Oscar presenter Jimmy Kimmel
Disney
There are two timing concerns for the 2024 Academy Awards. For one thing, the show will air an hour earlier than its historic time slot – starting at 7 p.m. ET. and 4 p.m. on the West Coast. ABC's live broadcast on March 10 also coincides with the “spring” of the first day of Daylight Saving Time, creating even more confusion for viewers in the vast majority of the United States.
When TV showrunner Raj Kapoor and co-executive producers Molly McNearney and Katy Mullan hopped on Zoom earlier this week, they were happy to talk about everything from crisis plans, “Memoriam” pressures, those Barbie commercials and the inherent stupidity of trying to get one construct viral moment. But it was also important to them to remind Oscar fans of this new time slot.
Ok, we're only on the road for a few more days. Are any of you worried that people still haven't been informed about the early start time?
MOLLY MCNEARNEY Yes, that's why this article is mandatory. (Laughs.) Whoever reads this, tell your friends.
KATY MULLAN We have to make sure no one is late since it's daylight saving time and the show airs an hour early!
RAJ KAPOOR We believe ABC and the Academy have done a good job so far. And we believe the earlier start time has many benefits. But yeah, we just hope everyone gets the memo.
There is so much pressure on these shows to create a “viral moment.” It's the nature of things that they can't really be constructed, and yet you have to try anyway. What do these discussions look like?
MCNEARNEY Everyone's goal is to create something unforgettable in this show. But I agree with you. I don't think it's something you can plan and design in advance. Last year, some of the best moments were the acceptance speeches – and we certainly can't control those. This is Jimmy's fourth Oscar. In the past we've done big, pre-produced, celebrity comedy bits – and we don't do that. Of course we did it in the promo, but we think these seem a bit laborious. It's a lot of work for very little gain. I think we shine more when Jimmy is more spontaneous and comments on what's going on in the room. And we definitely write a killer monologue. Katy, Raj and I, along with Taryn Hurd, our talent producer, have worked tirelessly to bring together great presenters. There will be some surprises. There will be some great performances. But trying to plan a viral moment leads to a dead end.
KAPOOR All we can do is sow the seeds and hope that things happen naturally and spontaneously. And if a moment gets a big reaction in the room, hopefully that will lead to those viral moments. We have some great cameos planned.
This Barbie promo was so well received. When you saw the finished product, did something in you think, “Should we think of this as some kind of show intro?” It was really reminiscent of the Billy Crystal intros from the '90s.
MCNEARNEY Total! When it came together so well, I had the same thought. A lot of us thought, “Oh, should we open the show with that?” But I think it's better to use it to promote the show. I think it raised awareness of the time change. We got millions of eyes on this thing. It's better if we get our 10 minute succinct monologue because we have 23 awards to give out.
It seems almost impossible to pull off an awards ceremony “in memoriam” without upsetting someone over an omission or limited screen time. There is so much control. Can you talk to me about how you fix that part of the show?
MULLAN I've never worked with a larger group of people who care more about getting the elements of the show right. And the great thing about the Oscars having been going on for so many years and the Academy being so big is that there's a whole group of people who make sure that the right people are there – that every name is spelled correctly, that all images are correct. There's just a lot of care and love and attention that goes into making sure that it's really successful and that it's done in a really awesome way. We have a realization of that coming up this year that I think will hopefully be really moving and do justice to everyone.
Last year there was a lot of talk about setting up a crisis team after the slap on the TV show, and we just saw a demonstration disrupting some of the Independent Spirit Awards. How much can you tell me about preparing for possible disruptions?
KAPOOR There are many plans and hundreds of people are involved in such decisions. There is a formal plan, but in the end there are a few people who make important decisions in a very short period of time when something happens. A lot of thought goes into every single part of this show. That's why it's the Oscars. That's why it's a global show, because every nuance is actually thought through in advance.
Okay, for each of you, what gives you the most excitement – and fear – about getting everything done on your big day?
KAPOOR I think our set design and vision looks like this because in the theater it looks really beautiful. We're in the process of figuring out what it looks like from every camera angle because all of our cameras are coming tomorrow. But the actual design is very immersive – classic yet modern. There are all these beautiful touchstones that we really put a lot of time and thought into, from the way people are presented on stage and even how they leave the stage, to providing all the tools that Hamish Hamilton, our director, wants to show people in their best light. This year, when the presenters and winners give their acceptance speeches, they will also be much closer to the rest of the audience. Hopefully that will be clear on screen. I'm probably most concerned about us putting on a show that's reasonably on time and feels really good. We don't want anyone to look at the clock.
MCNEARNEY I'm really looking forward to celebrating with the people who have put the show together over the first so many months. What scares me as someone married to the host is that you always get nervous when a joke doesn't go over well. There is always fear when someone is out there and vulnerable in a time where everyone has an opinion on everything. This is always a little discouraging for me. Luckily it's not Jimmy.
MULLAN I had an anxiety dream the other night that I was on the back seat of a moped that Ryan Gosling was driving and we couldn't find the Dolby Theater. (Laughs) Live TV is so complicated! And it's kind of thankless because you have to make it look completely effortless, even though behind the scenes everyone's brooding about how many times it could possibly go wrong.
I love that you imagine a nightmare that involves being on a moped with Ryan Gosling.
MULLAN It started well and then I realized we were going to be late for the show!
Raj, you mentioned the pressure to arrive on time. What are the actual consequences of not showing up on time, aside from kind of annoying people? And when the Emmys arrived on time, you all thought, “Oh, great…”
KAPOOR Yes, thank you very much, Jesse Collins! (Laughs.) That doesn't happen very often. We want to give people the opportunity to have their say, but we also want to control some of it. It still has to feel great for everyone at home. Ultimately, it's three and a half hours of live television and we can only control so many things. We can't really talk about the impact. We just feel the pressure to be really great partners with the Academy and ABC and produce the show that they want to deliver. And the message is a show on time.