The Academy Awards have announced producers for the upcoming 93rd ceremony. Emmy nominee Jesse Collins (“Zoboomafoo”), Oscar nominee Stacey Sher (“Django Unchained” and “Erin Brockovich”) and Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh (best director for 2000’s “Traffic”) will produce the upcoming show, which is scheduled to air on Sunday, April 25. This is the trio’s first time producing the annual Oscars telecast.
“The upcoming Oscars is the perfect occasion for innovation and for re-envisioning the possibilities for the awards show,” said Academy president David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson in a joint statement. “This is a dream team who will respond directly to these times. The Academy is excited to work with them to deliver an event that reflects the worldwide love of movies and how they connect us and entertain us when we need them the most.”
Collins, Sher and Soderbergh also shared a joint statement saying, “We’re thrilled and terrified in equal measure. Because of the extraordinary situation we’re all in, there’s an opportunity to focus on the movies and the people who make them in a new way, and we hope to create a show that really FEELS like the movies we all love.”
There is still no official statement on if the Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre or how it will navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it has inflicted on the Hollywood industry.
Since the March lockdowns, the COVID-19 pandemic has crippled the film industry, with movie theaters still closed and production halted. In response, the Academy extended the eligibility timeline from Dec. 31 to Feb. 28, 2021, in addition to having films that premiere on streaming platforms qualify for submission.
In September, the Emmys ceremony was a hybrid event that had some in-person elements with host Jimmy Kimmel and most nominees watching the show from home over Zoom.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety