Oscar’s Saturday sister, the Independent Spirit Awards, may not get the ratings or have anywhere close to the same production budget, but news alert: It usually has much better hosts.
Over the past decade Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg, Joel Mchale, Sarah Silverman and Kristen Bell and Fred Armisen have killed at the annual indie filmmaking event where almost anything goes (although it wasn’t Steve Coogan or Patton Oswalt were two rare and unexpected mistakes). Last year, Kate McKinnon and Kumail Nanjiani were fantastic as the event’s emcees. This year, in an inspired choice, Film Independent and IFC have chosen Nick Kroll and John Mulaney to host the event.
Kroll and Mulaney are currently on Broadway in the hilarious “Oh Hello!” where they reprise their characters Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland, two upper west side New Yorkers in their 70s whose opinions aren’t always politically correct.
Kroll is best known for his Comedy Central series “The Nick Kroll Show” (where Faizon and Geegland appeared) and “The League,” but his film credits include Jeff Nichols’ “Loving,” “Sausage Party,” “Sing” and indies such as “Joshy” and “Adult Beginners.”
Mulaney is a well known standup who made his name on the writing staff of “Saturday Night Live” and had a short-lived NBC sitcom, “Mulaney,” in 2014. He also writes on IFC’s acclaimed comedy series “Documentary Now!”
In a release Film Independent president John Welsh remarked, “From film to television to Broadway, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney have been almost everywhere – and now their world domination will be complete when they host the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards. We couldn’t think of two smarter, funnier people to host our show, and look forward to having them on the beach on Saturday, February 25.”
IFC President Jennifer Caserta added, “This year I asked Film Independent to find us two super talented multi hyphenates to take on the hosting duties for the Spirit Awards, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Nick and John to our stage.”
The 2017 Independent Spirit Awards will take place Saturday, February 25 at 2:00 pm PT, 5:00 pm ET and air live on IFC.