Acclaimed motion picture, television and theater producers Craig Zadan (left) and Neil Meron will produce the 85th Academy Awards. This will be the duo’s first involvement with the Oscars. The 85th Academy Awards will air live on Oscar® Sunday, February 24, 2013.

By A Front Row Features Staff Report

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the 85th Academy Awards, Academy President Hawk Koch announced today. This will be the duo’s first involvement with the Oscars. The 85th Academy Awards will air live on Oscar Sunday, February 24, 2013.

“Craig and Neil are forward thinkers who bring a unique perspective to the Oscar show,” Koch said. “Their enormous collective talent, coupled with their love of film, serves our show perfectly.”

“We are very excited to collaborate with Hawk and everyone at the Academy to produce this year’s Oscars,” said Zadan and Meron. “We hope to utilize our experience in producing features, TV and theater to bring something fresh and special to this incredible awards show. When we filmed ‘The Bucket List,’ we made our own personal bucket list, and producing the Oscars was #1. It’s truly a great honor.”

“Craig and Neil have great talent relationships and bring an infectious energy to the production,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.” They are creative producers in the best sense of the word.”

Zadan and Meron served as executive producers on the 2002 Best Picture winner “Chicago,” which won Oscars® in 6 of the 13 categories in which it was nominated. Their credits also include the features “Footloose” (2011), “Hairspray” and “The Bucket List.”  Zadan also produced the original 1984 version of “Footloose.”

Zadan and Meron’s work in television includes the series “SMASH” and such movies as “A Raisin in the Sun” and the upcoming “Steel Magnolias.”

For Broadway, they recently produced the Tony Award winning revivals of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and “Promises, Promises.”

Their work has amassed 73 Emmy nominations; 12 Tony nominations; and seven Grammy nominations.

The 85th Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on ABC. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.