It takes a village

September 17, 2009 It's days before the 61st Emmy Awards and Joachim Splichal's life should be in chaos. Making a meal for 3,500 guests isn't easy, even if you're an award-winning chef who's choreographed the Governors Ball dinner for the past decade. 1,200 in all, including 20 executive chefs, 177 kitchen chefs and 45 bartenders working 22 food stations, two ice bars and two wine bars -- for what is recognized as the largest annual formal dinner in the U.S.

Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.

   Subscribe now.