This year's design for the Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre was a sea change from the year before. The previous designer, David Korins, had described the set as "a very immersive environment" that encouraged interaction between celebrities in the audience and the stars on stage. We all know how that ended up: Will Smith walked onstage to assault MC Chris Rock.
The 95th iteration of the Academy Awards was groundbreaking for a number of reasons—the award for Best Actress was given to a woman of Asian descent for the first time; and the winner, Michelle Yeoh, is only the second woman of color to win; and she was presented with the award by Halle Berry, who was the first. It was also the first time that set design team was led by women: production designer Misty Buckley who has previously won an Emmy Award for her work on the 2021 Grammys, and three-time Emmy Award-winner, Alana Billingsley.
The design was inspired by the glamorous movie theatres of the past, using rich bronze and brass tones, and evoking the art deco cinemas from Hollywood's golden age. Rather than seating a select few close to the action, the stage and parts of the auditorium held roughly 3,500 square feet of LED screens that transformed the theatre for everyone.
Misty Buckley calls the production design "a love letter to cinema."
Design Credits
- Co-Designers: Misty Buckley, Misty Buckley Design, Alana Billingsley, Paperweight, Inc
- Executive Producer: Ricky Kirshner
- Executive Producer & Director: Glenn Weiss
- Co Executive Producer: Rob Paine
- Producer: Sarah Levine Hall
- Lighting Design: Full Flood, Inc (Bob Dickinson and Noah Mitz)
- Video content and broadcast graphics Raj Kapoor Productions