Producers David Hill and Reginald Hudlin today announced 14 key members of the production team for the 88th Oscars®, which will air live on Sunday, February 28, on ABC.
This year, Glenn Weiss makes his Oscar telecast debut as director. Weiss has directed numerous televised events, including 15
TONY AWARDS shows, for which he has garnered three directing Emmys. Other directing credits include the "38th Annual
KENNEDY Center Honors," "Billboard Music Awards," "BET Awards," "Peter Pan Live!," "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," "Primetime Emmy Awards," "Live from Lincoln Center," "Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular," "Garth Brooks, Live from Las Vegas" and the "American Music Awards."
Supervising producer Michael Seligman has more than 300 major television events to his credit and has earned 13 Emmy nominations, including 11 for his work on Oscar telecasts. Seligman's other producing credits include "The American Giving Awards," "America Celebrates July 4th at Ford's Theatre," "Stand Up to Cancer" and "Return to the Titanic...Live!"
The 88th Oscars brings three new consulting producers to the telecast: Cindy Hauser, Nicolle Yaron and Chris Pizzi.
Hauser is the screens and content producer. She will be overseeing the creation of several on-screen visuals, including the In Memoriam segment. For more than a decade, Hauser has worked in graphics and visual displays as well as produced several high-profile live events. Her credits include "YouTube Play" at the Guggenheim Museum, "YouTube OnStage Live from the
KENNEDY Center" and "Google Engage" events in Dublin and Singapore.
Yaron makes her Oscar debut as the element producer and will be coordinating with the Academy on social media. Her credits include "The Voice," for which she received an Emmy Award as a senior supervising producer. Yaron most recently served as an executive producer on the series "Rising Star" and "World's Funniest." Her other credits include the "Primetime Emmy Awards," "People's Choice Awards" and the "MTV Movie Awards."
Pizzi, this year's insert producer, will be working with Lori Margules, who is the consulting producer on nomination packages. Pizzi is a three-time Sports Emmy-winning producer for NFL, PGA and NASCAR studio shows for
FOX Sports. His credits include "Riggle's Picks" on "FOX NFL Sunday" and a variety of commercials for
FOX Sports. Margules' credits include previous Oscar telecasts, as well as the "Primetime Emmy Awards," "Golden Globe Arrivals Special," "NAACP Image Awards," "BET Awards" and "Billboard Music Awards."
Production designer Derek McLane returns to the Oscars for a fourth-consecutive year, after earning an Emmy nomination for his work on each of the previous telecasts and winning in 2014. His other television credits include "The Wiz Live!," "Peter Pan Live!" and "The Sound of Music Live!" McLane also has designed sets for several acclaimed Broadway productions; he received a Tony Award for his work on the drama "33 Variations," as well as three nominations for musicals.
Fatima Robinson rejoins the production team as show choreographer. She previously worked on the 79th and 81st Oscar telecasts, as well as choreographed Pharrell Williams's performance of "Happy" for the 86th Oscars. Robinson recently served as performance producer and choreographer for several episodes of "The Voice." Her other credits include such feature films as "This Is the End," "Public Enemies" and "Dreamgirls," and the television events "The Wiz Live!," "The
SUPER BOWL XLV Halftime Show," and the "BET Awards," "American Music Awards" and "Grammy Awards."
Billy Kimball makes his Oscar debut this year as head writer. He has previously written for the Governors Awards and was the writer on the "Independent Spirit Awards" nine times. Kimball is currently a writer and consulting producer on the
HBO comedy series "Veep." His other writing credits include "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn," "The Simpsons" and the documentary feature "Waiting for 'Superman,'" which he co-wrote with Davis Guggenheim. In addition, previously announced Oscar host Chris Rock will be writing special material.
Byron Phillips is the Oscar telecast's supervising music producer. Phillips has developed and produced content and strategic plans for television, film and music platforms. Earlier this month, he served as the co-executive producer of the "47th NAACP Image Awards" after producing the organization's previous three shows. He was the co-founder of New Nation Networks and AntHill Mob Entertainment, and has held executive positions with BET Networks and Hollywood Records.
Harold Wheeler returns for his third Oscar telecast, his first as music director. An accomplished orchestrator, composer, conductor, record producer and arranger, Wheeler has received numerous Emmy and Tony Award nominations as well as an NAACP Theatre Award for lifetime achievement. His television credits include the "People's Choice Awards," the "AFI's 100 Years..." series, and 17 seasons of "Dancing with the Stars." Wheeler also composed music for two Democratic National Conventions and the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics. On Broadway, he has orchestrated such musicals as "Hairspray," "The Full Monty," "Dreamgirls," "The Wiz" and "Promises, Promises."
Talent also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. Producer Taryn Hurd rejoins the Oscar telecast team for the third consecutive year. She also has served as talent producer on events, including the past two Governors Awards ceremonies, "Red Nose Day," "Think It Up," the
FOX network's "New Year's Eve Live," the Breeders' Cup telecast, "Teen Choice 2013" and "VH1 Divas Salute the Troops."
Lightning designer Robert Dickinson returns for his 26th Oscar show. He has won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for Oscar telecasts. His extensive credits include the "Kennedy Center Honors," "Grammy Awards," "Primetime Emmy Awards," "Tony Awards," "NAACP Image Awards" and "American Music Awards"; Olympics ceremonies in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Athens and Vancouver; and
THE SPECIALS "Peter Pan Live!" and "The Sound of Music Live!"
"The 88th Oscars" will be held on Sunday, February 28, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the
ABC Television Network at 7:00 p.m. EST/4:00 p.m. PST. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
On February 29, 2016, "LIVE with Kelly and Michael" will continue its awards season tradition with the fifth edition of "LIVE's After Oscar Show," airing live in national
Syndication at 9:00 a.m. EST. The top morning talker's annual post-Oscar telecast has become one of its most popular episodes, and is broadcast from the magnificent Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. Mere hours after the festivities have wrapped on the same stage, thousands of fans will fill the venue for an action-packed hour celebrating all things Oscar, from the A-list personalities to the incredible fashions, star-studded red carpet and backstage excitement. In the past, Kelly and Michael have welcomed award winners such as Lupita Nyong'o, Octavia Spencer, Christoph Waltz, and the cast of Best Picture winner "The Artist," as well as 2015 Oscar host Neil Patrick Harris.
The 11th annual "Jimmy Kimmel Live: After The Oscars" special will air live on Oscar Sunday, February 28, after the late local news EST/CST and at 10 p.m. PST on the
ABC Television Network.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
