Oscars: Let the show begin
2008-02-13 13:42
Los Angeles - Oscar's "Plan A" is on.
"It's terrific. We don't have to worry about people crossing picket lines," show producer Gil Cates told scores of Academy Awards workers on Tuesday. "We don't have to worry about doing the 'B' show.
"We're doing the 'A' show."
Speaking as if it were a foregone conclusion that the 14-week-old Writers Guild of America strike would end this week, Cates told the crowd gathered at the Kodak Theatre for the annual Oscar production meeting that the Academy Awards will scrap plan B: a star-free contingency show that would have been a collection of clips and film packages.
Cates, who is producing his record 14th Oscar show, genially presided over the meeting, a troop-rallying event to ready workers for the big day.
He introduced his veteran cohorts, including director Louis J Horvitz and associate producer Michael Seligman, "who is doing the show for the 111th time."
"This is a festive event," Cates told the crew of script coordinators, segment producers, security guards and seat-filler supervisors. "We're all so pleased. (After) three months of striking, we're happy to be here now."
Cates made quips as employees announced their name, title and years of experience on the show.
'Very fast writing'
He blurted out an expletive when the network standards supervisor introduced himself. When another worker said he was 30 years old and had been working on the show for 10 years, Cates said, "A third of your life. What a waste."
Writers will start working on the show on Wednesday, Cates said. Typically, writing would have begun just after the nominees were announced last month.
"Our writers are going to be writing very fast," he said.
The show employs seven or eight writers, he said, along with host Jon Stewart's team. Stewart, the host of the cable TV satirical The Daily Show, is expected in Los Angeles on Saturday, Cates said.
More than 700 show workers have been in limbo awaiting the outcome of the strike.
"Until yesterday, we really had two shows we were preparing," Cates said. "I'm very happy the writers' strike came to a close. This is basically the last push before the big show."
Even though the 80th annual Academy Awards ceremony is less than two weeks away, much of the prep work has already been done, Seligman said.
Quick pace of awards season
Most of the presenters and performers are booked and will be announced on Thursday.
Workers said their job became easier when the contingency show was eliminated. Kyle Cooper, who has done graphics design for the telecast for six years, is accustomed to the quick pace of awards season but was working double time until this week.
"It was frantic before," he said. "I don't think it's frantic now."
David Taylor, part of the Oscar-show staff for 20 years, said he has been working steadily since November.
"There's a little bit less for us to do now," he said. "But we were never sitting there like the Globes (thinking), 'Is the show gone?'"
Planning two shows cost the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences "a lot of extra money," Seligman said, adding that he and the rest of the Oscar crew are eager to celebrate Oscar's 80th birthday in traditional star-studded style.
"Now everyone can focus on what they have to do," he said. "It's a major relief because we can really push ahead with the show we always wanted to do."
- AP