The film academy has tapped Brett Ratner and Don Mischer to produce next year’s Academy Awards.
This will be Ratner’s first involvement with the Oscar show and Mischer’s second: He produced and directed the 2011 Academy Awards telecast and was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the show.
Academy president Tom Sherak made the announcement Thursday.
Mischer said in an interview that he’s excited to oversee the Oscars again.
“I was just so happy to receive the call from the academy saying we’d like to have you come back,” he said. “It was unexpected and a real delight. More than anything, I’m looking forward to working with Brett.”
Ratner said producing the Oscar show is “beyond a dream come true.”
“This wasn’t even in my dreams, it’s so far out,” he said. “This is something I never could have imagined.”
Ratner has produced and directed both film and television. His credits include “X-Men: The Last Stand,” ”Rush Hour” and the pilot of TV’s “Prison Break.” (He also directs commercials via HSI Productions.)
Mischer is a veteran producer and director of live television events, including Super Bowl halftime shows, Olympics opening ceremonies, the Emmy Awards and this year’s Oscars.
Dawn Hudson, chief executive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said she is eager to see Mischer’s expertise blend with Ratner’s “smart and fresh take for the show.”
“They have great chemistry,” she said, “and their vision meshed so well with ours.”
The two men declined to reveal their plans. They said they haven’t discussed potential hosts for the show.
“Everything is open at this point,” Mischer said. “We’re just at the starting gate.”
He said they plan to watch past telecasts and “figure out what we can do to make things better.”
Ratner said they plan to start working on the show immediately. “Work begins now,” he said. “We’re going to hang up the phone and get to work.”
The 84th annual Academy Awards will be presented at the Kodak Theatre on Feb. 26, 2012.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More