"So where do you want me to put this?" I asked my mom, who was putting up framed photos on a wall in the living room.
"Oh, put it in the kitchen," she said. "After that, come help me put these up on the wall."
I nodded and took the box to the kitchen, then returned to help her with hanging the pictures. I picked up one of them, which looked new—it was a picture of me from five months ago holding the Golden Globe award I won for Toy Story.
"When did you get this framed?" I asked.
"Oh, those came in a month ago. Since we were moving, I hadn't taken them out yet," she replied.
As we were putting up the photos, I reminisced about the hectic times of the awards season. We were nominated for many awards—The Golden Globes, Kids' Choice Awards, the Annies, and, of course, the Oscars. Ah, the Oscars; it still left a bitter taste in my mouth.
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January 15 2007
Golden Globes Awards
The Golden Globes were one of the first major awards shows of the season, and the first one I went to. It was also the first time I was in the same room as major celebrities, filmmakers, and other industry professionals. I went with mom,I was dressed in a suit that cost more than what I made in a month in my previous life. I stepped onto the red carpet with mom, posed for photos; Chris and other cast members were there as well. The flash of cameras and the hum of conversations was a surreal experience for me.
Inside the venue, the room sparkled with chandeliers on the roof, the tables were adorned with golden accents it looked like a hollywood award show that i had seen on TV before just this time i was sitting with them.
Thankfully, I was seated with Tom Hanks, whom I already knew; he also introduced me to other big celebrities. We exchanged polite greetings.I was very overwhelmed.I met Leonardo DiCaprio, who was nominated twice in the same category. It was a good year for him as he was in both "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond," but that didn't help him much, as he lost to Forrest Whitaker.
Another memorable meeting was Johnny Depp; he was a funny guy. I also met my celebrity crush, Penelope Cruz, which I messed up because I couldn't get a word out. I visibly cringe whenever I remember that meeting.
The first category that we were nominated in was Best Original Song. Justin Timberlake was the one presenting it, and he read out the nominations. I, along with Jon Redfield, was nominated for this. Jon was a new artist whom Chris had given an opportunity to sing in the movie. It was a great selection by Chris, as the song came out great. For Jon it was his big breakout moment in the industry, and he was even working on his first album now.
My heart raced as Justin read out the nominees.
"And the Golden Globe goes to 'You've Got a Friend in Me' by Jon Redfield and Daniel Adler." The room erupted in applause as we stood up; Mom, Chris, and even Tom gave me a hug as Jon and I made our way to the stage to receive the award.
"Can you believe it?" Jon asked as we walked to the stage.
"Not really, this is insane," I said, laughing.
We arrived at the stage, and Justin handed us the award; the audience continued to applaud, and we stood there, soaking in all the attention.
There was a problem; I was never good at speaking in front of an audience. I had worked on it since I woke up here, but now standing here, it was like I was back to square one. I motioned Jon to speak first, thinking I could avoid speaking altogether.
"First and foremost, I want to thank Chris Henderson for giving me this incredible opportunity. I was new, untested, but you took a chance with me, and I would forever be grateful...."
"Daniel," he said as he turned to me, "I didn't believe at first when Chris introduced me to you as the person who wrote the song. And boy was I wrong; you are a great songwriter, storyteller, and I hope we can collaborate more in the future." The audience applauded again, and Jon motioned me to speak.
"I, ummm… thank you, thank you so much. This is truly unexpected, and I... I didn't really prepare a speech…" My voice was laced with nervousness and excitement, and the audience gave a small laugh hearing me speak.
"I want to thank my mom, who has been my rock and without whose support, I wouldn't be here." I saw the camera pan to her; she had tears in her eyes.
"I would like to thank Chris, the entire cast, Jon, of course…"
"I wish I had prepared a better speech, but hey, there's always next time," I quipped and lifted up the award over my head and ended the speech that got a huge laugh and applause for some reason we descended from the stage went back to our seats.
The next category was an important one since it would be the first time the Golden Globe would be awarded for this. Steve Carell took to the stage to present the award.
