Raj Kapoor And Katy Mullan Return As Oscars Show Producers; Hamish Hamilton Back As Director
Well, this was no surprise.
As I predicted in my column a couple of weeks ago on the search for a host for the 97th annual Academy Awards, the producing team from the 96th Oscars will be back for the 2025 ceremony.
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Live television event producer Raj Kapoor returns as executive producer and showrunner, Katy Mullan as executive producer, and Hamish Hamilton as director of the 97th Oscars, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang said Monday. It is Kapoor and Mullan’s second time executive producing and Hamilton’s fifth time directing the Oscars. They each won an Emmy for their work on the 96th Oscars, the first time since 1991 that the Academy Awards took the Live Variety Emmy, so their return is really a no-brainer and will allow the Academy to get that much closer to announcing a host (or hosts) for the show.
As I reported, Oscar organizers are looking into the idea of sharing hosting duties rather than trying to convince a single person to take on the task. Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted four times including the past two years, is not coming back for the 97th, and, as expected, neither is his wife Molly McNearney, who was also part of the executive producing team for the 96th.
A familiar creative team also returns from the 96th Oscars to work with Kapoor, Mullan and Hamilton, including production designers Misty Buckley and Alana Billingsley, who won Emmys for their work on the 96th Oscars, and red carpet show executive producer David Chamberlin. Music director Michael Bearden joins the team for the first time.
“We are delighted to announce the return of our incredibly dynamic and creative Oscars team, Raj, Katy, Hamish, Misty, Alana and Dave. And we are thrilled to announce the addition of the brilliant Michael Bearden,” said Kramer and Yang in today’s announcement. “Their love for cinema, their collective creative vision and their unparalleled expertise in live television make them the perfect team to create an exceptional show for our global audience on the film industry’s biggest night.”
“We are thrilled to lead the brilliant Oscars production team again and work alongside the Academy and Disney/ABC to help create an unforgettable night of television for movie lovers worldwide,” said Kapoor and Mullan. “We hope to continue to inspire and connect new generations to share our love for the art of filmmaking and celebrate all the incredible artists who are Oscar-nominated this year.”
“Last year’s show was a tremendous success in no small part to the creative vision of Raj, Katy, Hamish and their teams. We are excited to have them back and can’t wait for what’s in store for the 97th telecast,” said Rob Mills, EVP Unscripted and Alternative Entertainment, Walt Disney Television.
Kapoor has earned eight Emmy nominations and, in addition to the 96th Oscars, won for executive producing the Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), Adele: One Night Only. In addition to several Oscars shows, Kapoor’s credits include the Grammy Awards, the ACM Awards, the Latin Grammys, the Emmy Awards, Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter and the Paris Olympics’ LA28 Handover Closing Ceremony.
Mullan is an executive producer, showrunner and partner in the global live event production company Done + Dusted. Her work in live entertainment ranges from producing the London Olympics opening and closing ceremonies to The Little Mermaid Live! Mullan’s recent credits include Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, Step Into…The Movies, several Christmas and New Year’s Eve TV specials, and the Disney Family Singalong franchise.
Hamilton, founder of Done + Dusted, made his Oscars debut directing the 82nd Academy Awards in 2010 and subsequently directed the 86th and 87th Oscars, both of which earned him Emmy nominations. In addition to the 96th Oscars, he also won an Emmy for the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show starring Rihanna, one of 15 Super Bowl halftimes he has directed. His live televised event credits also include the Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards and the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics. Hamilton has earned 13 Emmy nominations, a BAFTA Award and a BAFTA Special Award, a Peabody and a Grammy nomination for the musical special Robbie Williams – Live at the Albert.
Bearden is a music director, keyboardist, arranger, conductor and composer who has worked with more than 500 music artists, most notably Whitney Houston, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and as Michael Jackson’s final music director. He earned Emmy nominations for Outstanding Music Direction for the 2017 Super Bowl Halftime Show featuring Lady Gaga and One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. He has served as a music director for the Primetime Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Awards, and as a musician and arranger for several Kennedy Center Honors and Oscars shows. An accomplished composer, Bearden’s feature film scores include Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only Outlaw Johnny Black, Michael Jackson’s This Is It, American Blackout and Constellation.
Buckley and Billingsley return as production designers for this year’s show. In addition to the 96th Oscars Emmy win, they earned nominations for their work on the 95th Oscars. Buckley has designed world tours and productions for such artists as Ariana Grande, Kacey Musgraves and Coldplay, including the band’s 2016 Super Bowl halftime show. She also designed the 2022 Commonwealth Games ceremonies, the 2021 Grammy Awards, the 2015 Rugby World Cup opening ceremony, the London 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony, the Brit Awards and numerous productions for the BBC and ITV. Buckley earned a BAFTA nomination for her work with Stormzy at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival and Emmy nominations for her production design of Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, the 2021 Grammy Awards and Disney’s The Little Mermaid Live! Billingsley was an art director on six previous Oscars broadcasts, for which she earned five Emmy nominations and won two Emmys. Additional credits include the Kennedy Center Honors, Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, CMA Awards and BET Awards among others.
Chamberlin will return for a sixth consecutive year to executive produce ABC’s The Oscars Red Carpet Show, the official live lead-in to the Oscars broadcast. Chamberlin leads Full Day Productions, with credits including the ESPY Awards, NFL Honors, the Savage X Fenty Show, The Netflix Slam, multiple 30 for 30 films and Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli.
The 97th Oscars are Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC.
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