How do you decide which media get to cover the Oscars?
The key element is getting those outlets that give you the biggest bang for your buck -- wire services, major TV networks. As you fill up, you go down from there. We credential very few independent newspapers. We rely on them to get the news the difficult way -- to see it on TV.
Do you get to tell the press what they can and cannot ask?
We learned way long ago not to even try it. You can tell the press where to go and where to stand, but you sure can't tell them how to do their jobs.
Are you already having nightmares that something will go wrong?
We tend to be pretty anal retentive over here, so by the time it starts everything is usually fixed. But last year was the first time we had a major accident: Scaffolding fell down. That was the Thursday before, and 3 or 4 people were hurt, not drastically. I wasn't there, but when I heard about it -- somebody on top of the scaffolding falling to the ground -- my heart went into the pit of my stomach.
Will fans still be able to show up and sit in the bleachers?
Fans will be in bleachers similar to the ones at the Shrine. But this year was a different situation than in previous years. In the past, it was first-come, first-serve. This year we wanted to know everyone in those seats so we had them send in applications. So far we've gotten over 4,000 and they're still coming in even though the deadline has passed and we'll select about 500 from them. We'll do some security checks on them because we want to be sure we know who they are. We asked for a LOT of information.
So do you crash for a month the day after?
It's sort of like falling off a cliff. You can have 200 phone calls on Saturday and then 5 on Monday. Last year we actually got a lot of calls because the producer had dreamed up that silly gimmick of whoever gave the shortest speech got a TV so everyone called me to ask about who won. It's always a pretty odd feeling to have been working on something as intensely as we do for three months and then have it all over. This year we segue from the Academy Awards into the 75th anniversary celebration of the Academy which will start in May. We won't even have the luxury this year of winding down.
