GIL CATES TO PRODUCE 77th OSCAR(r) TELECAST ON THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK

Gilbert Cates has his 12th assignment as producer of the annual Academy Awards(r) telecast, Academy President Frank Pierson announced today. Cates will helm the 77th Awards scheduled for SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2005 on the ABC Television Network. With eleven telecasts to his credit since 1990, he has produced more Oscar shows than any other producer.

"With eleven shows under his belt, no other producer, living or dead, even comes close to the depth of Gil's experience," Pierson said. "We're lucky to have him back!"

Cates' previous outings as producer have garnered 85 Emmy nominations and 21 Emmy Awards. He won the Emmy himself in 1991 for producing the 63rd Annual Academy Awards telecast.

"I'm delighted that Frank has asked me to rejoin the Academy for a twelfth stint as producer of a show that I love to do," said Cates. "I already have ideas whirling around in my head and can't wait to see them through to fruition on Oscar Night."

The 77th Academy Awards will be preceded by the telecast of the Academy's official arrivals pre-show from 5:00-5:30 p.m. on ABC. Cates also will serve as executive producer of that show.

For the past three years, Cates has served on the Academy's Board of Governors, representing the directors branch (a position he previously held for nine years, from 1984 to 1993). He 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. For the past ten years he has served as producing director of UCLA's Geffen Playhouse, for which he received the Jimmy Doolittle Award for Outstanding Contribution to Los Angeles Theater.

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. His 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 "A Death in the Family" (2002), "Collected Stories" (2002), "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).

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2004 will again be presented from the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland.

Editors please note: Photos of Gil Cates are available at http://photos.oscars.org