The Grammy Awards might be $6 million (Dh22.03 million) to $8 million short in its production budget for its first show in New York in 15 years, say officials.
“The show is really looking good, but it’s a challenge,” said veteran Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich.
“Everything just costs more to do in New York versus Los Angeles, in terms of facilities, stagehands, hotel rooms, transportation, general expenses of the show — all of which we account for, but it’s just a different animal,” Ehrlich added.
New York’s first Grammys show since 2003, to be held on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, is the culmination of a two-year effort.
While the 60th anniversary show is projected to inject some $200 million into the local economy, based on an assessment by the Mayor’s Office of Music and Entertainment (MOME), the tensions between the city and the Recording Academy burst into the open last week.
A Crain’s New York report said the production is $6 million to $8 million over budget, reports variety.com.
Academy president and CEO Neil Portnow confirmed the dollar figure but contested the term “over budget”, preferring to describe the multi-million-dollar amount as acethe delta of difference between holding the same Grammy Week in New York versus Los Angeles.
“The city had a list of ways they believed money could be raised to make it feasible [for the Grammys to be in New York], and that’s pretty much what we relied upon,” said Portnow, adding “It hasn’t quite turned out that way.”
Julie Menin, the MOME commissioner who led the city’s effort to return the Grammys to New York, disputed the assessment.
“Absolutely, the city did deliver everything it said it would,” she said, pointing to nearly $5 million raised in “contributions, union concessions and in-kind advertising” to help defray costs.
There are reportedly conflicting perceptions over several matters, including categories of sponsorships.
However, Menin said: “I don’t think there is [a misunderstanding]. I think the Grammys have made some changes to their show and they’re now looking to raise additional funding to cover that.”
