VIACOM’S SEXTET

Bakish to bring new team to awards: sources

THE Academy’s managing director, Lorenza

Muñoz, has one of the toughest jobs in Hollywood.

It’s her task to figure out where all the talent and the film bosses sit. This year, she’ll need more than a few reserved signs for Viacom’s “flagship six.”

Tinseltown tipsters say Viacom CEO Bob Bakish is planning on attending along with the new fivemember in-house committee established to run the studio going forward.

The committee consists of Viacom CFO Wade Davis, Paramount CFO Mark

Badagliacca, Paramount TV executive Amy Powell, Paramount COO and production president Marc Evans and Paramount marketing chief Megan Colligan.

“The committee is showing they’re committed,” joked one executive.

Separately, former Paramount Pictures CEO Brad

Grey, who was let go Wednesday, is still planning on attending, our sources say.

Grey is there to see Paramount’s hopefuls pick up the statuettes. The studio has 18 nominations for seven movies. Amy Adams’ sci-fi flick “Arrival” picked up eight nominations, including one for best picture.

Other movies include: “Fences” also a best picture contender,” “Florence Foster Jenkins” and “Allied.”

We’re told that a meeting taking place earlier this week between Bakish and contender Rob Friedman went well.

Friedman had most re- cently been co-chairman at Lionsgate’s motion picture group. He’s also a former Paramount executive.

We also hear Jeffrey Katzenberg, 66, is close to announcing some deals now that he’s running his own private fund.

The former Disney chief sold Comcast his DreamWorks Animation business for $3.8 billion last year. Katzenberg earned an al- most $400 million payday for his trouble.

Now, his new company, WndrCo, may be entertaining ideas of acquiring a business he just sold.

Sources speculate that Katzenberg is eyeing AwesomenessTV, the digital bite-sized children’s programming venture that he created.

It’s currently owned by Comcast, Verizon and Hearst. His new venture raised some $600 million for digital investments. Prompting the gossip is the departure of CEO Brian Robbins.

As for the party, fatherto-be George Clooney is expected to show up.

Clooney’s a director of the MPTF — created in 1921 by Mark Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin — and hosted the event last year