When the final Emmy is handed out Sunday night, Cheryl Cecchetto’s work will just be getting started.

As producer of the Governors Ball, the main after-party on TV’s biggest night, she’s responsible for giving 4,000 guests what she calls “incredible memories that linger long after the last dance.”

It’s her 18th consecutive year putting on TV’s biggest bash with her Culver City company Sequoia Productions, which has also produced the Governors Ball after the Oscars for the past 26 years.

Despite Sequoia’s long run with both events, she said she’s not getting complacent.

“My biggest challenge is outdoing what we’ve done before,” Cecchetto said. “Surpassing guests’ expectations each time is one of the keys to staying around so long in this or any other business.”

After Sunday’s Emmys at LA Live’s Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, the ball at the nearby Los Angeles Convention Center will see guests served 1,500 pounds of filet mignon and 170 pounds of Alaskan halibut by 700 wait staff under glimmering 27-foot crystal chandeliers.

Though her focus is squarely on the Emmys, she also has her eye on another event she hopes will be coming to Los Angeles in a few years: the 2024 Olympics.

“I’d love to be involved in producing that,” she said. “It would be another incredible experience.”

– Sandro Monetti