“I’ve worked a lot of special events, and the Grammys are my favorite,” says Taylor Lokoff ’25, a Los Angeles-based production associate. “Musicians and record producers are pretty laidback compared to other celebrities I work with.”
The Syracuse University alumna speaks from experience, having run on-set organization for red-carpet events in Hollywood. In addition to award shows like the Grammys and Emmys, she’s assisted with high-profile galas, premieres and fashion events.
Lokoff is part of a growing family of alumni—not to mention students and faculty—linked to red-carpet culture. Many are affiliated with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA).
“I make sure everything runs smoothly on set,” says the Newhouse graduate, who also works on gameshows and reality TV series. “I love the variety of my job.”
Cassie DiLaura ’15 is a six-time Emmy Award-winning correspondent at Entertainment Tonight. She recently shared her insights with students in Red Carpet Reporting (JNL 500).
Regardless of its size, the carpet is an event with many moving parts. Producers and directors. Stylists and designers. Publicists and influencers.
Even on-ground talent, like Cassie DiLaura ’15, a six-time Emmy Award-winning correspondent at Entertainment Tonight. She’s covered more than a thousand carpet events, each one a “real-time, cultural pulse check.”
“Millions of people are watching live, and, within seconds, moments are clipped, shared, debated and amplified,” DiLaura says. “It’s storytelling before the storytelling.”
For this reason, the carpet is viewed as a kind of stage where A-listers serve as tastemakers and cultural amplifiers.
“There’s nothing like the buzz of the red carpet,” says Lokoff, who got her start in the industry from producer David Parks ’83. “I get to see a different side of celebrities.”
Integrity Matters
“I bring integrity to everything I do,” says Newhouse junior Isabella Galan, shown here in front of Syracuse’s Landmark Theatre. She covers theatre and entertainment events for WJPZ and CitrusTV.
While the carpet has long symbolized prestige and power, only recently has it become the subject of serious scholarly inquiry.
The Orange are leading the way, thanks, in part, to study away programs in New York City and LA.
For example, Newhouse NYC offers a five-week course called Red Carpet Reporting (JNL 500), taught by Sharon Kanter ’07, vice president of global marketing at Stuart Weitzman luxury footwear.
Isabella Galan, a junior majoring in broadcast and digital journalism in the Newhouse School, attended JNL 500 last summer. She believes that Kanter’s background speaks to the role of fashion in red-carpet events. “The carpet is where style and luxury come together,” says Galan, who also benefited from DiLaura as a guest speaker.
“I bring integrity to everything I do,” says Galan, who, as general manager of WJPZ and a news anchor for CitrusTV, regularly covers local theatre and entertainment events. “Entertainment journalism is beholden to the same ethics and standards as hard news.”
Red-carpet events feature a confluence of fashion, celebrity and entertainment, explains Liv Pines ’24, who works for the iconic lifestyle brand Sam Edelman.
Another professional with a flair for fashion is Liv Pines ’24, the first “social media + content specialist” at Manhattan-based Sam Edelman. “Our luxury products are inseparable from the stars who wear them,” says Pines, who has been promoting musician-actress Charlotte Lawrence as Edelman’s new global brand ambassador.
A micro-influencer since her time on campus, Pines “creates, curates and distributes” digital content from fashion week, galas and after-parties. It’s fast-paced, chaotic work. “And loads of fun,” interjects Pines, who interned at Berri Goldfarb Public Relations through VPA LA.
Just as Newhouse professor Corey Takahashi encouraged Pines to trust her sartorial instincts, Newhouse Professor Emeritus John Nicholson ’68 inspired DiLaura to explore the “lane that meant everything” to her.
“He gave me opportunities to demonstrate the value and relevance of entertainment within our local newscasts,” says DiLaura of the veteran broadcaster.
Wearing Lots of Hats
Taylor Lokoff ’25, an LA-based production associate, works on awards shows like the Grammys and Emmys.
Red-carpet events are known for being carefully orchestrated. Of course, there are exceptions. Anastasia Frazier ’24 found this out at the 40th annual PaleyFest—one of the nation’s top media, TV and film gatherings—as a Newhouse LA student.
During the festival, she marched into the renowned Dolby Theatre, set up her tripod and began covering a panel discussion with the cast and creatives of the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary.
“There was no security there, so I got as close to the stage as I could,” recalls the former CitrusTV entertainment director. “The whole time, I thought about what one of my professors, Keonte Coleman G’03, told me: to ‘always go for what you believe in.’”
Such moxie is typical of students in the Dick Clark Los Angeles Program in North Hollywood. They include Lilly Noreault and Lucy McGovern, juniors in Newhouse LA and VPA LA.
VPA juniors Rachel Yi (left) and Lucy McGovern at the 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which they attended as part of their VPA study away experience.
Both are interns at the Ladyface Mountain Film Festival and Interesting.Media. While Noreault hopes to translate her carpet experience into filmmaking, McGovern wants to be in front of the camera.
“We’re making contacts and acquiring skills that will propel us in exciting directions,” says McGovern, a communication and rhetorical studies major in VPA.
Noreault, a television, radio and film major in the Newhouse School, agrees. “At Ladyface, we organize screenings, filmmaker Q&A sessions and community events. Otherwise, we’re on set, helping producers at Interesting.Media make documentaries and unscripted TV projects. We wear a lot of hats.”
Lasting Cultural Moments
DiLaura (pictured) says the University enables students to apply classroom learning to real-world events. "Red-carpet culture is a real-time, cultural pulse check."
Rachel Yi, a junior in VPA’s acting program, understands the draw of red-carpet season, which typically runs from January to May.
“There’s a lot of money riding on the carpet as well as power and prestige,” says the VPA LA student. “These events are more than brand-building opportunities; they’re lasting cultural moments.”
Yi understands the tension between the stage, which involves the performance of a character, and the carpet, involving the performance of oneself.
“VPA enables me to study both sides,” says Yi, who, as an intern at Soto Productions, has reviewed scripts for projects at the Sundance Film Festival and attended the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “The way we approach storytelling—from the carpet to the screen—is changing before our eyes.”
