Adam Blackstone joins the Oscars production team as the show’s music director. He has worked on individual performances on previous Oscar telecasts, namely Justin Timberlake’s show-opening performance of “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from Trolls five years ago and Keala Settle’s performance of “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman four years ago.
Will Packer, producer of the 94th Academy Awards, announced 13 key members of his production team on Wednesday (March 9).
Blackstone has worked on numerous awards shows, including multiple Soul Train Awards and BET Awards, as well as Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, The 365 Black Awards and the TV Land Awards.
Blackstone has received two Primetime Emmy nominations for music direction of a pair of Super Bowl halftime shows, the 2018 show starring Timberlake and the 2020 show starring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. He was also musical director of this year’s acclaimed Super Bowl halftime show starring a bevy of hip-hop stars, which could bring him a third Emmy nod in four years.
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He received a Grammy nomination for co-writing Musiq Blackstone’s “Teachme,” a 2007 nominee for best R&B song.
Blackstone has held music directing positions with such artists as Timberlake, Rihanna, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Maroon 5 and Eminem.
His other credits include A Grammy Salute to the Sounds of Change and the Fox shows The Four: Battle for Stardom and The Masked Singer.
He also appeared on season one of NBC’s The Voice as an advisor for coach Adam Levine. In 2009, Blackstone partnered with his wife Kaisha to start the company BASSic Black Entertainment, LLC (BBE).
Blackstone is one of four first-time members of the Oscars’ production team, along with three writers, Dana Eagle, Suli McCullough and Danielle Schneider.
Eagle was previously a creative consultant on Wanda Sykes’s Emmy-nominated Netflix comedy special Wanda Sykes: Not Normal. Sykes is one of three hosts of this year’s show, along with Regina Hall and Amy Schumer.
Returning members of the production team include supervising producer Rob Paine, production designer and creative director David Korins, lighting designer Robert Dickinson, talent producer Taryn Hurd, head writer Jon Macks, and writers Dave Boone, Mitch Marchand, Agathe Panaretos and Chuck Sklar.
The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The show will be televised live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and in more than 200 territories worldwide.