Ahead of the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, broadcast executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katie Mullan — who are serving in that capacity for the third year in a row, having won a variety special Emmy for their work on the 2024 show and been nominated for it for their work on the 2025 show — spoke about their plans to Hollywood Reporter.
Among other things, the duo provided interesting new details about how they are approaching the inaugural Oscar for Best Actor presentation; how they plan to address the unusually high number of deaths among movie legends since the last Oscars ceremony; And more. A transcript of that conversation appears below, lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
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Like host Conan O’Brien, you guys signed up to return for this year’s Academy Awards very shortly after last year. When did you actually return to work? How beneficial is starting early?
Kapoor We started maybe a month after the 2025 show. We got together, talked about what worked, what we could do better, some changes we wanted to make, and quickly got immersed in the design. That was one of the first things we did – “What do we want this show to look like?” We’re working again with Misty Buckley and Alana Billingsley, who have already won two Emmy Awards for their work on the show. [best production design for a variety special in 2024 and 2025]But this year we started with a new board.
One of the benefits of working with a consistent team is that they really understand the flow of the show, the fundamental limitations and benefits of a place like Dolby, and how it can be captured on camera by our amazing director, Hamish Hamilton. A lot of it becomes shortcuts, and we’re all capable of doing our jobs a little better. We’re really excited when people walk into the room for the first time this year, and when people watch it on stream, because it’s a whole new visual statement. They are beautiful, modern, organic, soft and timeless, and they all feel like they have been touched by hand. There are hundreds of craftsmen all over Los Angeles who do all the work, from scenic painting to fabrication, and the range is absolutely stunning.
Raj pointed out that you did an autopsy after the Oscars last year, as is done after every major event. Can you give a little insight into what you were happy with last year and what you want to improve on this time?
Mulan Honestly, I was a bit bummed out after the show, so it takes a while, but for this meeting afterwards, everyone brought something they criticized themselves and they’re pushing it even further this year. This is the joy of working with such a professional team.
We had a feeling before last year’s show that Conan was going to crush — we’d seen the amount of preparation he’d gone through — and then after we saw him come out and do such an amazing job, we said, “Please, can we book him for next year right away?” We didn’t even want him to come down from the adrenaline highs of the show! He had been working on the material for this show for months. The variety of what the show did last year was really good, and it felt relevant to the night – it wasn’t just pre-scripted, so it kept that live feeling – and we want to make sure it feels the same this year. With musical performances, we are constantly trying to innovate; We’ve learned from what’s worked and what can be improved, and I think with our musical offerings this year, we’ll try to move forward and celebrate not just the best songs, but the films that had an incredible cultural impact and got people going to movie theaters, whether that’s in IMAX with… Sinners Or to sing along with Demon hunters in kpop. They have revitalized the film industry this year in a delightful way.
You guys had an uptick in ratings and very good reviews for the Oscars last year, but one criticism was that some of the speeches — Adrien Brody’s speech, in particular — ran a little too long. Is there anything you can do about it, or when it’s your Best Actor winner and he’s a little stressed, do you just have to deal with it? In other words, would you handle it differently if it happened this year?
Mulan: That’s a good question.
Kapoor: It’s always difficult. We try to be fair to everyone. We tell everyone at the candidates luncheon that you only have 45 seconds. We want these speeches to resonate, to have an emotional impact, and to hit the right target. Sometimes when speeches go on for a long time, it becomes difficult to choose whether to let people finish and live in that moment, or be able to move on to the rest of the presentation, because otherwise, when we get to the end, we won’t have enough time. Yes, it’s a tough call. But ultimately we hope that all candidates will respect and try to live within that time frame.
One of the things that excites you about this year’s screening is that it will “celebrate humanity as the soul of cinema.” As opposed to what, artificial intelligence?
Mullan: We’re in this moment where technology is everywhere. Things have become faster and more automated. There are real conversations about artificial intelligence and there is a tremendous amount of anxiety. But I think when you look at these films, it’s clear that they’re about people making creative choices, about instinct and imagination, about craft in a way that no artificial intelligence or computer or machine can ever replicate. So we were really interested in asking: “What makes human creativity irreplaceable? Where does the spark of creativity come from? How can we show that these films are the result of people taking risks?”
At the Berlin Film Festival and a number of other cinema-related events, some people were pushing filmmakers to comment on political events. Meanwhile, I know the Academy has statistics that show that the minute people get political at the Oscars, a lot of viewers turn the show off. So what guidance would you give to a candidate who has asked whether it’s appropriate for them to deal with politics on the show?
Kapoor: We really want people to feel like we’re there to uplift and celebrate, but also give people the ability to express themselves and their perspectives. It’s really that fine line of setting the right tone, and I think Conan does that so well – he makes that room feel joyful, and puts a smile on your face when he’s on stage. We hope the nominees remember that when they speak from the heart, it resonates, and can become part of their legacy, because sometimes great speeches go down in television history.
I’m very curious how you handled two unusual challenges this year: how to present a new award, the Best Choice, in an exciting way; And how to deal with the In Memoriam clip after a year in which an unusually large number of cinema legends died.
Kapoor: There is a lot of excitement around the casting category. We really want to tell a story that makes people understand what this category means to the rest of the filmmaking community. And we decided we were going to do the “Fab Five.” [having a different individual introduce each nominee] With them this year. We have five really great presenters, each with their own individual stories, but who will also highlight the importance of casting directors and their contributions to the film.
Mulan yes. As I said, it has been an unimaginably difficult year as we lost so many icons and giants of the film industry. So, yes, we will be expanding In Memoriam because it’s so important that we pay proper tribute to the people we’ve lost this year.
