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Two British directors named as the creative bosses of the London 2012 opening ceremony Two of Britain’s most respected directors – Stephen Daldry and Danny Boyle – were today named as the creative bosses of the London 2012 opening ceremony. Daldry will be in overall creative charge of ceremonies while Boyle will be artistic director of the opening ceremony itself. Oscar-winner Boyle said he was honoured: “It’s a completely unique opportunity to contribute to what I’m sure are going to be a fantastic games. I’m really excited to be involved.” Four executive producers will oversee the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic games. As well as Daldry, Hamish Hamilton – best known for his direction of live TV events – will be executive producer, broadcast; Mark Fisher – who has staged every Rolling Stones show since 1989 – will be executive producer, design; and Catherine Ugwu, producer of the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth games, will be executive producer, production. Daldry said: “Myself and my co-executive producers will ensure there is creative continuity across all four ceremonies, that the public have real engagement and that we continue to attract into the key roles the best talent in the world. I’m delighted to be part of the team.” The team was unveiled at 3 Mills Studios in east London this morning. Lancashire-born Boyle, who returns to theatre direction this year with a new version of Frankenstein at the National Theatre, is currently working on his film 127 Hours, the true story of mountaineer Aron Ralston who amputated his own arm after it was trapped by a boulder. Daldry has been busy with Billy Elliot the Musical, opening a new stage version in Chicago. This will be followed by versions in Korea, Japan, Germany and Holland. He has also been in talks with Disney about a stage version of Dumbo. Unlike the £70m budget granted to the Chinese film director Zhang Yimou for the 2008 Beijing games, the London team will have a total of £40m for all four ceremonies. Yimou’s four-hour peace and harmony ceremony was largely judged a success, apart from a rumpus over a little girl miming. Boyle and Daldry are starting from a blank slate although they will, presumably, look back on the best and worst of previous ceremonies. It’s a safe bet to assume they will steer clear of the military-style pageant of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, where even the boys in togas marched. And there won’t be any need to deploy the rocket man in a jet pack which wowed audiences during the 1984 Los Angeles games. Sydney’s use of Kylie Minogue in 2000 singing Dancing Queen in a pink, spangly leotard is an idea; as is the Hello Kitty routines from Seoul in 1988. The 1936 ceremony, meanwhile, is probably one to skip over altogether. Olympic games 2012 Danny Boyle Stephen Daldry London Mark Brown guardian.co.uk

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2012 Olympic ceremony goes to Danny Boyle and Stephen Daldry