Producing the 69th
Academy Awards Show

The 69th Annual Academy Awards show was my seventh as producer. It was also the most challenging. The nominated films were by and large not well known, nor were most of the actors and directors. Actually, Tom Cruise, who starred in Jerry Maguire, was the only recognized star. The English Patient had not scored heavily in early January when we began preparation for the show; Shine, Secrets & Lies and Fargo were not nationally successful.

We, of course, did have Billy Crystal as host. He is extraordinary, coupling a stand-up comic's experience in running a show and working a room plus being a movie star in his own right. I knew that Billy would be great and that he would have a terrific opening set.

Booking the show was the most difficult job. Dannette Herman, our talent coordinator, had to get all the biggest stars to make the show work because we would not be getting any of them through the nomination process (usually we can count on a dozen or so very big names being nominated. . . not so in 1996). Big stars are critical to getting the highest possible rating for the evening.

We wanted the show to have the widest possible demographic audience appeal. Therefore, in addition to established stars like Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Glen Close and Al Pacino, we sought Courtney Love, Beavis and Butthead, Chris Farley and David Spade. While I don't think everyone agreed on these bookings, I do believe they skewed younger and perhaps got us a couple of additional rating/share points.

Keeping David Helthcot's appearance on the show a secret was difficult. It is astonishing how the press will go to any length to spoil a surprise. I thought it would be fun to have David make his appearance directly after the Shine film clip. That way Glen Close, who was to introduce the film, could then also introduce the pianist. David's wife, Gillian, and I agreed to keep his appearance secret. David was not to be told of his appearance until the Friday before the show when he was scheduled for rehearsal. Gillian was afraid that David might 'spill the beans' during an interview. Gillian and I received dozens of phone calls asking whether David would be on the show. We told all callers 'No!' Some journalists are still annoyed that we misled them. What, however, is the fun of a surprise if you read about it in advance? Years ago you might have told a journalist the truth and asked her/him to keep it a secret. That is almost impossible today. C'est la vie.

I think Roy Christopher's set was absolutely gorgeous. The Shrine is not my favorite theater because it is used and seen so often on TV. I personally like the exclusiveness of the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion; however, the Shrine has a much bigger house with which to invite more Academy members and it allows us a slightly more relaxed rehearsal schedule. I asked Roy to design a set that "could make us forget we were in the Shrine." He surely did. Many viewers commented on how beautiful the show looked. That is a rare observation for non-pro audiences to make. The opening of the stage was over 100 feet. Michael Flately and his Lord of the Dance troupe of 40 certainly filled that space during our special film editing sequence.

Oh, a word about dance and dancers on the Academy Awards show. It's interesting how often certain critics and self-appointed cognoscente mention that dance should not be on the show. What is fascinating to me is how much the dance elements of the show are loved around the country and the world.

I have received hundreds and hundreds of letters extolling our use of dance on the Academy Awards show. One of the many elements that make this the greatest show of shows, so different from other awards shows, are the size and magnificence of the orchestra, our large singing chorus and, of course, dance. Many tens of millions of people who watch television would not see any dance at all were it not for the Academy show.

We tried some new techniques on the 69th show: having presenters relate and look directly at the film package screen along with the audience, eliminating podiums so that the audience can clearly see the beautiful clothes that are worn, new visuals for the film packages, for the first time showing films in the wide screen formats in which they were photographed, to name a few.

Lou Horvitz directed the show for the first time. His attention to detail and new perspective were a welcome addition to the 69th show.

Football great Jim Brown was a classmate of mine at Syracuse University. He was known for averaging 100 yards per game. Whenever he gained 100 yards many journalists wrote that he had good game. When he failed to gain his expected yardage they wrote his performance was "disappointing.: The irony, as Jim Brown points out in his autobiography, was that sometimes it was much harder to gain the 80 yards against a difficult opponent than it was to gain 100 yards against an easy one. I feel this was the case with this year's show. Whether or not we gained the metaphorical hundred yards, the 69th Academy show was a tough one.

We prepare, design and build the set, costumes, book the talent, book the performers and the entertainment elements, create production numbers, write the script, produce the film elements and the small films that dot the show, encourage Billy and coordinate and rehearse all the above and a lot more. Then the Oscar God either frowns or laughs.

We can have an incandescent moment like the speechless pause when Anna Paquin received her Academy Award, Jack Palance dropped to his knees and did one-armed pushups, the delicious reaction to the surprise of David Helthcot's appearance. Or, we can have a tireless early acceptance speech which can weigh the show down, a series of technical or human errors like a presenter not being able to read the TelePrompTer and getting hopelessly bogged down in his/her introduction. The production team does the best it can do and then we wait for the surprise that only "live" television can deliver. If the surprise is good, we are elated. If the surprise is negative we just carry on.

The wonderful variety show producer and director George Schlatter has phoned me after each of the Academy shows I have produced. He says that there are only eight or 10 people in town who have any idea of what producing a show like this entails. As George is one of them, I always appreciate his calls. This year he called and said "Great show." That meant a lot to all of us.