Last year, consummate host Jimmy Kimmel found himself in a rather unprecedented predicament for an Oscar telecast: time to kill. So, he read a scathing review of his performance by a once and future president to blow through some extra minutes. That won’t be happening this year.
“We were actually under time,” says returning Oscars executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor. “I remember thinking, ‘We’re having many backup plans in the event this happens again. As television producers of live events, I don’t think we’ve ever been faced with that — so it was a great lesson to learn: Have even more material, just in case.”
Speaking with THR last week, Kapoor and fellow executive producer Katy Mullan said that 2024 emcee Conan O’Brien didn’t even need to be asked to bring the extra material. Despite being a force in late-night since the early ‘90s, it’s his first time on the Oscars stage. And he and his team are over-prepared. “He has so much material that even the gems aren’t going to make it too air are,” added Kapoor. “We are definitely gifted with how much time Conan has invested in this show.”
Another O’Brien idea was bringing on Nick Offerman as the telecast’s voice of god. Kapoor and Mullan also wouldn’t rule out the two interacting throughout the show.
As for the show, they echoed O’Brien’s previous statement to THR about how they wanted to handle the show in the wake of the wildfires that ripped through Los Angeles in January. “The opening is a love letter to Los Angeles, and that there will be a very poignant film that celebrates the people here and the artistry of filmmaking,” says Kapoor, who also produced the post-wildfires Grammys. “There’ll be a musical moment that touches on the fires as well.”
Speaking of music, the pair also defended the decision nix performances of musical songs — a move by the Academy that’s drawn some criticism from nominated songwriters. Nominees include Elton John, Diane Warren, Brandi Carlile and the songwriters of musical Emilia Pérez.
“When you look at all the business of the show and us having to present 23 awards, there aren’t a ton of options for creative thinking,” explains Kapoor. “It was a conscious decision that was made with the Academy saying that we aren’t necessarily going to do original songs this year — that we want to find a different way to honor that discipline. We would have been extremely limited by having to do all five original songs.”
Though Kapoor and Mullan spoke before news that embattled best actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón would indeed appear after her campaign imploded, they deftly sidestepped the question of how the telecast might engage with the furor over her past incendiary remarks about Black people, Muslims and immigrants — while also noting that no nominee will get short shrifted.
“All nominees are going to be celebrated for their achievements,” said Kapoor. “Everybody who is nominated is given absolutely equal weight for packages and everything else. We’re very much about equity on the show.”
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