Imax donates theater to USC

USC is getting a giant screen courtesy of Imax Corp.

The Canadian theater technology company announced Wednesday that it was donating an Imax theater system to USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

The Imax theater will be installed in a new auditorium donated by Michelle and Kevin Douglas, Imax’s largest shareholders, at the cinema school’s Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts.

The theater will be part of a 35,000-square-foot, fully digital training center that will serve as a research facility and teaching facility for students to learn Imax filmmaking as well as location-based entertainment and multi-player game design.

“Imax has been a cinematic innovator since its inception more than 45 years ago,” Imax Chief Executive Richard L. Gelfond said in a statement. “We take our commitment to the future of entertainment very seriously and believe that through this gift we can help educate future filmmakers of the world on how to use technology to express their vision in new ways. The Lab will also give students the opportunity to learn about the latest innovations in filmmaking, set design, sound and post-production.”

The Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, a collaboration of studios, agencies, corporations and entertainment leaders, is the brainchild of renowned filmmaker and USC alumnus Robert Zemeckis.

“Our partnership with IMAX and Michelle and Kevin Douglas is an incredible leap forward in offering students the most cutting-edge storytelling technologies,” Zemeckis said. “The students’ exploration of Imax filmmaking and immersive storytelling will push the boundaries of the medium, creating experiences we cannot even imagine yet.”

Elizabeth M. Daley, the dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, said the partnership with Imax and Michelle and Kevin Douglas “puts the cutting-edge immersive storytelling and virtual production tools in our students’ hands.”