Everything we know about this year’s Oscar ceremony

On Saturday, Steven Soderbergh, Jesse Collins, and Stacey Scher — the trio responsible for pulling off this year’s Academy Awards ceremony in a global pandemic — held a press conference to promise viewers a “wonderfully intense” show that will be more like watching a film that sitting in front of the TV.

“It's going to be a very sincere show, and it's also going to be optimistic,” says Collins. “It's going to show us where we can go in the future. And I think that is exactly what the Oscars needs to be at this time.”

Here’s everything we learned about the 93rd Academy Awards show (watch live April 25 at 8pET on CTV) from the producers behind the big night.

This year’s show will be a cinematic experience in itself

Bringing his decades of technical movie-making know-how to the show, Soderbergh says that this year’s production will look completely different from those of years past — in the best way possible.

“On a technical level, that means shooting it 24 frames per second,” he says. “That means using a wider screen format. It means compositionally setting up shots that look more like movie shots than television shots, where people aren't just nailed to the center of the screen all the time."

"It's going to sound different in terms of how Questlove is approaching the scoring of the show,” he adds. “We just want the whole thing, right out of the gate, to announce itself as being different. And if you like movies, you will feel like you are watching a movie.”

The ceremony will be a no-Zoom zone, using satellite hookups instead

“The reason for that being that we can control that image, we can control the sound, we can have it be more integrated into the overall feeling of the show,” explains Soderbergh. “Zoom has been a great thing, it's just, in the context of this show, if you were a department head, for instance, in one of these nominated categories, and somebody brought you the equivalent of the Zoom option to be in the film that you were making, that department head would go, ‘That doesn't really fit.’

"So it was never about exclusion, it was about having it feel like it was all part of a piece.”

The ceremony could act as a model for future live entertainment events

With many theatres shut down for the last 13 months, the team behind the Oscars are hoping that their event could serve as an example for how to reopen live and communal entertainment spots in the (fingers crossed) near future.

“I think people will see the show and see, okay, this is what is possible,” says Collins. “This is what we need to do to get there, because we'll be talking about how we made it happen from a safety standpoint. We are a communal species. We do want to be together. And that will hopefully lead to more shows like this; but also, people getting back into the theaters. People having the communal experience that only film can bring. We are hoping that this is a giant step forward in that.”

There will be masks

Soderbergh left us in suspense, saying that “Masks are going to play a very important role in the story of this evening. And if that is cryptic, it's meant to be. But that topic is very central to the narrative.” Hmm.

Everyone is going to fall in love with the show’s new venue, LA’s Union Station

“I went up to the place where you will accept your award, and stood there and looked at the room, and I was just so overcome,” says Scher.

“And the first thing I said is I would fully pull a Sally Field," he continued. "I would cry. I would say ‘You liked me.’ It would be like every Oscar highlight. It's beautiful, and it's overwhelming in its intimacy. And you could feel our community in it, even though it's just a set in progress right now.”

Adds Soderbergh: “The appropriate irony is my first impressions of Union Station in its physical grandeur are from seeing it in movies. And so for me, that was certainly part of the reason that I proposed it as a possible venue for this year's show.”

Hallelujah, there will be a "teeny-tiny" red carpet as part of the Oscars pre-show

In their welcome letter to the nominees, the producers made it very clear that this will not be an event where you can saunter in wearing a tie-dyed hoodie. It’s time, they say, to return to the kind of clothing that isn’t 97% lycra. Stars will be red-carpet-ready, even if the carpet is a little smaller than usual.

“It's not a traditional red carpet,” says Scher. “It's a teeny-tiny red carpet.” The conversations that usually take place there will still happen, she promises, but “in a more intimate way among the nominees.”

The musical performances will also be moved to the pre-show segment of the evening, adds Collins.

“There will be music performances, you will have great interviews with our hosts. It will really kind of bring you inside Hollywood and inside the Oscar experience, and then we'll roll right into the show.”

Canadians can watch the pre-show, Oscars: Into The Spotlight, at 6:30pET/3:30pPT on CTV.

COVID safety is a top-of-mind topic

“I think science is really the basis of how we are dealing with this and leaning into science and scientists,” says Scher. The team is also keeping things flexible and fluid, knowing that safety protocols must be altered as COVID case numbers fluctuate.

That said, they’re confident in the expertise of both the medical and film-making communities that they’ve harnessed to pull off the ceremony.

“This industry was at the forefront of creating protocols to get people back to work safely,” says Soderbergh. “I'm in the middle of shooting my second film during COVID. We know how to approach situations like this. It's incredibly labour intensive. It's incredibly complex logistically, and it's expensive,” he explains, adding, “There is no universe in which we are going to ever put anybody at risk.

Finally, and perhaps somewhat disappointingly, Halle Berry will not be skateboarding… this year

The presenters were chosen solely  for their acting and film world chops, not their ability to perform party tricks on stage.

“We tried skateboarding, but Halle Berry was totally against it. I don't know why,” jokes Collins.

“We even have a ramp actually on the stage,” adds Soderbergh.

“She just wasn't committed to that, but it's okay,” says Collins, “we’re happy to have her.”

Watch The 93rd Academy Awards on CTV Sunday, April 25th at 8pET/5pPT. Ahead of the ceremony, catch the Oscars: Into The Spotlight pre-show at 6:30pET/3:30pPT on CTV.

BEFORE YOU GO: Pete Davidson to play Joey Ramone in new biopic

[video_embed id='2182711']BEFORE YOU GO: Pete Davidson to play Joey Ramone in new biopic[/video_embed]