“You still want to be celebratory, especially in a year where people were able to do such amazing work.

“There wasn’t a host, and I think nobody quite knew in this year if it would be tone deaf,” Mills said. The decision not to do any pre-taped comedy bits also came very early in the production process. And the fact that literally she said, ‘This is live TV,’ was everything you could ask for.” “When it’s so over-rehearsed sometimes it doesn’t feel live. “You’re always hoping for those moments,” he said. Mills found it particularly endearing when King lightly tripped while arriving on stage. And the fact that she still wanted to be here and come celebrate, and do everything, was a great note to kick the show off.” She had a movie that was nominated, but she herself wasn’t nominated for directing and I think some people viewed that as a snub. “And also, it was amazing that she wanted to do it. “Who doesn’t love Regina King?” Mills said. Instead of a host, King’s opening was meant to demonstrate that this would be a different kind of Oscars. Especially now in what was the most challenging the Oscars in its history.” “Due to the fact that we’re still in the midst of a pandemic and where we are in the world… It’s a lot to ask anyone to have to do an opening monologue. “I think there was a wrestling of how much of a traditional Oscar show this one should look like,” Mills said. “But it was just great to do something different and not know what was going to happen next - and not have those glazed eyes of, ‘Oh gosh, I’ve seen this before I know exactly what’s going to happen.’” The producers didn’t want to start the show with gags, and instead they recruited Regina King for a more earnest opening.Įarly on, the producers felt that a traditional, joke-filled monologue wouldn’t be an appropriate way to open the Oscars, given this moment in history. “There was a lot of really great risks that some might view didn’t pay off,” Mills said. Variety caught up with ABC’s Rob Mills, executive VP of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television, after the Oscars on Sunday night to give us the lowdown on how this year’s ceremony came together.

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