After an unusually long run of three years producing the Oscar ceremonies, are Craig Zadan and Neil Meron exiting the high-profile, high-pressure role? Tweets over the past 16 hours by Zadan suggest someone else may be handling the job next year.
Hoping that whoever produces the #Oscars next year will retain our innovations: #TeamOscar program & reading all 24 nom on Oscar nom morning
— Craig Zadan (@craigzadan) March 8, 2015
Zadan, always a frequent tweeter on an array of subjects, subsequently reposted articles about that tweet from other publications, as well as his own photos and other material from last month’s Oscar ceremony. He also reposted a tweet by Jennifer Hudson, who sang on the telecast.
@craigzadan u guys r angels !
— Jennifer Hudson (@IAMJHUD) March 8, 2015
A representative for Zadan said in an email inquiry from Deadline: “Nothing is decided. All it means is that Craig hopes the Oscars continue the innovations he and Neil started.”
The Team Oscar concept mentioned in Zadan’s tweet brought a diverse group of young filmmakers who were chosen based on their submitted videos to take part in the awards show. The nominations this year also included all nominees from all 24 categories, announced in two batches, for the first time.
The 2014 ceremonies drew the show’s best ratings in a decade, but the 2015 version hosted by Neil Patrick Harris was down 16 percent, the worst since 2009.
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