Roy Christopher presents a scale model of the set for the 78th Academy Awards Presentation.

Seventy-Eighth Academy Awards® Telecast producer Gil Cates and production designer Roy Christopher revealed the set design of the March 5 Oscar telecast.

"When designing the Oscars, I try to make the current show as different from the year before as possible," said Christopher. "Last year's show was distinguished by a hi-tech, 'cutting-edge' style. So this year, there's nothing hi-tech — it's a no-holds-barred return to classic Hollywood glamour, paying homage to old movie theaters." "I wanted to celebrate the movies and to include great movie houses and screens," said Cates. "So Roy went back to the classic ornate movie houses for his inspiration, which, I think, is superbly reflected in the final design."

"I have always loved the movie theaters of the '30s, '40s and '50s," Christopher said. "The man who designed many of them was S. Charles Lee, who was remarkably imaginative and architecturally daring, making movie theaters in styles ranging from the ornate Hollywood baroque to the sleek art-moderne. His spaces were exciting places that upon entering made you feel that something extraordinary was going to happen."

This is the 17th time that Christopher has designed the Oscar set, 11 with telecast producer Gil Cates. Christopher has received 35 Emmy nominations, 16 of them for his work on the Oscar telecast, for which he has won six Emmy Awards.

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12/19/2005: Roy Christopher to Design the 78th Oscar® Telecast