Don Mischer, the Man Behind the Oscars

Don Fischer, Age 73 in March

Another great year for the Oscars has come and gone. We laughed, we gasped, and we were, at times, stunned, however, it was a successful show and, like Seth MacFarlane said, it was watched by nearly a billion people. So who was responsible for this spectacle that had the world on the edge of their seats listening to Seth MacFarlane sing about boobs? Well that would be producer, Don Mischer, and he was responsible for everything you see recorded and live at the Oscars. Even though Don played the role of director at the Oscars this year, he was tasked with a very challenging situation; he had to direct a show with famous actors, which is challenging for any director, while it was live. Therefore, something was bound to go wrong during the night and, in fact, some issues did arise, but it was Don’s extensive experience as a producer and director that helped him smooth it over.

This was not Don’s first rodeo, he has been here before and ‘seasoned veteran’ does not quite cut it when explaining his resume. According to IMDB, Don Mischer, age 73 in March, has, as a producer, produced multiple Super Bowls, Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Tony Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Olympics, and Obama’s inaugurations, just to name a few. Needless to say, Don was prepared for anything that was thrown at him on Sunday and several things did go wrong during the show. However, because Don’s experience as a producer and director is so extensive, he was able to keep the show running and most of us did not realize the errors that occurred.

Jennifer Lawrence trips on her way to her award.

Keep in mind that the Oscars are live and, well, not everything runs smoothly during a live show. So what went wrong during the Oscars that had Don clinching to his seat? First off, Jennifer Lawrence, who gracefully took a spill on her way to the stage to accept the Oscar for Best Actress, could have been detrimental to live television. Not only did the audience gasp, but Don did too. According to an article from Entertainment Weekly, “She fell, but broke her fall with her left arm,” said Mischer. “I don’t know whether she tripped on the fabric of her gown going up the steps. It was awkward. As directors [and producers], we worry about that stuff. What happens if someone collapses on the way up the steps or something? I was really happy when we realized she was not hurt and could survive the whole thing, get up there and react. It was quick and painless. Those are the things that happen with live television!”

Secondly, we had Meryl Streep, who decided to open the envelope before Don had time to bring up the nominee’s faces  to show their anticipation. “She must have opened it up during the film clip,” Don said. “That kind of threw me. There was a technical hitch right there. I like to cut to these boxes where you see everybody and the winner pops up full. She said the winner before we could ever blow up the box with the winner!”

Seth MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth perform closing song.

During live shows, not everything that causes stress with producers and directors has to deal with actors making mistakes or slipping on their dress, sometimes the producer needs to rewrite a sketch during the show. Let me repeat that, sometimes the producer needs to rewrite a sketch during the show. Apparently, the closing song that Seth MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth performed about the losers was rewritten on the fly. According to Don, “It was rewritten during the show. Seth wrote a template, a framework. There was a big joke in there about Argo not winning, but since Argo won, we had to rewrite it. It was being rewritten until the last award. We have four minutes of credits at the end and it’s always kind of a throwaway, so we decided to try something more fun.” Furthermore, sometimes producers and directors need keep secrets, not just from the audience, but from the rest of the crew too; Michelle Obama, or should I say ‘Operation Florence,’ was this years big secret. “That happened about two weeks ago and we kept it all a secret,” Mischer told Entertainment Weekly. “There were just a few of us who knew. We had a code name for it… Operation Florence. Nobody on our crew knew until Sunday afternoon before we went on the air.”

Seth MacFarlen dressed as The Flying Nun during Oscars skit.

Again it was another great year for the Oscars and it seems that the general consensus of Seth MacFarlane as a host was rather good. Of course he had some jokes that some snobbish people turned their nose up to, but that is Seth and, if given the opportunity, he could have turned a lot more noses. However, after James Franco and Anne Hathaway last year, Don wanted to try something a little different and seemed excited to have Seth MacFarlane as the host. According to an article from Access Hollywood, Don said, “What we want is interesting things to be happening on the show and sometimes the things you don’t plan for… the ones that do cross the line a little bit – they may get criticized – [but they] actually create interest and make the whole thing more fun.”

Unfortunately, according to an article from Rolling Stone, when asked if he would host again, Seth tweeted, "No way. Lotta fun to have done it, though." We'll be sad to see him go and I'm sure Mr. Mischer will be as well, but we would like to thank both Seth and Don for giving us "We Saw Your Boobs."

No Silver Lining, yet, for PA’s Playbook…

It is that time of year again, Awards Season, and this year is no exception. Recently, the movie industry has been giving us some great films such as Silver Linings Playbook, Promised Land, Jack Reacher, The Dark Knight Rises, and Blood Brother, just to name a few. Some have won awards and/or are up for more awards, however, what is it that all these recent movies have in common? At first, one would think famous actors or large budgets, but in reality the common denominator among these popular movies are taxes.

The Dark Knight Rises filming at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh

As a film producer, one must always be concerned about budgets, and films have many costs associated with them. Everything from cast and crew to location and food needs to be accounted for in the budget of a movie. Moreover, when you have a large blockbuster like The Dark Knight Rises, keeping a manageable budget can be quite difficult. However, with these large budgets come job opportunities and not just jobs for people who live in Hollywood, but local jobs where these movies are filmed. Nowadays, not all movies are filmed in Hollywood studios with large ice machines pelting actors with fake snow in the warm California sunshine pretending to be in Siberia. Some movies are filmed in other states where producers can take advantage of cost savings and it is the states themselves who are encouraging Hollywood to do so.

Silver Linings Playbook Filming at Llanerch Diner near Philly.

So, how do taxes bring these movies together? Lets take a look at Pennsylvania, another common denominator of the mentioned films and, in the past few years, has been very proactive in bringing productions to their state. In 2007, they rolled out Act 55, which is the Film Tax Credit Law, and according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, “A project is eligible if at least 60 percent of the project's total production budget is used for Qualified Pennsylvania production expenses.” It is this act that has allowed a large influx of productions to Pennsylvania and, again, with large movie budgets comes more jobs. According to an article from Variety, “Since 2007, the commonwealth has approved tax credits for 293 productions, which injected approximately $1.4 billion into its economy.” Furthermore, it seems that Pennsylvania films tend to be better films. Blood Brother, which is a documentary about a Pittsburgh native who wanders around India and stumbles upon an orphanage for kids with HIV and AIDS, recently won two big awards at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival: U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary and Audience Award for U.S. Documentary. Silver Linings Playbook, which has received eight Academy Awards nomination, including best picture, also took advantage of the Pennsylvania Film Tax Credit by filming in and around Philadelphia.

Charlize Theron to produce Hatfields & McCoys pilot.

Unfortunately, areas like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are becoming such popular destinations for film productions that they are burning through Pennsylvania's tax credit too fast. Places like Pittsburgh, that can be made to look like most major cities, are starting to lose some productions due to the insufficient tax credit funds. In an article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, said “We've lost seven feature films in the last couple of months, all from major studios, because of our inability to provide a tax credit." Furthermore, the state’s tax credit program has stopped taking applications for the credit until April 1^st. Currently, Pittsburgh alone has several feature films and TV shows underway, including a pilot for a “Hatfields & McCoys” television series produced by Charlize Theron. However, if the tax credit is not extended, Pennsylvania will start seeing more productions move out of the area along with the jobs, “we're competing against other states for this very lucrative, job-producing industry without any resources to help level the playing field,” said Mr. Keezer.