Producer Laurence Mark has been chosen to produce and writer/director Bill Condon to executive produce the telecast of the 81st Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis has announced. It will be Mark and Condon's first involvement in the production of an Oscar show.
Mark and Condon have worked together before. In 2006, Mark produced and Condon wrote and directed Dreamgirls, which received eight Academy Award nominations (none for either Mark or Condon) and won two Oscars, including one for best supporting actress Jennifer Hudson.
Mark is currently in post-production on Julie and Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams (who also co-star in Doubt), and written and directed by Nora Ephron for a 2009 release. Mark's other credits include I, Robot, The Lookout, Finding Forrester and the highly popular Jerry Maguire, which — however undeservedly — received a best picture Oscar nomination back in 1997. He also served as executive producer on As Good As It Gets and Working Girl.
Condon is writing a film about Richard Pryor for The Weinstein Company, which he is scheduled to direct. He wrote the Oscar-nominated adaptation for the Academy Award-winning Chicago, and wrote and directed Kinsey and Gods and Monsters. For the latter film, Condon took home the 1998 Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.
Academy Award nominations in all categories will be announced on January 22, 2009. The 81st Academy Awards presentation will be telecast live by the ABC Television Network on Sunday, February 22, 2009.
Photos: Suzanne Tenner (Bill Condon), Alex Berliner © Berliner Studio/BEImages (Laurence Mark)
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