The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced that Director Glenn Weiss will return to direct the 93rd Academy Award, which will take place at Union Station Los Angeles and the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, April 25, 2021. The ceremony will be televised live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT as well as in 225 other countries worldwide.
In a statement, the producers said, “Our plan is that this year’s Oscars will look like a movie, not a television show, and Glenn has embraced this approach and come up with ideas of his own on how to achieve this. We’re thrilled to have him as part of the brain trust.”
Besides his five previous Oscars, two for which he won Primetime Emmys®, Weiss has directed numerous live televised events, including 19 Tony Awards® shows, which earned him three directing Primetime Emmys. Weiss’s additional directing credits include this year’s multi-network Inaugural Night special Celebrating America, The Democratic National Convention, The 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.
The show will be produced by Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh, and it’s yet to be revealed whether there will be a host, although a few rules have been revealed about how they plan on handling the ceremony with a “No Zoom” policy for anyone who can’t make it to the ceremony in person.
A letter to Academy members stated, “For those of you unable to attend because of scheduling or continued uneasiness about traveling, we want you to know there will not be an option to Zoom in for the show. We are going to great lengths to provide a safe and ENJOYABLE evening for all of you in person, as well as for all the millions of film fans around the world, and we feel the virtual thing will diminish those efforts.”
It’s also been made clear that unlike some of the other recent awards shows, “casual” attire will not be permitted: “We’re aiming for a fusion of Inspirational and Aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not.”
The letter to members also included some information in regards to the Covid protocols in place with the ceremony and Union Station venue being handled as with many other shows and movie sets:
“Regarding the practical aspects of the show, our plan is to stage an intimate, in-person event at Union Station in Los Angeles, with additional show elements live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Of course, your first thought is CAN THAT BE DONE SAFELY? The answer is YES, IT CAN. We are treating the event as an active movie set, with specially designed testing cadences to ensure up-to-the-minute results, including an on-site COVID safety team with PCR testing capability. There will be specific instructions for those of you traveling in from outside of Los Angeles, and other instructions for those of you who are already based in Los Angeles. This will all come directly to you from the Academy to ensure you have a safe, carefree evening (a glimpse of the future?).”
As stated earlier, only presenters, nominees and their single guest will be allowed to attend.