"I have the honor of presenting a brand new category. The last time the Golden Globes had a new category was in the 1950s; it was the best new program for this thing they called television, so you can see this is a big deal," the audience laughed at Carell's deadpan delivery.
"The nominees are…."
Steve listed the nominees. I was sure we were going to win this, as the only competition we had was Happy Feet, which came out a month before Toy Story.
"And the Golden Globe goes to… Toy Story!"
"We did it again," I said to the table. I stood up and hugged Chris. He tugged on my hand, signaling me to come with him. I shook my head and told him to go alone and have his moment. There was a large applause as Chris made his way to the stage. Steve Carell handed the award to him, and he made his speech.
"Wow! Thank you so much. This is a tremendous honor. This film holds a special place in my heart. I would like to thank our incredible team who poured their heart and soul into bringing these characters to life."
"I want to thank the people who watched our movie. Your love and support for 'Toy Story' have been overwhelming. And lastly, I would like to thank Daniel, who trusted me with his story to bring his beloved characters to life on the big screen and i hope we can work together more and create more films like this .... "
The crowd erupted in applause as Chris lifted the Golden Globe in the air and ended the speech. The rest of the show continued with Forest Whitaker, Meryl Streep, and Helen Mirren winning awards. After it ended, Chris, Jon, and I were led to take photos and give interviews to the press. The night was going great. Mom fangirled over Meryl Streep when she approached to congratulate me. I had never seen mom like that before.
The only dark spot of the whole event was when I was cornered by Harvey Weinstein into a conversation. He was a powerful man in Hollywood, and I couldn't just give him the cold shoulder. I just smiled and nodded, hoping he would just end it because I was really creeped out by how he kept complimenting and looking at my mom. Thankfully, he moved on. Oh...I knew I would bump into him and others like him in the industry, but that was for future Daniel to handle.
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"Danny… Danny…Daniel..." I heard my mom call as I snapped out of the memory.
"Stop daydreaming. Put the rest of these up. I am going to the kitchen," mom said as she walked in the direction of the kitchen.
I picked up the next photo. It was me with the seven Annie Awards we won. We basically swept the Annies. There were other award shows too, like the Kids' Choice Awards and the Critics' Choice Awards. We won at least one in all the awards shows we got nominated for.
Then we got to the Oscars. We were nominated for the same things that we were nominated for at the Golden Globes. At the time, I got sick and couldn't attend. After the show, I was glad I couldn't go because we didn't win in any category.
I was so sure we were going to win the best animated film. However, Happy Feet won. Happy… Fuckin…Feet.... Damn, that was a disappointment. I really didn't care about losing the other categories; there were some strong contenders there, but Happy Feet... I mean it's an entertaining movie, but compared to Toy Story, the whole incident left a bitter taste in my mouth.I was no the only one who thought that way as well the whole thing had become a controversy but it faded away after a while just like all controversies after the Oscars.
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Mom was planning a housewarming party, and she had invited all her friends and visited all the neighbors to invite them. We had now completely moved in, and I was also going to be joining a new school. That was a good thing since I was miserable in the previous one and had convinced my mom to finally homeschool me two years ago. Maybe I would make some friends in the new one—it could be a fresh start for me.
"Danny honey, I need your help," Mom said as she entered the backyard. I was typing away on my laptop, working on the first Percy Jackson book. I closed the laptop and turned to her.
"I need you to visit the house two houses down; it belongs to Jay Pritchett, you know, the man who did our closets," she said, sitting next to me, holding what looked like a pie.
"Yeah, I'm the one who met him first, remember?" Jay's company had done a fantastic job on the closets; he even personally came to see it through.
"There wasn't anyone home when I went there before to invite them to the party, so can you go and invite them? I am too busy at the moment," she asked.
"Sure, Mom, I'll go," I said, getting up from the chair, and she handed me the pie.
"So who will be coming to the party?" I added.
