Cheryl Boone Isaacs will produce the Academy's fourth annual Governors Awards, Academy president Tom Sherak announced on Monday. A longtime marketing executive and member of the AMPAS Board of Governors, Isaacs will share the job with Don Mischer Productions, which has been involved in all of the prior Governors Awards.
The 2012 Governors Awards will take place on Saturday, Dec. 1 in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center. The event was created three years ago to give honorary Oscar recipients a separate night, rather than sandwiching their presentations into the already-lengthy Academy Awards shows.
Typically, recipients of the Governors Awards are chosen at a special August or September meeting of the Board of Governors. Honorary Academy Awards, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Awards and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award can all be handed out at the show, with a maximum of four recipients.
"Cheryl’s vision, creativity and her love of movies and our Academy are the perfect foundation for honoring those who have given so much to our industry," said Academy president Tom Sherak in a press release announcing the appointment. "It's also a pleasure to welcome back Don and his team, some of the most capable professionals in the business, who will give our honorees and guests an exciting and unforgettable evening."
In addition to serving as the president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema and consulting on such films as "The Artist" and "The King's Speech," Boone Isaacs has served as chair of the Academy's Governors Ball.
Mischer's team for the evening will include Charlie Haykel and Julianne Hare. (Photo, clockwise from top left: Boone Isaacs, Mischer, Hare and Haykel.)
Previous Governors Awards have been produced by Mischer with Bruce Cohen, Phil Robinson and Sid Ganis.
From its first presentation in November 2009, the Governors Awards immediately became an Academy favorite – a low-key, untelevised (and lengthy) show at which honorary recipients like Lauren Bacall, Francis Ford Coppola, Eli Wallach and Roger Corman could receive lavish tributes.
It has also become an unofficial early stop on the Oscar campaign trail, with a large number of filmmakers and cast members from the year's contending films making appearances and mingling with Oscar voters.
