Cohen, Mischer to produce Oscars

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., June 22 (UPI) -- Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer have been tapped to produce the 83rd Academy Awards telecast in Los Angeles, it was announced Tuesday.

Mischer -- whose producer/director credits include "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial," "The Kennedy Center Honors," several Super Bowl half-time shows, and the opening ceremonies of both Winter and Summer Olympic Games -- will also serve as the telecast's director, said Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak.

This will be the first involvement with the Oscar telecast for both Cohen and Mischer, though the two worked together on the academy's inaugural Governors Awards event last November.

Sherak said he is "absolutely ecstatic" the pair are taking on the program.

"Their work in producing the academy's inaugural Governors Awards was exceptional and I am confident they will bring their creative vision and extraordinary talent to produce/direct a most memorable Oscar show," Sherak said.

Cohen called it a "dream come true."

"I fell in love with the Oscars as an 8-year-old kid, the night my grandmothers let me stay up to watch for the first time," added Cohen, a film producer who worked on "Milk" and "American Beauty."

Mischer said he "couldn't be more thrilled" to work with Cohen on the Oscars telecast.

"As a producer and director, I have always been inspired by the live broadcast of major, high-profile events and when it comes to that, it doesn't get any bigger than the Academy Awards," he said.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 are to be presented Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.