The Oscar press room is a converted ballroom in the Renaissance Hotel next to the Kodak Theatre. Security is tight to get here: from the red carpet, there's a prescribed route through the Hollywood & Highland shopping complex and past two checkpoints.
Once here, things are a little cramped -- there are hundreds of reporters here lined up at tables with their laptops and cell phones -- but we're well cared for. The room features eight big-screen TVs to watch the show, a variety of informational material and, of course, food: pasta, vegetables, sesame chicken, skewers of beef, and plenty more.
The Academy knows: a well-fed press corps is much easier to deal with. And no reporter has ever turned down free food.
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