Toni Myers, a pioneering IMAX filmmaker, passed away peacefully on Monday (2/18) at her home in Toronto where she was for final palliative care after being diagnosed with late-stage cancer. She was 75. Her body of award-winning work includes A Beautiful Planet (2016), Hubble 3D (2010), Under the Sea (2009), Deep Sea (2006), Space Station 3D (2002), Mission to Mir (1996), L5: First City in Space (1996), Destiny in Space (1994), Journey to the Planets (1993), Rolling Stones: At the Max (1991), Blue Planet (1990), The Dream Is Alive (1985), Hail Columbia! (1982), Nomads of the Deep (1979), Ocean (1977), and North of Superior (1971). The latter was one of the very first films made in the big-screen IMAX format.
Last September she received the Giant Screen Cinema Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work took audiences to–and immersed them in–new frontiers, from the deep sea to outer space. Her early IMAX space films inspired a generation, including several who successfully pursued careers as astronauts; in fact this past December she was awarded NASA’s highest civilian medal. Acclaimed director Christopher Nolan researched Myers’ space films in preparation for his feature Interstellar.
Myers also was presented with the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honors.
Prior to her IMAX achievements, Myers edited music films and TV drama. Her music exploits had her working with the likes of John Lennon and Santana.
