Craig Zadan & Neil Meron Not Returning to Produce Next Year's OSCARS

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are officially ending their involvement with the Academy Awards.

According to Deadline, the pair's reps have confirmed that they will not return as producers of next year's broadcast, following three years at the helm. Zadan first sparked rumors with a cryptic tweet earlier this month, saying: "Hoping that whoever produces the #Oscars next year will retain our innovations: #TeamOscar program & reading all 24 nom on Oscar nom morning."

Zadan and Meron brought the broadcast to a 10-year high in ratings with the 2014 show hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. This year however, the telecast, emceed by Neil Patrick Harris, fell 16 percent in viewership.

Zadan and Meron's feature film, television and theater productions have earned a total of six Oscars, 11 Emmy® Awards, two Tony® Awards, a Grammy® Award, five Golden Globes®, two Peabody Awards, five GLAAD Awards and two NAACP Image Awards. For film, they executive produced the 2002 Best Picture winner "Chicago," which won Oscars in six of the 13 categories in which it was nominated. Their credits also include the feature films "Footloose" (2011), "Hairspray" (2007) and "The Bucket List" (2007). Zadan also produced the original "Footloose" (1984).

For television, Zadan and Meron executive produced last year's groundbreaking "The Sound of Music Live!" which drew a record-breaking 21.3 million viewers. Their other critically acclaimed credits include last year's miniseries "Bonnie and Clyde," the TV series "Smash" and "Drop Dead Diva." The duo has also produced such Emmy-nominated television movies as "Steel Magnolias," "A Raisin in the Sun," as well as "Annie," "Serving in Silence," "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella" and "Gypsy."

On Broadway, they recently produced the revivals of the Tony-winning "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" starring Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette, and the Tony-winning "Promises, Promises" starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth.

Zadan and Meron executive produced the television musical "Peter Pan Live!" Their newMTV comedy series, "Happyland," premieres this summer. For the big screen, Zadan and Meron are producing "Pippin" for the Weinstein Company, a musical based on the extensive Beach Boys song catalog for FOX 2000 Pictures, and "Monster High" based on the Mattel franchise for Universal Pictures.

by Walter McBride