In their third year working together putting on the Oscars, executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor and executive producer Katy Mullan are hoping to shake up the look and feel of the show, emphasizing the humanity of Oscar night as a place where inspiring speech is welcome, and the motion picture achievements get the respect they deserve.
In an interview with the Emmy-winning producers (they won for the 96th Oscar show), it was the human touch they are emphasizing this year theme-wise that they especially wanted to talk about. Of course the show itself is still a work in progress and will be until Sunday no doubt, and when I got on a Zoom to talk with them recently they were still figuring things out — particularly in how to do the In Memoriam segment since so many major names have passed this year.
Since our conversation there have been unconfirmed reports of Barbra Streisand appearing to honor her The Way We Were co-star Robert Redford (she last appeared in 2013 singing “The Way We Were” to honor its late composer Marvin Hamlisch); as well as a segment with veteran Oscar host Billy Crystal tributing his friend and director Rob Reiner along with his When Harry Met Sally co-star Meg Ryan and others from Reiner films appearing onstage.
As of press time the Academy hasn’t officially commented on any of that. But Kapoor and Mullan are giving lots of clues as to what we will see Sunday, including promising me a very special presentation to launch the first new Oscar category in 25 years: Casting. They also explained the reason only two of the five nominated songs will be performed on the show, how they will deal with any political speeches, and just exactly what returning host Conan O’Brien may be cooking up for the opening.
DEADLINE: So this is your third year in a row working together in putting on Hollywood’s biggest night. Is it getting to be old news for you?
RAJ KAPOOR: It’s not old news. Every year is exciting. And I think we have a lot of new things in store. We’re really at crunch time right now. For starters I mean, we have a brand new set this year. We’ve been working with with Misty Buckley and Alana Billingsley for the past couple years, who’ve won two Emmy Awards already for their design, and this year we basically started from scratch, and it’s a really beautiful aesthetic. It’s based on this human touch that Katy can probably speak to a little bit more, but we’ve really tried to make the entire show feel very tactile, and that all these amazing humans work on these beautiful films that are celebrated, and we’re really trying to carry that aesthetic through in almost every way. So that’s the theme.
DEADLINE: The human touch? So Katy I guess that means the Oscars will not be going all AI on us this year.
KATY MULLAN: We thought a lot about what the theme should be this year, and the moment that we’re in and everything becoming, you know, more tech-driven. AI is a big conversation out in the world. But when you look at these films, when you look at what you know, filmmaking is still unmistakably human. It’s about those choices and those instincts and the vulnerability and the craft. And you know, when you look at a lot of these films how do we just tell some stories in the show that are about the real people and the way they’ve shaped these films with their hearts and their minds and their lived experiences, and so that’s really thematic throughout the night when it comes to the visuals, when it comes to the scripting, and how we want people to feel in that room. We really want them to feel celebrated, but we also want them to feel like they’re surrounded by something that is as artistic and as beautiful as the films that they’ve made.
DEADLINE: I think another new thing this year is the addition of a brand new competitive category: Casting. Will you be doing anything special to highlight that one?
KAPOOR: Yes. We have put a lot of time and thought into it, and we are actually really thrilled that we’re able to celebrate them in a way that they’ve never been celebrated before. We’ve had really great success in the past couple years with what we call our Fab Five moments (Note: That is where five presenters come to honor each nominee in the category). And this year, we’re saving it for casting, because we think there are really beautiful stories to be told. We want to amplify that, just that category, because it’s maybe unfamiliar to viewers at home. So it’s like, we have a little bit of a story to tell. We want people to really understand the importance and contribution of casting directors and how they contribute to film. And I think we’re spending a little bit more time, because this is a new category. They’re essential to the filmmaking process, and we’re really trying to find presenters that are able to speak to it in different ways.
MULLAN: I think that the acting community, the whole film community, are really, really excited about this award being in the show this year. So we’ve had a huge amount of conversations. And yeah there are a lot of people who are really interested in taking part in this piece. So I think it’s going to be a really great moment in the show.
DEADLINE: There are just so many awards shows crowding the calendar leading up to the Oscars that it can be challenging I would imagine to keep it fresh and not just a rehash of the same acceptance speeches viewers have seen over and over in the past few months.
KAPOOR: I mean, to me, the Oscars are really kind of the pinnacle of the award season, especially for film. And I think no matter what these artists and nominees have done on other shows, the Oscars always feels special. And you know, we honor people’s rights to express themselves, and hopefully sometimes that can lead to a moment that becomes part of their legacy, like sometimes when people really connect and they say something so meaningful, it really goes down in television history. And we’re hoping that we get some of those moments, maybe from somebody who has never won before, but some of those moments really matter to people who maybe want to pursue this line of work or a career, and they’re influenced by some of those words that are spoken on the show.
