Nikki Finke reports that there are rumors of a perhaps maybe director. Lou Horvitz is not doing this year due to other commitments so director is up for grabs:
I’m hearing that British director Hamish Hamilton may be hired by Oscar telecast producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman to direct the 82nd Academy Awards. Hamilton has a string of TV direction credits a mile long, including the MTV Video Music Awards (2009 & 2007), Neil Diamond: Hot August Night/NYC (2009), Be the Change Inaugural Ball (2009), Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (2008 & 2007), MTV Europe Music Awards (2008 & 2007), Josh Groban: Awake Live (2008), Christina Aguilera: Back to Basics – Live and Down Under (2008), etc.
Younging it up?
6 Responses for "82nd Oscars Telecast Director Chosen?"
Hamish Hamilton directed the most recent U2 DVDs, live in Boston, Chicago and Slane Castle. Those are pretty much the gold standard for music DVDs.
He’s also a bit of a lunatic (in a good way). Check out this hilarious clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45GluwLCvao
Sounds good to me.
They’re actually giving a British Director an American TV awards show? There are better American variety show directors out there. In this economy, where so many are hurting for jobs in the entertainment industry, is it right to outsource the work to the British? This seems like a sad state of events.
What is disturbing to me is how there is a current trend to bring in British directors who in turn bring in British ads, tds (vision mixers) and cameramen. In a time of recession and major budget cutbacks on every show, I am incredulous that the academy would chose Mr. Hamilton and pay for the work visas for all that come with him.
Work is hard enough to come by these days and the fact that so many of our top variety shows now have British directors and their teams (Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Got Talent) and have squeezed out our many capable music-variety directors, ads, stage managers and cameramen while we are constantly being told to cut our salaries — is troublesome.
I’m not disputing that Mr. Hamilton is a talented director. I just don’t know why we in Hollywood are so accommodating to bringing in crews from overseas when it is not the same for us when we want to work in another country. In England for example you must prove that there is not a qualified person in the country first before hiring abroad.
It seems that it is trendy these days to have the British accent not only on camera but behind the camera too.
Damn globalisation. I won’t shed any tears for all those put-upon American variety show directors just because the world is suffering from a global recession which was made in America. Rather than cutting out British film people, maybe the US should drop all the ridiculous agricultural tariffs that pay American farmers to be inefficient at the cost of farmers in Africa, Asia, etc.
I find some of this negative attitude to Mr Hamilton quite baffling.. The Oscars are a worldwide phenomenon and not strictly American. Just because they are filmed in Hollywood what gives anyone the right in the industry to determine that the whole crew has to come from the USA.. Hell the host last year was Australian! Where do we draw the line.. should the awards only be given out to US citizens!
Surely when we get to this level of show it should be based on ability and personality and NOT nationality. I do not know Hamilton personally but have worked on some of his shows and one thing I do know is that he brings professionalism, passion and vision to a project that I have not seen in a long time. He is definitely a team player and completely accepts that it does take a great team to make a great show – not just one man. I think we all need to take a step back and rather than vilify this Brit, we should his embrace his work ethic.
Oh and to add to the point that oe made above that Brits can just come over to the states and just work is really not the case. In speaking to some overseas colleagues who have visas and have had to join the Dga to work here it was a long process in which that had to earn their dues – and with respect to them they pay dues like the the rest of us. I respect that the industry is facing some difficult times, but that is the case worldwide not just in Hollywood. Lets give the new boy on the block a chance is what I say.
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