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George Lucas Funds His Alma Mater
By Kathy A. McDonald
Thanks to Star Wars and Indiana Jones, the University of Southern California (USC) will soon have impressive new facilities for its School of Cinematic Arts (Film, Television, Interactive). In October, former anthropology-turned-film major George Lucas (USC class of '66) gifted his alma mater with a $175 million donation via his Lucasfilm Foundation. Lucas credits the university for allowing him to discover filmmaking and teaching him "everything" he knows about the craft.
In making the largest single donation ever to USC, Lucas caps his decades-long relationship with the film school. Previously, he helped the school stake out its real estate on campus, moving from a former stable, as well as funding (along with his former wife, Marcia Lucas) two buildings. Seventy-five million dollars is earmarked to build a 137,000-square-foot, Spanish revival-style complex that will have eight screening rooms, ample conference rooms and administrative offices in addition to post-production suites and classrooms. The remaining $100 million is to endow the school. "The importance of a school is determined by its endowment," noted Lucas at the building's groundbreaking. "This endowment puts USC at the forefront of cinema education, but also puts other universities on notice that this is an important discipline and should be taken seriously."
Lucas also spearheaded the recent renaming of the Cinema and TV school; it's now the School of Cinematic Arts: Film, Television, Interactive. Lucas pointed out that no matter the context or means of distribution, the rules, grammar and art of storytelling are the same.
An amateur architect, Lucas oversaw the design plans. Reminiscent of Los Angeles in the 1920s and Hollywood's early days, the four-story, Italian-Spanish revival-style building centers around a courtyard framed by archways and loggias. It echoes a look that predominated in 1929 when USC's cinema school got its start. Lucas hopes his gift will lift the profile of cinematic arts education: "The world of moving images is not considered worthy at most schools as an academic endeavor, but is the major and most powerful form of communication in the 21st Century." |
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