DEADLINE: Are you worried about the show getting too political in the speeches? We saw the dust-up at the Berlin Film Festival about that, and even on the Grammys, on which Raj was also a producer this year. The world is pretty dark right now. Are you encouraging free speech, whatever people want to use this massive platform to say?
MULLAN: I think that we just want to respect this community, and we respect people’s right to free speech and to get on that stage and express their viewpoint, and you know they’re in the spirit of creativity. And then the structure of this show, I guess, is also a celebration. We also want to make sure, and we also hope that everybody is respectful and that there’s a lot of celebration and joy as well on the stage. There’s always that chance. But I think that what we saw, which was really lovely at the nominees luncheon, was just how close and how much camaraderie there is in the room, and the support from all of these different disciplines for each other, and the excitement around being in the show. And I think that people understand that, what great company they’re in, when they see themselves surrounded by these people that they hugely look up to, or that new talent that they really admire. I think everybody wants to come to that stage and make the community proud and speak from the heart. So I think that even though we’re in a charged climate now, I really believe it’s going to be a great show, and we’re going to have incredible speeches.
KAPOOR: And really, one of the jobs as producers is to to make sure everybody in that room is there to celebrate and hopefully uplift everybody in that room, and that really comes from the overall tone of the show. So that’s from music choices, and then having a host like Conan, who we are so overjoyed that he has returned, and if you’ve seen all the promos, just the most amazing partner to us. So again, I think Conan steps into that role, and it immediately just brightens the room and brings a smile to your face. And he’s there to help support film and cinema and joy and and I think that kind of carries through the entire evening. So yeah, we hope the speeches are definitely a reflection of that as well.
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DEADLINE: Are you going to be sticking to a 45-second rule for speeches? Will you be playing anyone off if they don’t comply?
MULLAN: I mean, we always want people to be able to finish their point and make the points that they want to make. But we are obviously always up against a very, very packed show and a very, very tight timeline. So yes, the timing is 45 seconds, and we really hope that people can stay as close to that as possible, so that we can bring it in on time. Because as great as the show we’re going to make, nobody wants to watch more than three and a half hours.
DEADLINE: You mentioned music being a key component yet there was some consternation when you sent a letter to the Original Song nominees and/or their representatives informing them that only two of the five nominated songs — “Golden” and “I Lied To You” — would be performed on the show. Diane Warren, a 17-time nominee, was among those vocally upset by this decision. Why did you make it?
KAPOOR: The show is different from year to year. We’ve had years before where there haven’t been five nominees. There’s been years where all five nominees have been on the show. Last year, there were no original songs on the show. And this year, I think, you know, that part of the decision was just thinking about what those particular properties, Sinners being the most nominated film of all time, and then KPop Demon Hunters just like part of the cultural conversation, and just honoring that, the animated feature, and then the song really being one of the biggest hits of the year. It all kind of came down to a decision that we weren’t just honoring songs, we were honoring films, and those two just kind of rose to the top. Sometimes it is just making tough decisions on what’s on the show and what’s not. And again we added another award category this year giving us 24, and we really tried not to just be fair, we want to be fair to all nominees across all categories. And sometimes that’s what makes it a little difficult to have everything on the show that we’d want to.
DEADLINE: How are you going to present the other three songs?
KAPOOR: We are putting together a nomination package. All five are featured in there. And really it’s shining a spotlight on the songs and the songwriters that are part of that process. But again, we’ve kind of taken a look at all our nomination packages this year and tried to make some creative choices of how we’re using them and and spotlighting different people, and we try to just have a lot of variety within the entire show.
DEADLINE: Let’s talk about the In Memoriam segment. There are always complaints about who gets left out, but this year there are so many big names who died. Raj. on the Grammys you did an extended In Memoriam which included highlighting and honoring specific names in addition to all the others in it. Will there be similar tributes such as to Redford, Keaton, Reiner?
KAPOOR: In Memoriam, again, is one of the things that we put a lot of time and thought into. And I think we have something really special and poignant and emotional that will resonate with people for a very long time. To be honest, it’s a little bit of a work in progress right now. We are looking at all the film clips. Unfortunately there’s a lot of people who passed this year, and we’re really trying to tell the right story, and we’re reviewing it. We’re in meetings every day about In Memoriam and looking at the development of it. But it’s one of those pieces that changes all the way up to showtime almost, because we take so much care into how it’s presented.
DEADLINE: Finally, let me ask about the opening. Last year you led with a dynamite Wicked number with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Are we looking at another musical opening this year?
MULLAN: No. This year it’s going to be very different from last year. Conan is cooking up something very special. I’ll just put it that way, okay?
DEADLINE: Will it be more than a monologue? Is he planning a taped bit like he did on the Emmys several years ago when he hosted them?
MULLAN: It might be a bit of both.
The 98th Oscars air Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT on ABC and Hulu.
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