Producing duo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have been directing the Oscars ship for three years, which some might argue is at least one year too many. The two might agree, since they hinted that they aren’t returning for 2016.
Zadan had a busy weekend on Twitter, sharing pictures from the 2015 ceremony. Amid the flurry of Tweets, he wrote that he hopes whoever produces next will retain their “innovations.” That includes the Team OScar contest for young filmmakers and this year’s decision to read the nominations for all 24 categories during the morning announcement of nominees.
After the tweet, sites like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported that Zadan and Meron aren’t returning. Zadan appeared to give credence to the reports by tweeting links to them.
The Academy hasn’t commented on Zadan’s tweets.
Zadan and Meron were among the producers on Chicago and have overseen several other musical projects, including NBC’s live broadcasts of Peter Pan and The Sound of Music. They brought that musical bent to the Oscars, programming performance-heavy ceremonies. Of course, that also meant that their ceremonies dragged on forever, including this year’s ceremony, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.
They were also criticized for picking Seth MacFarlane for their first ceremony, but Ellen DeGeneres proved to be a wise choice in 2014.
Meanwhile, Harris has also said that he doesn’t think he could host another Oscars ceremony.
image courtesy of Walter McBride/INFphoto.com