Words by Carol Wright | Photos by Society Awards
Ever wonder how an entertainment trophy is made? Entrepreneur David Moritz of Society Awards shines some light on the process.
What initially got you interested in creating a company that focused on creating awards?
I was always entrepreneurial. By the time I graduated law school I had started a successful lounge bar in NYC. I was on the track for a long career in entertainment law, but I realized that while I wanted to work in the entertainment sphere, I was driven by that entrepreneurial spirit that wouldn’t have any value in a law career.
When you decided to start the company did anything about the awards industry surprise you?
I started Society Awards exactly because of what surprised me about the industry. A close friend worked in the industry and thought I would be interested. He brought me along to a trade show so I could see the companies competing in the space. It was eye-opening. All of the really prestigious awards programs were buying trophies from old-school trophy shops. There was no concept of service or presentation. I just thought, how is this possible? This is a rare and valuable product, why aren’t these awards programs demanding a luxury experience? We’re talking about highly visible, prestigious, and glamorous events and they were getting their trophies in plain cardboard boxes with no customer service.
What has been one of the most rewarding aspects of creating Society Awards?
The most rewarding part is seeing the results on TV, on social media, in the hands of celebrities, business leaders, and visionaries. There’s a lot of work that goes into that moment and it’s energizing to see it pay off. Sometimes when an honoree is lifting the trophy over his or her head, we’ll see the little Society Awards sticker. That’s always a fun moment for the team.
The BET Hip Hop Awards are coming up. What was the inspiration behind the improvements to the award?
BET already had a really cool design with the Hip Hop award when they started working with us. It’s got a lot of detail, and it does a good job of setting the tone for an energetic, fun awards show. The design involves a fair amount of precision assembly, and that can be challenging for brands with fewer quality controls than Society Awards. We recreated the award with our industry-leading production methods, including precision metal casting that results in well-defined detailing on parts such as the microphone head. The biggest improvements to this award were thanks to precision assembly and craftsmanship like only Society Awards can offer.
How long does it usually take to design an award?
The design process is structured, but the timelines for different types of projects vary. Some clients are looking for a brand new design, some are looking to recreate their own design. Recreating a design isn’t as easy as it sounds. It isn’t quick. Our designers and engineers still must create the 3-dimensional files and determine how the piece can be made to ensure it is strong and up to our standards.
If the design is all new, then the process often varies based on how specific a vision the client has for the project. Our concierge account managers work with the client to narrow the vision. That process is proprietary, but it’s really incredible how we are able to extract what the client actually wants and distill it into a truly impressive trophy.
Once the award is designed, how long does it take to create? For example, the BET Hip Hop Award.
The crafting stage is also dependent on the specific client project. Depending on deadlines and the design, the construction could be several months for our high-end zinc die-casting, for which the dies must be manufactured. Products made from crystal, Lucite acrylic, or machined metal can take less time but are not appropriate for all designs.
Do you have a favorite award that your team has designed?
That’s a difficult question. There are way too many to pick a single favorite. Honestly, I like every trophy for a very different reason. The BET Hip Hop Award is just fun and that’s a reason to love it. Whenever we’re improving upon a really iconic trophy and the stakes are high, that makes for a thrilling, memorable project.
The Golden Globe statuette is one of our big redesign projects. It was an exhaustive process and an opportunity to prove the Society Awards brand in a big way. We spent a lot of time going through different marble samples for the base. We refined the detail of the globe and used methods of construction to make that detail much sharper. And we used our signature, multi-stage 24k gold electroplating, and hand-polishing to give it a more luminous appearance.
The MTV VMA Moon Person is another design that everyone likes, and that’s because it’s playful and it’s really shiny. I like it because I’ve always been interested in space travel. Part of that project was to make the spacesuit more realistic to that of a real astronaut. Then we made the details sharper and we gave it a much shinier finish.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
If you aren’t inspired by working hard, if you get easily defeated, you won’t be successful. You’ve absolutely got to be able to self-motivate through tough times. The first year of Society Awards was just me. I handled every aspect of the business in that time. It was hard and there were no guarantees, but I had a vision and I had determination. I had recently left law school I was used to reading a lot and that was an important part of my success, but I was also proactive and relentless in outreach. That’s how you start a business, you need to learn non-stop to take advantage of lessons already learned and you have to put in the work. Without either component, you aren’t going anywhere.