Gil Cates, a director and producer who produced a record 14 Academy Awards telecasts in 18 years, has died. He was 77.
Cates' body was found Monday on the campus of UCLA, where he was the founding dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office is investigating ...
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Why was there such a lack of interest in this year's Academy Awards, leading the kudoscast to deliver its smallest audience on record? It's the movies, stupid, says producer Gil Cates, pointing out that in recent years, ratings for the show have matched the popularity of the nominated films. "I [produced] the show the year Titanic made a billion dollars and [this year's best-picture nominees] together probably didn't reach $300 million," he says. "Only Juno did really well. That's the major reason." Cates, who was a main negotiator for the successful Directors Guild contract, also blames the writers' strike. "Less people were watching the networks and less people were watching the promos," he says, pointing out that the Grammys audience similarly shrank more than 20 percent. There is some good ratings news to be had, however: Cates says that those who bothered to tune in for the Feb. 24 gala stayed tuned in for the entire show. — Ileane Rudolphread more
Four-time Oscar host Whoopi Goldberg teared up on Monday's The View after the ladies brought up her exclusion from what looked like a tribute montage to past hosts on Sunday's telecast. In turn, Gil Cates, who produced the show, called Whoopi to apologize. "That piece of film was made to honor 80 years of Oscar's most memorable moments," he told TV Guide. Because of the show's crash production schedule after the end of the WGA strike, Cates saw the montage only days before it aired. "I never realized that Whoopi wasn't in it — and she hosted two times for me! And Steve Martin's not in it, I now realize. I feel badly for him, too. It was just totally an oversight." Not that he's calling Martin with his mea culpa. "No, Steve's not that kind of guy." Cates is embarrassed "that anyone would think there was any reason that Whoopi wasn't included, except by accident. We did use a very major piece of her in the piece on [winning] supporting actors. She thanked me for calling, and tol...read more