Banff World Media Festival
The 2018 Rockie Awards
© Kristin Chenoweth, Bring Him Home with Bob Greenblatt, 2018 via YouTube
Seph Stanek​
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Creative Strategist and Consultant, Host
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Co-Writer, Script
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Star Stylist
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June 2018
Banff, Alberta, Canada
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For the 2018 Rockie Awards in Banff, Alberta, I was asked to curate a lineup presentation of introductions, jokes, and transitions for the host, culminating in a special "finale" segment specifically honoring Robert Greenblatt, who was receiving the evening's largest award on behalf of NBC Universal.
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I wrote the script for the entire evening, including costume changes and jokes specific to the attending audience members; for the finale, we surprised Bob Greenblatt by asking him to show the audience a hidden talent of his: playing the piano. He laughed, thinking this was some sort of joke he'd been wrangled into, and sat down at the piano, where he saw the sheet music to "Bring Him Home" on the music stand. With no rehearsal, he started playing, the host began singing, and they delivered a performance that nearly blew the roof off of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. The message here was to showcase the power of music education in public schools, where Mr. Greenblatt learned to play piano; this was also the message behind the philanthropic award he received that evening.