2009 Academy Awards®

The Motion Picture Association of America and its main security vendor, Security Industry Specialists, hired Security Detection to provide event security for the 81st annual Academy Awards, held at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles on February 22, 2009.

Securing the 3,300 seat theater and multi-building complex was a challenge. The client requested walkthrough metal detectors at several locations on multiple levels, on the street, atop a parking garage, and at an adjacent multi-story shopping mall. Security Detection transported detectors on freight elevators and through hidden service passageways to establish all necessary access points.

The primary and most high-profile access point was the theater's main entrance on Hollywood Boulevard. It was through ten metal detectors at this entrance that all awards show guests, nominees, and other Hollywood stars would enter and be screened.

Recent heavy rains had required the client to construct a large raised wooden platform that guests would cross to enter the venue. The platform created a significant problem for Security Detection, as footfall vibrations can trigger false readings from the metal detectors. Tests conducted the day before the show proved this to be the case, and the issue needed to be resolved quickly. Security Detection staff worked late into the night alongside MPAA set and production crews to build customized brackets for all ten walkthrough detectors. As a result of this last-minute engineering, the detectors were made fully rigid and stationary, and they did not produce a single false reading on the day of the show.

When the famous red carpet was laid across the platform, Security Detection staff donned tuxedoes, and guests began to arrive. From that point on, the biggest challenge was to avoid stargazing as Hollywood A-listers such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrived, waved to fans, and walked safely through the metal detectors and into the theater.