December 13, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  John Pavlik - (310) 247-3000

Beverly Hills, CA - Gilbert Cates will return for a tenth assignment as producer of an Academy Awards^® telecast.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Robert Rehme announced today that Cates will produce the telecast of the 73rd Annual Academy Awards Presentation, scheduled for Sunday evening, March 25, 2001.

Gil Cates

Cates has produced more Oscar telecasts than anyone. He took the record from Howard W. Koch in 1998 with his ninth show, broadcast from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Koch produced eight shows over a 12-year period, although no more than two consecutively. Cates has held the record for the most consecutive stints as producer of the global telecast since 1995, having at that point helmed the show for six years in a row - from the 62nd Awards in 1990.

"Gil makes producing an Oscar telecast seem easy - a tribute to his ability as an actor, along with everything else," Rehme said. "This is probably the toughest producing gig in town, and seems to get bigger and more difficult all the time. But with Gil at the helm, we can look forward to a smooth, well-blended production that will be creative and filled with surprises. And, most importantly to those of us at the Academy, we can concentrate on the Awards themselves, knowing that the presentation of them is in the hands of the master."

Cates' nine previous outings as producer have garnered 68 nominations and 17 Emmy Awards for the show from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, more than any other producer. Cates won the Emmy himself in 1991 for producing the 63rd Annual Academy Awards telecast.

"Ten is a nice round number," Cates said. "I'm thrilled to be back and delighted that Bob has asked me once more. Hopefully this year's show will be fun for all. I love to try and surprise our viewers."

The 73rd Academy Awards will again be preceded by the telecast of the Academy's official arrivals pre-show from 5 to 5:30. Cates also will serve as executive producer of that show.

A member of the Academy's Board of Governors for nine years representing the directors branch, Cates also served as dean of UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television for seven years and is a former two-term president of the Directors Guild of America.

Cates has had a distinguished career in both motion pictures and television. He produced and directed "I Never Sang for My Father" (1970), a film which earned three Academy Award nominations, and directed "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" (1973), which collected two more Oscar nominations.

Cates' accolades as Oscar Show producer are among a long roster of television credits. He earned an Emmy nomination as director of the 1991 television movie, "Absolute Strangers," starring Henry Winkler. His credits, under his Cates/Doty Productions banner, also include "Innocent Victims" (1996); 1990's critically-acclaimed "Call Me Anna," the telefilm based on Patty Duke's autobiography; the Emmy-nominated "Do You Know the Muffin Man?" (1990); "Confessions: Two Faces of Evil" (1993); "Fatal Judgment" (1988); "Consenting Adult" (1984), for which he earned an Emmy nomination; and "Hobson's Choice" (1983).

For the past four years Cates has served as artistic director of UCLA's Geffen Playhouse, for which he received the Jimmy Doolittle Award for Outstanding Contribution to Los Angeles Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2000 will be presented on March 25, 2001, at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium. Sunday at the Oscars^® will be televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. (PST), with a half-hour arrivals segment preceding the presentation ceremony.