Ahead of the Oscars on March 15, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ president Lynette Howell Taylor and CEO Bill Kramer spoke exclusively with The Hollywood Reporter about some of what audiences can expect from the 98th edition of Hollywood’s biggest night, which will again be hosted by Conan O’Brien and air on ABC.
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Where does the show stand at the moment?
BILL KRAMER I have to say, the show is looking incredible. One of the great benefits of bringing back Conan early, and Raj [Kapoor] and Katy [Mullan, the telecast’s producers], is that we have done so much planning for the show. It’s in incredible shape. And we’re thrilled with the nominations — great, historic nominations. We just jumped off a call with ABC going over the marketing plan, and it has never looked better.
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LYNETTE HOWELL TAYLOR Our visual approach to the show is going to feel different — a warmer sort of tone. It feels very intimate and inviting this year. We have the greatest design team — our Emmy-winning design team — who every year do something different, and this year is another evolution.
Speaking of Conan returning as host, he signed up to do it again very soon after last year’s show. Has he talked about trying anything different this time?
HOWELL TAYLOR The greatest thing about Conan is that he is just a well of great ideas, and that’s why everybody loves him, and why audiences are excited to see him come back. He comes from a joyful, celebratory place, that’s just sort of innately who he is as a human. We’ve been fortunate to hear the full gamut of his ideas, and there are so many that there’s just not enough space to put all of them in the show. This year will feel fresh and new because the movies are different, and he really knows how to play off of that. Also, the structure of the show is a little different this year than it was last year, even just how we open it. It has to do with leaning into the movies of the moment, and he knows how to do that in a really great way.
So many huge people from the world of film passed away in the last year — Diane Keaton, Robert Redford, Catherine O’Hara, Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, Rob Reiner, Robert Duvall, and the list goes on. I imagine the In Memoriam structure will have to be a little different, no?
KRAMER We’re not going to give too much away, but you’re going to see a beautiful, powerful, deep In Memoriam this year that I think will be very touching.
HOWELL TAYLOR We’ve spent a lot of time really wanting to do justice to that segment in the show.
You guys recently announced a new deal with YouTube to broadcast the Oscars starting in 2029, but until then you’re still doing the show with ABC. Is that not like living with somebody that you’ve broken up with?
HOWELL TAYLOR It’s not even a little bit like that. This is a long, deep partnership with ABC. They’ve been terrific partners. The two organizations have worked so well together, and on a personal level, we’ve been working with these individuals for years. We’re thinking about the future, but we still have three more shows with ABC and they’re very much our partners, and we want to make sure that every year for those three years, we’re giving film fans and nominees the best experience possible. ABC feels exactly the same.
KRAMER I could not agree more. Dana [Walden] and Craig [Erwich] and Scott and Rob [Mills] and Deb O’Connell — I mean, we are talking to some if not all of them almost on a daily basis right now. They’re incredible partners. They want to see us succeed. They’re setting us up for success. And they’re thrilled with the shows of the last couple of years. They’re feeling really good about the Oscars and they continue to be great partners for us.
In recent weeks at the Berlin Film Festival and elsewhere, some members of the film community have been pushed to be more politically outspoken. But I know that there are also many who don’t want to hear about politics from film people. So what would you say to an Oscar nominee who asks if they should use some of their acceptance speech to say something political?
HOWELL TAYLOR The Oscars has always been a platform that supports creative expression and independence and the right to free speech of all artists in the global film community. That’s really important. That’s what we stand for. In addition, we ask that people are respectful and remember that we’re here to celebrate and uplift voices in our community.
KRAMER In the art you see so much activism and empathy and storytelling, and we’re here to support that and to amplify that and to celebrate that. And artists who have a moment on our stage when they win? As Lynette said, we ask them to be respectful, but it’s a moment to talk from the heart and we allow that.
I don’t think there’s a bigger star than one you honored at the non-televised Governors Awards in November, Tom Cruise. Have you gotten a commitment yet from him or that night’s others honorees be part of the actual Oscars?
KRAMER Well, first, let’s say that the Governors Awards were spectacular — Tom and Wynn [Thomas] and Debbie [Allen] were great, and Dolly [Parton] wasn’t able to make it, but we were so thrilled to honor all four of them. There’s always a moment on the Oscars show where we recognize other awards and the things that we do year-round, and we’re planning to do that again this year.
This year you’re also going to have the first presentation of a casting Oscar. Anything that you can tease about how that’s going to handled?
HOWELL TAYLOR There’s a lot of anticipation for this. We’re so thrilled that we were able to give that community such a deserved award after a long time of that community really working hard to demonstrate why their work should be awarded — I’m so thrilled that our board voted for that. And I think that casting is something that film fans around the world are really curious about.
KRAMER The interest in this award is huge, and the amount of support and excitement around it is far exceeding anything I was anticipating. It’s going to be an exciting moment on stage.