"Let's see... the neighbors, my old friends, and some new ones, some professors from Nathan's college, Chris, Lucy, and I would invite some of your friends…" She gave me a smile. "...if you had any."
"Ouch, that was harsh," I said with faux hurt.
"Well, you were the one who convinced me of in homeschooling you, at least you decided to attend high school properly from now on."
"Wait, who are these new friends?" I asked; Mom always had a small group of friends, and I knew all of them.
"Oh, they are Lucy's friends. She introduced me to them a year ago," Mom looked like she was thinking something for a moment. "Hey, I think you have already met them before; they mentioned meeting you and Lucy."
"What are their names?" I asked, curious.
"Cameron and Mitchell. Do you remember meeting them?" she asked.
Oh, wait, there it is again. Why am I meeting so many characters from Modern Family? At first, I thought I would barely meet any of them. Now, I'm neighbors with one of them, another one sold us the house, and now Mom has become friends with them. What's next, me marrying into the family?... I chuckled, thinking about that.
"Danny, what's wrong?" Mom asked, concerned by me standing and laughing without any context.
"Nothing, just thought of something funny," I said. "And yes, I do remember them," I added.
"Good, they are very nice people" she replied "Oh, and Jay is Mitchell's dad.....What a small world," she said to herself.
"Alright then I am off to invite Jay," I said as I took the pie and walked towards Jay's house.
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I reached their front door and rang the doorbell. I could hear someone speaking on the other side.
"Manny, get the door… Manny… mannnny," sounded like someone with a Latin American accent. Oh wait, Sofia Vergara, that's who it is. She was Jay's wife in the show. Ahh, what was her name? glory… something.
The door opened to reveal Sofia Vergara in all her glory. She was wearing a very fashionable dress with a floral design; she had dark hair and very expressive eyes. Well she was Sofia Vergara.
"Yes?" she asked, probably confused about why I was standing there.
"Hi, I am Daniel, your new neighbor. This is Jay Pritchett's house, isn't it?" I asked.
"Ayy, you must be from the house with the big closet. Jay wouldn't stop talking it for months," she exclaimed with her vibrant accent. "Please, come in," she added with a welcoming gesture, inviting me into the house.
"This is for you," I said, giving her the pie. "My mom came by earlier, but there was no one here, so she sent me to invite you to our housewarming party next week."
"Oh, this looks so good. My name is Gloria. I am…" she said, taking the pie.
We were interrupted by a boy coming down the stairs. He looked like he was 10, but he wasn't dressed like a normal ten-year-old. He stopped in the middle of the stairs when he saw me.
"Oh, wow! You're Daniel Adler," he said as he sped down the stairs towards me.
"Ay, Manny, slowly," Gloria said to her son, who I assume is Manny.
"Wow, I can't believe it, Mom. This is Daniel Adler; he is a famous writer," he said with a huge smile.
"Are you famous, Daniel?" Gloria asked.
"Yeah, I wrote a series of books…" I answered, but Manny interrupted me.
"We went to the movies, remember? A few months ago. Daniel is the one who made it," he said to his mom.
"Ay, the one with the possessed toys! That was a scary movie," she exclaimed.
"They aren't possessed, Mom. I told you before…" Manny tried to explain to his mother.
"Gloria, who is at the door?" said a voice that sounded like Jay. Jay walked to where we were standing, seeming like he was by the pool, just like I was.
"It's me, Mr. Pritchett, Daniel, your new neighbor," I said.
"Oh, how's the closet? No problems, I assume," he said, walking over to me.
"No problems, it looks great," I replied.
"Well, it should be. It's my best work yet," he said with pride.
"I'm here to invite you for a housewarming party on Saturday evening—you know, burgers, BBQ, beers, all the fun stuff," I added.
"Oh, we will be there," he replied, smiling.
"Oh, great! See you there, then," I said, extending my farewell.
"Wait, I have so much to ask you," Manny said as I was about to leave.
"Don't worry, Manny. We can talk at the party," I assured him with a friendly smile and left the Pritchett residence.