and do. You can do that right HERE.
Unless you know someone who knows someone, or you’re Adele (hey babes), the odds of ever getting a chance to experience music’s night of nights – the Grammys – is slim to fuck-all.
Unless, of course, you score a plum gig as a seat-filler. A what now, you say? They’re the unsung heroes of every major awards ceremony, whose job it is to make sure not a single theatre seat is left empty when the A-list excuse themselves to grab a drink, take a piss, mingle with their A-list mates or do a line in the bathroom during commercial breaks.
PEDESTRIAN.TV chatted to Ted Absher, who’s the director of Seat Fillers and More – one of only three LA companies that specialise in hooking up v. willing participants with the Grammys, MTV VMAS, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Emmys, People’s Choice Awards etc etc – to get the lowdown on one of Hollywood‘s most sought-after gigs.
Seat-filling is such a random job. How do you apply?
Seat filling is a bit of a Hollywood secret – a lot of people don’t know about. People hear about us from friends, or on the radio, or through an agent if they’re an aspiring actor. They sign up for free via our website, then we send them a welcome letter, then they have to send us either a letter or introduction or a resume so we get all their background info and a photo. Once you’re a registered member, we send out emails whenever we have a show opening and they apply. Then our system picks people who have signed up at random, so it’s fair.
How many people typically apply?
We receive a larger amount of requests to seat fill for the Grammys every year – this year we had 34,000 applications for 350 spots.
How rigorous are security checks for seat fillers?
We have a company that does a general background check for us. If anything at all criminal pops up, they’ll be excluded from the membership process. Jay-walking isn’t a cause for concern but anything involving violence, drunk and disorderly behaviour – that type of thing. We also have to be very wary of stalkers.
Seat-filling sounds like a stalker’s dream, tbh.
It is. We have to be on the lookout for people who are obsessive fans and stalkers. We have a list of those people we always receive from different shows and if any of their names pop up on our database or have applied to be in a show, we bring that to security’s attention. And we block them from our system. We have had a situation in the past where a stalker for a huge female recording artist did try to apply through us, and we blocked him right away.
How do you actually assign seat-fillers to seats?
Seat-fillers line up at the sides of the theatre during the ceremony, waiting to be called up to fill ’empties’ during commercial breaks, when celebrities go to the toilet or backstage to get ready to either present or perform. Others stay in the same seat throughout the show because there are some seats with obstructed views of the stage because of all this camera equipment and they’re the seats that an actual nominee or guest would never want.
What are the golden rules of seat-filling?
Follow instructions. Don’t speak to talent unless they speak to you. Don’t drink. Don’t try to get backstage or into an official after-party. No autograph collecting, obviously. I always remind people they’re being given the opportunity to attend shows that have ticket prices as high as $25,000 per ticket; you’re there to do a job, and a very important one in the eyes of the production, so you should always act like a true professional.
What’s the dress code?
The men are asked to wear a nice suit or tux, and the women wear gowns. The idea is for them to blend in with the crowd so the dres code is formal but nothing too glitzy – or casual. I had one person turn up to the Grammys to seat-fill in jeans and a t-shirt one year. I was gobsmacked! Needless to say they didn’t make it in.
Any instances of seat-filling gone wrong?
Some people become ‘tainted’ – they go in with the best intentions but they get swept up in the experience, or they go in with a hidden agenda, like wanted to get autographs or selfies. They’ll disappear off our map, removing the wristband that they’re given to identify them as seat fillers to try to blend in with the A-list. When that happens, they usually stand out like a sore-thumb. They’re immediately caught and removed. Thank goodness that’s only happened three or four times during my career.
Who are the biggest names your seat fillers have sat in for?
I think the better question is ‘who haven’t they’. Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, Madonna, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Jay-Z… the list goes on and on and on. We always try to fill the first 10 or 15 rows because they’re the seats you can see on camera, so they really are the most famous people in the world.
It must be a pretty overwhelming experience.
It can be. Seat-fillers are just normal people, so when they’re in front of one of the biggest stages in the world sitting next to Beyoncé, it’s a big deal. But we want them to blend in and have the talent accept them so it’s in their best interests to stay calm.
Do some celebrities reject seat-fillers?
Not everyone’s as accepting or friendly to seat-fillers when they realise that’s what they are. But if the seat fillers don’t act like a fan and just enjoys the experience, some pretty amazing things can happen.
Like what, becoming BFFs with someone famous?
Not quite but there have been instances where big-name celebrities have invited their seat-filler to an official afterparty in their place. Or, one year after the Grammys, Keith Urban asked his seat-filler to go along as his and Nicole Kidman‘s guest! They’re great people and of course the seat-filler was over the moon.
Any downsides to seat-filling?
The hours are pretty brutal. They’re at the venue from 2pm, where they go through security, then it’s a lot of waiting around until the show starts at 5pm. We’ll fill up all the empty seats about 15 minutes before show-time, and keep doing so during every commercial. That goes on until the broadcast wraps at around 8:30pm. It’s very hectic, but an unforgettable experience.
Photo: Kevin Mazur / Getty.
