Will Packer to Produce 2022 Oscars Telecast
The Academy Awards will be a rare live event foray for the prolific producer.
The 2022 Academy Awards are starting to come into focus. Nearly six months ahead of ABC’s annual telecast, the academy has tapped Will Packer to produce the show.
“The power, the beauty, the romance of the imagery in movies has always attracted me,” said Packer. “I’m fully embracing the challenge of bringing an ode to one of the most iconic mediums in the world to life. What an honor!”
Packer comes to the show without any prior Oscars experience — and without any notable track record in live telecasts. The head of Will Packer Productions and Media is best known for his films (Girls Trip, Straight Outta Compton, Ride Along) and scripted TV series (Being Mary Jane, Uncle Buck, Roots).
Awards show ratings have struggled considerably in recent years as viewers drift away from linear TV viewing, and evolution is now considered something of a mandate.
Produced by Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and live-TV vet Jesse Collins, the 2021 Oscars abandoned Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre for downtown Los Angeles’ Union Station. There was no host, and, in a bizarre turn of events, the night concluded with a win for absentee actor Anthony Hopkins. It pulled an audience of 10.4 million viewers.
Will Packer Productions and Will Packer Media chief of staff Shayla Cowan will serve as co-producer of the 2022 telecast. Other collaborators, including a director and potential host, have yet to be locked in.
“There is no one better than Will Packer to celebrate our collective love for cinema,” added ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals president Craig Erwich. “Will is a world-class hitmaker and the ideal producer to capture the prestige of the Oscars and deliver a powerful and moving event.”
The Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 27, 2022 — again at the Dolby Theatre.