Oscars 2025: Producers give sneak peek at 97th Academy Awards

ByAlicia Vitarelli

Thursday, February 20, 2025 3:29PM

Oscars producers give sneak peek at 97th Academy Awards

We are less than two weeks away from the Oscars.

Two award-winning executive producers are back for their second year at the helm of Hollywood's biggest night.

"Returning to produce the Oscars is one of the biggest honors of my entire career," said Raj Kapoor. He's back for a straight second year as executive producer and showrunner of the Oscars, alongside his fellow executive producer, Katy Mullan.

On The Red Carpet's Oscar nominees special features interviews with the stars of this year's most nominated films, including "Emilia Pérez," "The Brutalist," "Wicked," "A Complete Unknown," and more.

"We are just thrilled to have the honor of producing the show again," said Mullan.

Last year, their work on the Oscars won them an Emmy Award.

This year, they plan to set the tone by honoring those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires.

"We love our city and we are very fortunate to be here and want to help rebuild," said Kapoor.

They're also going to celebrate what they call "the alchemy of filmmaking."

"As part of that we are going to show the behind-the-scenes because I think people are fascinated by that because it takes a village to make these incredible films," said Mullan.

Comedian Conan O'Brien sat down with ABC News' Chris Connelly ahead of the Oscars and said that anything is possible for his first time as the host.

For the first time, Conan O'Brien is hosting the big show.

"He's got that warmth and wit, but he's also got that little edge," Mullan said.

Also, for the first time, the Best Original Song category won't feature live performances, instead focusing on the songwriters.

But the producers say: there will be music.

"We have some incredible music performances from some huge stars," said Mullan.

The one thing they can't produce is the element of elation and emotion that comes with each and every win.

"One other thing we are excited about is how many first-time nominees there are. It's going to be really electric in that room this year," Mullan said.

In fact, there are 13 first-time Oscar nominees in the major acting categories alone.

"We're going to see dreams come true this year which is really, really exciting," Mullan said.