Brian Grazer on Producing the Oscars

I was just getting on an airplane in New York when I got a call from [Academy President] Tom Sherak saying, “If we needed you to do the Oscars, would you do it?” He was in a state of panic. The Oscars are 16 weeks away—Jesus, that’s crazy. It’s an amazing amount of work, and I’m busy producing movies and television shows, and I have four kids. I’d always said no to the Oscars. I thought Brett [Ratner] would have created a curiosity and an excitement factor. I don’t think the mistakes he made [using a gay slur at a screening earlier this month] represent him properly. I didn’t want to say yes until I’d spoken to some central people in my life.

First was Ron Howard, my production partner. He said, “If you’re going to do it, now’s the perfect time.” I called Brett because we’re friends, and I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings. This is something that he really wanted to do. I told him I wasn’t going to do it if he didn’t feel good about it. He said, “You’ll do an amazing job. It should have been you to begin with.” (I took him out to dinner after I said yes—I paid—because I wanted to give him some advice on his situation.) I called Ron Meyer, president of Universal Studios, who said, “You have to do it,” and I called one other person who’s chairman and CEO of a major studio who also told me I was very needed. This felt like a civic duty.