Cole Walliser is not exactly a celebrity, but like many in Hollywood, he has made a career out of his proximity to them. On Sunday, Mr. Walliser will attend his ninth Oscars, where he will exchange air kisses and nice-to-see-yous with A-listers.
Then, amid the cacophony of voices on the red carpet requesting the same, he’ll ask them to smile. With him, it’s a bit different, though.
Mr. Walliser, 44, has become an awards show fixture over the past decade as the director of E!’s Glambot, a high-speed camera mounted on a robotic arm that captures a thousand frames in a blink, resulting in dramatic, slow-motion videos.
Weighing in at 1,500 pounds and extending over 10 feet, it’s a hefty device. The camera, which reaches, zooms and whirls around using the same technology as some car factories, moves about 10 feet in one second, Mr. Walliser said. The entire process, from a celebrity approaching to the final shot, happens in just over a minute. It’s not a lot of time to direct, though it helps that his subjects happen to be famous actors who have taken pains to ensure they look gorgeous from any angle.
The short videos — which can draw more eyes on social media than award shows do viewers on cable television — are now a red-carpet staple, akin to being asked “who are you wearing?” If it’s an honor to be nominated, at this point it’s also rite of passage to be “Glambotted.”
Almost Famous
On a Tuesday afternoon in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, Mr. Walliser was flipping his curls in the waning sun, prompting a stranger to suggest he pursue a career in shampoo ads. (Indeed, he is a spokesman for a dry shampoo, Glamboost.)
Nearby, onlookers stole glances. “Oh, it’s him,” one of them exclaimed after consulting her phone.
That happens, Mr. Walliser said over an oat latte and bowl of salmon curry. Mr. Walliser, who is half Chinese, chalked it up partly to their seeing an “Asian-looking guy with curly hair.”
“It’s like, that’s only one guy,” he said, laughing.
It was a late lunch. Mr. Walliser, in Los Angeles fashion, is an intermittent faster. He also surfs and enjoys driving his Porsche on racetracks.
When he arrived in California, Mr. Walliser had just finished a psychology degree at the University of British Columbia, not far from where he grew up in Vancouver. He spent his teenage years skateboarding, making videos of himself and his friends.
Once in Hollywood, he found work on commercials and music videos with artists like Pink. In 2008, he directed a series of dance battles starring Miley Cyrus that eventually landed on the Teen Choice Awards.
Years later, in 2016, a producer from that event reached out about a newish red carpet project, Mr. Walliser said. Other early Glambot directors included the former “America’s Next Top Model” judge Nigel Barker and Joseph Kahn, the music video director.
Initially, Mr. Walliser said he was “uncertain” about how the quick-fire format would work, but it soon became his thing, and eventually celebrities began to catch on, too.
In 2019, Lady Gaga, a nominee for “A Star Is Born,” posted a Glambot video to her Instagram story from the Golden Globes. “I think that was a moment where people were like, ‘Oh, I want one too. I want to do what she’s doing,’” Mr. Walliser said.
Now, many, but not all, are game. Jared Leto turned him down once, saying: “I watch it all the time. I’m too shy.”
In January, Mr. Walliser made headlines after Jennifer Lopez appeared to snub him at the Golden Globes. Mr. Walliser defended Ms. Lopez and described her simply as a professional “down to business.” (A representative for Ms. Lopez did not respond to a request for comment.)
The scrutiny turned on Mr. Walliser, though, when that same month a woman named Yinka Animashaun posted an email exchange she had with Mr. Walliser in 2019, when she inquired about the cost of Mr. Walliser and his Glambot services for her wedding.
Mr. Walliser told her that slow-motion video was “not cheap” and later implied she was emailing him in bad faith — curt remarks Ms. Animashaun suggested in an interview with People had to do with her being a Black woman. (Ms. Animashaun declined to be interviewed for this article.)
Mr. Walliser recently apologized for the emails on social media. “Growing up, issues of identity, race and belonging deeply affected me,” he said in a video. “I would never intend to inflict that onto anybody else.” Speaking in Venice, he said that he had not handled the exchange with “the level of business respect and courteousness” that he should have.
After the debacle, a different director appeared on the red carpet with the Glambot at the Grammy Awards. (A spokesperson for E! said Mr. Walliser, who is a freelancer, was not hired for the event.) Mr. Walliser was back a few weeks later for the Screen Actors Guild Actor Awards.
Not Your Average Photo Booth
While the effect might appear akin to that of a gimmicky wedding photo booth, the Glambot is not a simple operation. Behind the scenes, a team of about 15 people, including editors, camera operators and producers, are all doing a carefully choreographed dance to shoot and publish the videos at warp speed.
Mr. Walliser has the most visible job, directing celebrities where to stand and look, and helping them toss their hair or cape just so. It is a role Mr. Walliser has used to his own benefit, turning himself into a character in the behind-the-scenes videos he posts for his over 17 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Others have stayed behind the camera. Mr. Kahn, the music video director, recalled missing a career high while he was manning the Glambot at the Grammys in 2016. That year, he won best music video for directing Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood.”
“I couldn’t go onstage because I was on the carpet,” Mr. Kahn told The New York Times this month.
For Mr. Walliser, his work has allowed him a window on how Hollywood, media and celebrity have changed over the past decade. These days, people are more likely to encounter red carpet looks and indelible award show moments online.
“I really have witnessed the eyeballs switch from traditional media onto new, digital media,” Mr. Walliser said. “It’s been a full 180,” he added, “My career wouldn’t have gone the way it has had it not been for that flip.”
He was looking ahead to the Academy Awards this weekend, the last big event of the season. He ran down the “bright” outfit he would be wearing, selected by his stylist, and his glam routine: His grooming team would come over early Sunday morning to make sure his curls and face were ready.
Like a seasoned pro, he thrives best when he’s slightly underprepared for the task at hand. He could shoot roughly well over 100 people that evening, but he said he hadn’t much studied the list of who was expected.
“I have been leaning more to not look at a face sheet and not be super dialed-in on who’s coming,” Mr. Walliser said. “If I start thinking, ‘Oh, Beyoncé’s coming,’ I’m going to get in my head. I’m going to get nervous.”
Kirsten Noyes contributed research. Camera operating by Andres Melo.
Madison Malone Kircher is a Times reporter covering internet culture.
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