Given the huge showing of the non-English language films this year, including the best picture nominations for Norway’s Sentimental Value and Brazil’s The Secret Agent, is there going to be any sort of simulcast from those places?
KRAMER One of the many things we’re excited about is that we have international representation in every category this year — that’s huge, and that is us walking the talk when we talk about globalization of the Academy and diversification of the Academy. It’s becoming a truly global show. We’re in 200 markets this year, so there will be a lot of interest in those markets and a lot of coverage in those markets. How that plays out on stage? We’re not willing to give up anything right now. But I will say, and I know you saw this, last year they stopped [Brazilian] Carnival and were projecting the Oscars on buildings! The fandom down there is just incredible.
Some of this year’s nominated songwriters are upset that only two of the five nominated songs — “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters and “I Lied to You” from Sinners — will be performed on the show. Why was that decision made?
KRAMER A couple of things. That category is absolutely still fully on the show — we’re committed to that to all 24 categories — and all of the nominees will be represented on the show in a special way. I want to make that extremely clear. The two “moments” we have on the show are about celebrating big global cultural moments in cinema, and yes, two of the original songs are part of those moments, but that does not negate the power of the other nominees and our interest in celebrating those nominees.
You’re saying “moments” instead of “performances.” Does that mean that those two performances are part of a larger thing?
HOWELL TAYLOR Yeah, that’s exactly what he means. And by the way, there have only been several moments in time where all five nominees have been on the show, for any number of reasons — sometimes there’s two songs, three songs, four songs. Very rarely has it been all five. But everybody’s used to the traditional way that that’s been presented. What we’re doing is that the package for the nominated songs is treated in the same way that other packages are treated for all of the categories, so when Bill says we’re not doing anything less than, that’s what that means. And then in addition to that, there are two moments on the show that are celebrating the cultural phenomena of two specific movies, and music is a part of that.
When you started in the job, Lynette, you thought this was going to be your one and only Oscars as president, because you were going to “term out” and have to step away from the board for at least a year. But the board just approved a rule-change that will enable you to potentially stay on without interruption for up to three more one-year terms. Can you talk about how this change came about?
HOWELL TAYLOR Well, the bylaws already allowed a president to run for up to four terms, and the board basically voted to allow a sitting president to continue to run for those one-year elected terms [rather than terming out]. Part of the reason that came about was when we changed our term limits, it became clear that there’d be a lot more turnover, potentially, for whoever was sitting in the president’s seat. I mean, listen, I still have to get voted in every year, it’s not a fait accompli that I’ll be doing this, but I really love that I have the opportunity to run again. I feel very privileged and very honored to be able to be in this position. But again, I take it very much a year at a time. There’s so much to do in any given year, and I don’t take anything for granted that I’ll still be here next year.
KRAMER Given my background in nonprofit arts management, I’m always thinking about governance and organizational structure. This bylaws change is good governance for us and it allows for continuity of leadership. Lynette’s been an amazing president. We were lucky to have Janet [Yang] for three years, and you want that sort of continuity in the president role, so this allows a pathway for that while still honoring the intent. When the bylaws were originally created, they said a president can serve for four consecutive one-year terms, so this allows for that pathway. We were thrilled that the governance committee and the board approved this.
Lynette, you were nominated for A Star Is Born at the Oscars in 2019, produced the Oscars in 2020, got elected to the board that same year, and then served as the chair of the awards committee, which helps to plan the Oscars, in 2023 and 2024. The 2023 and 2024 shows were also the first two held after you became CEO, Bill, followed by last year’s. But it was under both of your watch that planning for the Oscars became a year-round thing. Why?
KRAMER When I became CEO, it was something that I spoke about with the board, so it wasn’t just my decision. But I look at the show as I would our Museum Gala: you start planning the next Gala the day after the Gala ends, and we need to treat the Oscars the same way. Of course, things shift post-nominations sometimes, but between the last year’s show and the nominations for this year’s show, there’s a lot you can plan out. So if you turn as many variables into constants as you can, that allows you to just focus on the things that you need to focus on post-nominations. And that’s been incredibly helpful.
Of the shows that you have each been a part of, what is the moment that you are each proudest of?
KRAMER I’m so proud of all three shows. Our ratings have gone up every year. Jimmy [Kimmel] was amazing to work with, Raj and Katie have been incredible to work with, along with [production designers] Alana [Billingsley] and Misty [Buckley], and Conan was just spectacular last year. But to pick a moment that really stands out? Last year’s opener, post-fires—
HOWELL TAYLOR I was going to say the same thing!
KRAMER I mean, that was such a beautiful moment.
HOWELL TAYLOR I think what it speaks to is how we are able to meet moments. I am really proud of the way that we handled that last year.
KRAMER And in a way that spoke a very cinematic language, but also showed a lot of hope, and met the moment in an appropriate way. It allowed everyone to relax into the show and feel like they were in a safe space, a celebratory space, in a space of a lot of beauty. That was a difficult balancing act to pull off.
