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    Dolby donates To Motion Picture Academy

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments481 Views
    BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. --

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it has received a $7 million gift from Dolby Laboratories to provide cutting-edge audiovisual technology in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ movie theaters. Additionally, the Dolby family has made a $5 million gift to the Academy Museum’s capital campaign. In recognition of this gift, the Academy will name the Museum’s rooftop terrace the Dolby Family Terrace. 

    “Dolby Laboratories, founded nearly 50 years ago by Ray Dolby, continues to enhance and transform how we experience the movies,” said Bob Iger, who is chairing the Academy Museum’s capital campaign along with co-chairs Annette Bening and Tom Hanks. “These generous gifts will help to ensure that the world will continue to experience the magic of cinema through the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.”

    “My husband Ray was passionate about elevating the sound of entertainment and his company’s contributions to cinema sound are well known,” noted Dagmar Dolby. “My sons, Tom and David, and I are honored to continue this legacy by supporting this important cultural project.” Kevin Yeaman, president and CEO of Dolby Laboratories, added, “Dolby Laboratories shares the Academy’s commitment to presenting films in a state-of-the-art environment that offers the best in sight and sound. We look forward to collaborating on the world’s premier movie museum with the Academy.”

    Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali, the Academy Museum will be located next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the historic Wilshire May Company building. Scheduled to open in 2017, the Academy Museum will contain more than 290,000 square feet of state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, theaters, educational areas, and special event spaces.

    “The Academy Museum will be able to provide visitors with an unmatched cinematic experience, thanks to the generosity of Dolby Laboratories and the Dolby family,” said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

    The Academy launched the Museum’s capital campaign in 2012 and has already secured $225 million in pledges from more than 1,000 individual donors globally.

    “The generosity of Dolby Laboratories and the Dolby family will help us create an unforgettable experience for Museum visitors,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Our long-standing partnership with Dolby reflects our joint commitment to transform and promote the art of moviemaking.”
     




    Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?

    Monday, November 25, 2024

    Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.

    "When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.

    And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.

    "Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.

    No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."

    At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.

    After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More

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