NEW YORK 鈥� Ninety seconds. That鈥檚 how quickly Steven Soderbergh believes the Academy Awards will convince viewers that this year鈥檚 telecast is different.
The concept for the show, which Soderbergh is producing with Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins, is to treat the telecast not like a TV show but a movie. And he鈥檚 convinced he鈥檚 got a doozy of an opening scene.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to announce our intention immediately,鈥� says Soderbergh. 鈥淩ight out of the gate, people are going to know: 鈥榃e鈥檝e got to put our seatbelt on.鈥欌��
Changing the Academy Awards, a 93-year-old American institution, has typically proven an exercise in futility. Tweaks have been tried along the way, yet the basic format has been stubbornly immutable.
But this year, the pandemic has shaken the Oscars like never before. When the broadcast begins April 25 on ABC, there won鈥檛 be an audience. The base of the show won鈥檛 be the Academy Awards鈥� usual home, the Dolby Theatre (though the Dolby is still a key location), but Union Station, the airy, Art Deco-Mission Revival railway hub in downtown Los Angeles.
For the producers, the challenges of COVID are an opportunity to, finally, rethink the Oscars.
鈥淎t any step in the creative process of making a movie, when I ask a question about why something is being done a certain way and the answer is, 鈥楤ecause that鈥檚 the way it鈥檚 always been done鈥� 鈥� that鈥檚 a real red flag for me,鈥� Soderbergh said in a recent Zoom interview with Collins and Sher. 鈥淎ll of us this year have taken advantage of the opportunity that鈥檚 been presented to us to really challenge all the assumptions that go into an award show.鈥�
No matter how good a job they do, ratings are all but certain to fall from last year鈥檚 23.6 million viewers. Award show viewership has cratered during the pandemic, and this year鈥檚 Oscar nominees 鈥� while widely streamed and more diverse than ever 鈥� lack the kind of buzz generated in a normal year. Soderbergh praises the best-picture nominees as 鈥渙ne of the most auteur-driven set of films."
鈥淚f the teams in the Super Bowl are from small markets, it鈥檚 still a great game, people still care,鈥� says Collins, who produced The Weeknd鈥檚 halftime show at this year's Super Bowl.
Collins was also a producer of last month鈥檚 Grammy Awards, a telecast that drew praise for its personal, jam-session feel. That sense of community is something the Oscars want to exude, too.
鈥淢y big thing has always been: It鈥檚 not intimate. It doesn鈥檛 feel personal,鈥� Soderbergh says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in a COVID world. It has to be that way. Nominees, guests, presenters. That鈥檚 it. Those are the only people in the room. That was just a weird alignment of catastrophe and my personal preoccupation.鈥�
The Oscars, most assuredly, will differ greatly from February鈥檚 largely virtual Golden Globes. The producers have made a stand against both Zoom and casual wear. This is the Oscars, after all; there will be no acceptance speeches made in a hoodie. The producers pressed the nominees to attend in person, with appropriate safety precautions.
Some bristled at the academy鈥檚 stance 鈥� lockdown regulations are in effect in some countries and cases are persistently high in Europe and elsewhere 鈥� leading to compromise. There will be a hub for nominees in London, and, as of late last week, about a dozen remote satellite hook-ups. Some material will be pre-taped; every nominee has spent 45 minutes with the producers.
Soderbergh envisions the broadcast as a three-hour movie, not a webinar. But what does that mean, exactly? If the Oscars are a movie, what kind will it be? From the director of 鈥淥cean鈥檚 11鈥� and 鈥淟ogan Lucky,鈥� should we expect a heist film?
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to feel like a movie in that there鈥檚 an overarching theme that鈥檚 articulated in different ways throughout the show. So the presenters are essentially the storytellers for each chapter,鈥� says Soderbergh. 鈥淲e want you to feel like it wasn't a show made by an institution. We want you to feel like you鈥檙e watching a show that was made by a small group of people that really attacked everything that feels generic or unnecessary or insincere. That鈥檚 the kind of intention when I watch shows like this that is missing for me. A voice. It needs to have a specific voice.鈥�
Technically, the broadcast will have a more widescreen look and a more cinematic approach to the music. (Questlove is music director.) Presenters are considered the ensemble cast. One thing you won鈥檛 see, says Collins, is standard banter before an award is handed out.
鈥淲hen you see cast members go up to give awards, you鈥檒l see a connection,鈥� Collins says. 鈥淚t won鈥檛 be two people walking up that just met in the greenroom who are struggling to stick with the teleprompter.鈥�
It鈥檚 undeniably a lot to pull off, with ever-fluctuating COVID-19 conditions and restrictions. The logistics are 鈥渕ind-numbing,鈥� Soderbergh says. The egos, a whole other fascinating component. 鈥淥h, it鈥檚 a chapter for the memoir, for sure,鈥� he says. But the show is coming together. 鈥淚鈥檓 feeling pretty amped,鈥� he says.
The role of Academy Awards
The Oscars are an annual meeting, of sorts, for Hollywood 鈥� a moment of reflection, aspiration and backslapping for the industry. This year鈥檚 awards, postponed by two months, follow a punishing pandemic year for the industry that saw movie
鈥淭he cliche when you go into to pitch a movie is to say it鈥檚 about hope and scope,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat is kind of what we want to do, to show what鈥檚 possible.鈥�
That includes an affectionate celebration of each category鈥檚 craft and nominees.
鈥淪nark is something that we didn鈥檛 want,鈥� says Sher, the veteran producer of 鈥淕et Shorty,鈥� 鈥淒jango Unchained鈥� and Soderbergh films like 鈥淥ut of Sight鈥� and 鈥淓rin Brockovich.鈥� 鈥淚nstead of looking at it from the outside in with a high degree of cynicism and stark, we鈥檙e pulling the curtain back and letting them into our community. There are a lot of misperceptions about the business. It鈥檚 a predominantly
On Oscar night, Soderbergh 鈥� who typically serves as his own cinematographer under the alias Peter Andrews 鈥� plans to be in the production truck alongside the show鈥檚 director, Glenn Weiss.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been so much resistance to make any big moves, but at least what we鈥檒l have done, coming out the other end, is give the academy, the network and the viewers some real information about what they like and what they don鈥檛 like because we made some big moves,鈥� Soderbergh says. 鈥淭hat means it will evolve, and it needs to evolve.鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
