The director of last year's infamous Oscars telecast looks back on the wild 'La La Land'-'Moonlight' mix-up that ended up winning him an Emmy by Jason Guerrasio on Feb 27, 2018, 8:33 AM Advertisement
 Glenn Weiss has made a career directing some of the most nerve-racking live television shows ever created. Working on the Emmy Awards, Tony Awards, American Music Awards, BET Awards, the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and New Year's Rockin' Eve, Weiss thought he'd seen it all over a 30-year career. But then came last year's Academy Awards. It was the second time he'd directed the epic show and everything was running smoothly until the final award of the night: best picture. You know the rest. Presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the wrong envelope, incorrectly said that "La La Land" won, the cast and crew come on stage, and that lead to one of the most incredible live moments in TV history. "La La Land" producer, Jordan Horowitz, realizing that his movie did not win, held up the card revealing the real best picture winner was "Moonlight." A year later, Weiss is preparing to direct another Oscars telecast (airing Sunday), but he still can't shake those infamous few minutes of live television. "I had no idea that one shot of a card that says 'Moonlight' will probably define my career for the rest of my life," Weiss told Business Insider over the phone. Here Weiss breaks down how they captured the best picture win at the 89th Academy Awards. SEE ALSO: MoviePass' CEO explains why a "small percentage" of accounts were terminated, and how to make sure it won't happen again "I really thought he was just being funny"  Looking back on it now, the reaction Warren Beatty has when he opens the envelope he was given and sees what’s inside speaks volumes. But at the time, Weiss just thought Beatty was putting on the same act he was doing during rehearsals. “Warren and Faye were very playful with each other during rehearsals,” Weiss said. “So when he started doing that [during the show] I really thought he was just being funny.” Once “La La Land” was announced as the winner, Weiss said he and his team were getting ready to present Jimmy Kimmel’s closing bit and the end credits. “It didn’t feel like anything was wrong, looking back, Warren was looking for help,” Weiss said. Beatty told the audience later that the card he was given was not for best picture, but a duplicate of the best actress award the was already announced, which was awarded to Emma Stone for “La La Land.”
"All my years of training at that moment went 180 degrees"  Weiss said he wasn’t notified something was wrong until a minute and a half after “La La Land” was announced. By that time the producers of the movie had begun giving their acceptance speeches. “I hear in the headset from my lead stage manager, ‘The accountant just said he thinks we gave the wrong winner,’” Weiss recalled. “I said, ‘Get out there and get this fixed.’” You can see in the video someone with a headset walking into the camera frame on stage. Weiss said you see that because he decided instantly to show what was unfolding, which goes against everything he was taught. “When you direct live television, your training says if something is going so wrong that your stage manager has to go out there you’re going to do a wide shot,” Weiss said. “That’s just what we do when we try to keep shows clean. All my years of training at that moment went 180 degrees. I basically thought, something really bad just happened, I don’t want the headline tomorrow to be we tried to cover it up.” Weiss showed all the whispering and scurrying on stage as producers gave their acceptance speeches and members of the crew tried to obtain the correct envelope.
Weiss was "obsessed" with getting a shot of the card that said the real best picture winner  Weiss said he became “instantly obsessed” with finding someone holding the correct winning card. “I basically told one of our camera operators who didn’t have an assignment at that moment to ‘just go tight on the card if anyone holds it up,’” Weiss said. The director said all he was trying to do in the moment was show the audience watching at home what they all were seeing. And then Horowitz lifted up the card that said “Moonlight” was the winner. “When that card was held up and we took the shot, honestly, I was just doing what my gut told me to do,” Weiss said. “Now, it’s the most talked about thing, it’s crazy.” Weiss said the significance of that shot didn’t hit him until the next day when he began seeing the shot in newspapers and on TV. He admitted that didn’t make him that pleased. “I felt really good about that television show I made,” he said. “The next morning reading about this one shot of the card was weird because I really thought the show was beautiful.”
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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