Oscar producers Zadan, Meron to return in 2014

[April 17, 2013]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the Oscars again.

The film academy announced Tuesday that it has invited Zadan and Meron to return for the 2014 Academy Awards telecast, and the two producers said they're honored to come back.

Their first Oscar show featured "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane as host. It drew Oscar's largest audience since 2010, including more coveted younger viewers.

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences President Hawk Koch said Zadan and Meron have "the overwhelming support of the Academy's Governors" to produce the Oscars a second time.

"To establish continuity with this year's enormously successful show, we felt it was important to give these consummate professionals the green light now to begin creating another great evening," Koch said.

The duo's production credits also include "Chicago," "Footloose," "Hairspray," "The Bucket List" and TV's "Smash."

There's no word on whether MacFarlane will also return as host. He said during the run-up to the show that he saw the Oscar job as "a one-time thing."

Some critics found MacFarlane's material, which included a song called "We Saw Your Boobs," juvenile and sexist.

The 2014 Academy Awards are set for March 2.

[Associated Press]

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