Waubonsie grad works backstage at the Oscars

Diablo Cody won't be the only person with DuPage County ties at tonight's Academy Awards show.

While Cody is out front basking in the glow of writing the Oscar-nominated "Juno," Naperville native Jessica Bertulis will be backstage serving as a press guide.

"I'll be working with the press on the red carpet in the early part of the day," Bertulis said. "Then (after the show) I'll be working the press conferences for the winners.

"I've heard the slowest part of our day will be when the actual show is going on."

Press guides are responsible for dealing with media crews that visit the set during the show and in the weeks leading up to it.

"I basically have to be with any media that comes into our secured set," Bertulis said. "I make sure they're following the rules."

Bertulis, who graduated from Aurora's Waubonsie Valley High School in 1996, moved to Los Angeles in 2001 "in pursuit of dreams," she said.

"I came out here to write, and I was working at a publishing company for the first couple years," she said. "I realized I wasn't just a writer … and that's when producing kind of fell into my lap."

Bertulis will continue working as a freelance producer when the Academy Awards are over. She has worked for several television networks, including the Travel Channel, VH1 and Animal Planet.

"A lot of things I never thought would happen have happened," she said. "I've traveled the world and been paid to do it."

Bertulis has visited Romania, Scotland, England, the Caribbean and more.

It's natural to wonder whether she's been star-struck, but she seems to take her proximity to fame in stride.

"I've met a lot of celebrities," Bertulis said. "It's Hollywood. You walk down the street and see (famous) people all the time."

Celebrity spottings aren't the only things that make L.A. different from the town she left behind.

"I find that people in Naperville are really nice," she said. "People kind of bend over backward to help you. In L.A., everyone's kind of focused on their own mission, whatever that is.

"The people here are a lot more open-minded though," she added. "Everybody is quirky and weird, and no one really blinks an eye. Nothing really phases anyone here."

This is her first year working at the Oscars, so she doesn't know quite what to expect.

"We have to wear formal attire for the show," she said. "I'm a little nervous about running around in a formal gown all night. I'm just hoping I don't trip -- with thousands of cameras around, your every move will be documented."

Bertulis didn't know she'd end up working at the Academy Awards when she left Naperville almost seven years ago. She said she's had to adapt to changes because her goals have shifted.

"You know, when you reach a goal, you can't just be satisfied with that," she said. "It just keeps getting bigger and bigger."

"My next goal," she said with a smile, "is to be a nominee."