In September 2009, Rick Brothers was helping his daughter, Julie, move into a New York apartment, a city where she had no job and had never lived before.

A decade later he was attending the Emmy Awards with her.

Julie Brothers works as a field manager for HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” which won its fourth consecutive Emmy Award for best variety talk show on Sunday. She took her father, who lives in Warren, as her date to this year’s ceremony.

“The nominations were announced July 18, and she called me July 20, that Saturday, and said there’s something I want to tell you,” he said. “As a father, when you hear something like that, Oh, boy … But she said, ‘I’d like you to be my date for the Emmys.’ I got a flight that night.”

The New York-based “Last Week Tonight” has turned the annual awards ceremony into a trip for its team. About 40 staff members and their dates traveled to Los Angeles for the event. Brothers walked the carpet (which was purple, not red, this year to honor television royalty) with his daughter and the rest of the “Last Week Tonight” team as photographers took their pictures.

He didn’t leave his seat during the three-hour ceremony for fear of missing a moment. Those who don’t make it back to their seat during the commercial break are locked out until the next commercial.

Being there was a different experience from watching it on television.

“Just seeing the people in person and the clothing, the beautiful dresses,” Brothers said. “The whole experience of being there live is the difference between watching the Browns on TV and being at the stadium. It takes it to a whole new level.”

After the ceremony, he attended a post-awards party with the show’s crew, where he got a photo with host John Oliver and got to hold the Emmy statue.

“My daughter introduced me to him,” he said. “John told me my daughter is a great asset to the production team and thanked me for my daughter, which was really cool. He is a really nice person and to treat his employees the way he does, I thing it’s the exception rather than the rule. It’s very refreshing.”

As a field manager, Julie Brothers is responsible for coordinating all elements of the segments shot outside of the studio.

“She’s the organizer. She secures the site, the talent, the props, catering, everything,” he said. “She the one who pulls everything together.”

Julie Brothers won’t get a Emmy statue of her own, but she does receive a framed certificate from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognizing her contributions to the Emmy Award winner.

“We have three of the framed certificates at home,” her father said. “Looks like we’re getting a fourth.”

Brothers said he had many fond memories from the trip, but the best part was, “Just spending the weekend with my daughter and seeing the benefits of her hard work and determination.”

Andy Gray is the entertainment writer for the Tribune Chronicle. Write to him at agray@tribtoday .com