By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --The film academy is naming its main museum building in honor of Cheryl and Haim Saban, who have donated $50 million to the project.
The historic May Company building on Wilshire Boulevard's Miracle Mile will now be known as the Saban Building, officials from the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures said Wednesday.
Walt Disney Company chief Bob Iger, who is leading the museum's fundraising campaign, called the Sabans' donation "magnificent and transformative," adding that it brings the project within $100 million of its $388 million goal.
Haim Saban is the founder and chairman of Saban Capital Group, a private investment firm specializing in entertainment and media. The Sabans are active philanthropists, with a research wing at Children's Hospital and a theater in Beverly Hills, California, bearing their name.
Iger and the Sabans were among the dignitaries appearing Wednesday at a press preview of the museum's construction site. They were joined by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer, who was tapped to head the museum's board of directors, and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, who serves as chair of the Academy Museum Committee.
"We're all kind of incredulous that this could be a company town and we don't have a motion picture museum," Kennedy said. "We should have the world's most pre-eminent motion picture museum, and now we have the opportunity to have that."
Set to open in 2019, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will celebrate the history and art of film. The 300,000-square-foot facility will house two movie theaters and four floors of exhibition space, along with a massive outdoor piazza and rooftop terrace that offers views of the Hollywood sign. The museum will feature artifacts from the film academy's vast archives, temporary and permanent exhibits, screenings and lectures, and an "Oscars Experience" that allows visitors to walk a red carpet, accept an Oscar and thank the academy.
Architect Renzo Piano designed the new complex, comprising the restoration of the former May Company building and a newly built dome-like structure that will house a 1,000-seat theater and outdoor terrace.
Garcetti said the city "neglected this industry for too long," and the new museum is a celebration of its history and contributors.
"When young people or tourists from around the world step off a plane of a school bus and walk into the bones of this old building reborn and this new building imagined," he said, "…We will know that we are telling our own human stories and connecting a new generation of dreamers to the idea that they, too, can give voice to their fears and their hopes and their aspirations and to the very best of humanity."
Avid completes acquisition of Wolftech
Avid®, known for software solutions for professional media production, has completed the acquisition of Wolftech Broadcast Solutions, a leader in cloud-based multiplatform news planning, production and publishing solutions.
The acquisition enables Avid to combine its digital-first, end-to-end media solution with Wolftech’s expertise in story-centric workflow management. News organizations will be able to increase efficiency and accelerate story delivery through enhanced remote collaboration and multiplatform amplification.
Avid CEO Wellford Dillard stated, “Wolftech is unquestionably on the leading edge of where the industry is going, and this acquisition demonstrates Avid’s commitment to transform news, sports, and live production workflows. We are delighted to welcome Wolftech into the Avid family.”
Wolftech CEO Arne Berven added, “We were focused on finding a partner that could accelerate the adoption of our platform globally. We explored a number of possibilities, but when we talked to Avid, we knew it was the right match.”
The closing of the acquisition follows Avid’s announcement on October 7 that the company had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Wolftech.
With this acquisition, Avid deepens the integration between the two toolsets while continuing to embrace an open approach in partnering with a wide range of media production tools and newsroom systems. Existing Wolftech customers will benefit from Avid’s global scale for customer support and professional services.
Ian Axton, head of production operations for ITV News, said, “As a customer of both Avid and Wolftech we’re excited about the benefits this acquisition will bring to our users and our business. Wolftech has transformed... Read More