An exclusive look behind the scenes as Dolby Theatre transforms for the Oscars

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Eight months ago, accumulation designers Misty Buckley and Alana Billingsley began proposing caller ideas for the 2026 Academy Awards stage. Three months ago, contracted companies started gathering sets for the show. Three weeks ago, the Oscars accumulation squad loaded its instrumentality into the Dolby Theatre: much than 800 lighting fixtures, a customized PA strategy and monolithic fibre optic cables that tally underground. Now, with little than 72 hours until the ceremony, Oscars co-executive shaper Rob Paine said their “circus” is yet camera-ready.

Electricians tally cables done underground manholes astatine the Dolby Theatre.

Paine, who volition beryllium moving his 31st Oscars connected Sunday, is portion of the accumulation squad that returns to the telecast each year. For Paine, the camaraderie betwixt the awards amusement veterans feels similar a “family.”

An electrician rigs lights connected the balcony of the theater.

“It’s a precise tiny radical of people,” Paine said. “We determination from 1 amusement to another, and a batch of america person worked unneurotic for a agelong time. ... They’re each the champion astatine what they do, and it conscionable makes producing these shows a batch easier due to the fact that it’s truly complicated. You person a batch to bash successful a precise abbreviated window, truthful to archer somebody, ‘This is what we need. This is the schedule,’ and past person them spell disconnected and bash it successfully, it’s truly important.”

A squad of 3 men huddle implicit accumulation plans backstage.

A pistillate sits connected the ground, taping retired a level program with achromatic insubstantial connected stage.

The Dolby Theatre, formerly known arsenic the Kodak Theater, opened successful 2001 with the explicit intent of lodging the Academy Awards. Every year, the accumulation squad looks for a mode to reimagine the signifier to support viewers astatine location captivated, portion inactive paying tribute to the traditions of the astir century-old ceremony.

“The Oscars is the granddaddy of each grant shows, truthful radical expect thing from the amusement that you person to honor,” Paine said. “You’re honoring films, you’re honoring the radical that enactment successful film, but astatine the aforesaid time, you person to proceed to germinate and beryllium absorbing and support it absorbing for viewers astatine home.”

Two electricians spot lighting strips on the orchestra seats of the theater.

Conceptualizing and gathering retired a caller signifier each twelvemonth is simply a monolithic undertaking. Paine estimated that successful the 3 weeks starring up to the ceremony, they had upward of 100 members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees connected acceptable each day. These workers power everything from individually steaming each signifier curtain to rigging monolithic pieces of audio equipment.

A antheral works from a gangly rig connected the wrong of the theater.

However, Paine believes that adjacent with the hard enactment and aggregate projects the squad juggles, the grandeur of the Oscars makes it “special to beryllium portion of.”

“It’s been astir the longest, and I deliberation it’s the amusement that everybody wants to beryllium a portion of that works successful this small world,” Paine said. “We person the luxury of clip to beryllium capable to rehearse it promptly and enactment it together.”

Two ample aureate Oscars statues are successful frame.

As Oscars Sunday draws near, the enactment Paine and the accumulation squad person enactment successful implicit the past 8 months is yet opening to wage off, helium said.

“Sometimes you look astatine the schedule, and you look astatine the plan and the fund and everything other together, it’s like, ‘Man, it’s gonna beryllium a situation this year,’ but it ever gets done. It’s truly astir the radical that travel unneurotic and marque it hap for us,” Paine said. “This is the champion portion of the show, erstwhile we’re successful the theater, really producing what we’ve been talking astir for 8 months.”