Oscar producers work to put laughs back in mix

Oscar producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer are exhibiting an intense focus on comedy for the 84th Academy Awards presentation.

The duo have hired a crop of veteran screenwriters to bring the funny element to the show. The scribes boast credits for shows including Saturday Night Live and Curb Your Enthusiasm and will be attempting to breathe new life into a programme that in the past few years has fallen flat.

Many of the writers have a history of working with either Ratner or his Oscar host, Eddie Murphy, and will work primarily with Murphy. They will write bits for the actor-comedian ahead of time and will be backstage in the writers room the night of the event.

The team includes two of the three writers who work on Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm - Alec Berg (who also wrote for the 68th Academy Awards) and David Mandel. The third member of that team, Jeff Schaffer, was unavailable but might join in part-time.

Ratner's longtime collaborator, Jeff Nathanson, who wrote the director's new film, Tower Heist, and worked on his last two Rush Hour movies, has also come aboard, in addition to fellow Heist scribe Ted Griffin, who penned Ocean's Eleven, among other films.

"I'm new to this, and I wanted to feel comfortable, since I have to drive this whole thing. So I brought in guys that I have a personal relationship with and I've worked with before," Ratner said.

Also on board are Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, two veteran writers who worked with Murphy on the Nutty Professor series and Saturday Night Live.

The one truly veteran Academy Awards scribe on the case appears to be Jon Macks, who in addition to writing for the past 14 Oscar shows has also penned bits for the Emmys, the Country Music Awards and The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

Ratner said he would bring other writers in part-time to work on specific parts of the show. They include writer-director Cameron Crowe.

The new crop of writers, who seem to tend towards the irreverent and absurd, could breathe life into a show that is inherently tough to change.

Ratner said he was confident that Murphy's stand-up style, which he described as more about storytelling than joke telling, was going to bring a fresh perspective.

Ratner pointed to Murphy's ice-cream skit from his Delirious album and his impersonations as the kind of humour he hopes to bring to the Oscars.

The director said he was pleased with Murphy's round of appearances on late-night talk shows as part of his promotion for Tower Heist, calling it proof that the 50-year-old comedian is on top of his game.

The 84th Academy Awards screen on live on Sky Movies from 2.30pm on Monday. Coverage of the day begins at 7.30am with Countdown To The Red Carpet: The 2012 Academy Awards.

 

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