In the front row were five court reporters, hired to transcribe everything the winners said from the press-room stage. One of them, Erika Sjoquist, who had a steno machine perched beside her, told me, “I do superior-court work, deposition work. And then we also do the sag Awards.” This was her twelfth year at the Oscars. When I asked who was the hardest person to transcribe, she said, “Martin Scorsese, hands down. He doesn’t have a normal speech pattern. You know the dog from ‘Up’ who’ll all of a sudden go, ‘Ooh, a squirrel’? That’s how Martin Scorsese speaks.” In the back corner was my favorite part....MORE
