The USC School of Cinematic Arts (commonly referred to as SCA)â€"formerly the USC School of Cinema-Television, otherwise known as CNTVâ€"is a private media school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. The school offers multiple undergraduate and graduate programs covering film production, screenwriting, cinema and media studies, animation and digital arts, media arts + practice, and interactive media & games. Additional programs include the Peter Stark Producing Program and the Business of Entertainment (offered in conjunction with the USC Marshall School of Business MBA Program).
It is the oldest, largest, and arguably most reputable such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Having been ranked as one of the best film schools in the world on several occasions, SCA has most notably topped THR's ranking for five consecutive years. As such, admissions into the school are extremely competitive, with an estimated 2â€"3% acceptance rateâ€"lower than that of, for example, Harvard.
History
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The school's founding faculty include Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, William C. DeMille, Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg, and Darryl Zanuck. Notable professors include Drew Casper, the Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Professor of American Film; Tomlinson Holman, inventor of THX; film critic and historian Leonard Maltin; and David Bondelevitch, President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors.
In April 2006, the USC Board of Trustees voted to change the school's name to the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
On September 19, 2006, USC announced that alumnus George Lucas had donated US$175 million to expand the film school with a new 137,000-square-foot (12,700Â m2) facility. This represented the largest single donation to USC and the largest to any film school in the world. His previous donations resulted in the naming of two existing buildings after him and his then-wife, though Lucas was not fond of the architecture used in those buildings. An architectural hobbyist, Lucas laid out the original designs for the project, inspired by the Mediterranean Revival Style that was used in older campus buildings as well as the Los Angeles area. The project also received another $50 million in contributions from Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company.
In the fall of 2006, the USC School of Cinematic Arts joined forces with the Royal Film Commission of Jordan to create the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts (RSICA) in Aqaba, Jordan. The first classes were held in 2008, and the first graduating class for the university was in 2010.
Facilities
Donations from film and game industry companies, friends, and alumni have enabled the school to build the following facilities:
- School of Cinematic Arts Complex, completed in 2010, which includes:
- 20th Century Fox soundstage
- George Lucas and Steven Spielberg Buildings, featuring the Ray Stark Family Theatre, which is equipped for 3D presentation, as well as two digital theatres, the Albert and Dana Broccoli Theatre and Fanny Brice Theatre
- Marcia Lucas Post-Production Center
- Marilyn & Jeffrey Katzenberg Center for Animation
- Sumner Redstone Production Building
- Interactive building (SCI), home the USC Interactive Media & Games Division, the USC Division of Media Arts and Practice, and several research labs (the Game Innovation Lab, the Mobile and Environmental Media Lab, the Mixed Reality Lab and the Creative Media & Behavioral Health Center, among others)
- Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, home of Trojan Vision, USC's student television station
- Eileen Norris Cinema Theatre Complex, featuring a 365-seat theatre that also serves as a classroom with USC faculty member and Academy Award winner Tomlinson Holman's THX audiovisual reproduction standard used in film venues worldwide. The Frank Sinatra Hall, dedicated in 2002, houses a public exhibit and collection of extensive memorabilia commemorating Sinatra's life and contributions to American popular culture.
- David L. Wolper Center at Doheny Memorial Library
- Louis B. Mayer Film and Television Study Center at Doheny Memorial Library
- Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive
At the center of the new television complex is a statue of founder Douglas Fairbanks. He is seen holding a fencing weapon in one hand to reflect his strong ties with the USC Fencing Club.
Distinctions
- Since 1973, at least one alumnus of SCA has been nominated for an Academy Award annually, totaling 256 nominations and 78 wins.
- Since 1973, at least one SCA alumnus or alumna has been nominated for the Emmy Award annually, totalling 473 nominations and 119 wins.
- The top 17 grossing films of all time have had an SCA graduate in a key creative position.
- The Princeton Review has ranked the Interactive Media and Games Division's video game design program best in North America multiple years in a row.
- Both The Hollywood Reporter and USA Today have ranked SCA the number one film program in the world, with its unmatched facilities, proximity to Hollywood, and numerous industry connections being the primary rationale.
- Awards for USC Cinema short films
- In 1956, producer Wilber T. Blume, a USC Cinema instructor at the time, received an Academy Award for best live action short film for a film he created entitled The Face of Lincoln. Blume also received an Academy Award nomination that year for documentary short.
- In 1968, George Lucas won first prize in the category of Dramatic films at the third National Student Film Festival held at Lincoln Center, New York for his futuristic Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB.
- In 1970, producer John Longenecker received an Academy Award for best live action short film for a film he produced while attending USC Cinema 480 classes as an undergraduateâ€"The Resurrection of Broncho Billy. The film's crew and cast included Nick Castle, cinematographer; John Carpenter, film editor and original music; James Rokos, director; Johnny Crawford, lead actor; and Kristin Nelson, lead actress.
- In 1973, Robert Zemeckis won a Special Jury Award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' second annual Student Film Awards presentation for A Field of Honor.
- In 2001, MFA student David Greenspan won the Palme d’Or for short film at the Cannes Film Festival for his student film Bean Cake.
- In 2006, director, co-writer, and producer Ari Sandel received an Academy Award for best live action short film ("West Bank Story") made as a USC Cinema graduate school project.
- In 2009, MFA student Gregg Helvey was nominated for an Academy Award for his MFA thesis film, Kavi.
Notable SCA alumni
See also List of University of Southern California people
SCA has more than 10,000 alumni. Among the most notable are:
List of Endowed Chairs
- Elizabeth M. Daley: Steven J. Ross / Time Warner Dean's Chair in Cinema-Television. Chair Graciously Funded by Time Warner Inc.
- Drew Casper: Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Endowed Chair. Chair Graciously Funded by Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell
- Lawrence Turman: Peter Stark Endowed Chair. Chair Graciously Funded by Ray Stark
- Jack Epps: Jack Oakie Endowed Chair in Comedy. Chair Graciously Funded by Victoria Oakie
- Stephen K. Nenno: Chair in Television Production. Chair Graciously Funded by Stephen K. Nenno
- Judy Irola: Conrad Hall Endowed Chair in Cinematography and Color Timing. Chair Graciously Funded by The George Lucas Family Foundation and Steven Spielberg
- Doe Mayer: Mary Pickford Endowed Chair. Chair Graciously Funded by the Mary Pickford Foundation
- Todd Boyd: Katherine and Frank Price Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture. Chair Graciously Funded by Katherine and Frank Price
- Ellen Seiter: Stephen K. Nenno Endowed Chair in Television Studies. Chair Graciously Funded by Stephen K. Nenno
- Midge Costin: Kay Rose Endowed Chair in the Art of Sound and Dialogue Editing. Chair Graciously Funded by The George Lucas Family Foundation
- Larry Auerbach: Larry Auerbach Endowed Chair. Chair Graciously Funded by Marcia Lucas
- Tracy Fullerton: Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment. Chair Graciously Funded by Electronic Arts, Inc.
- John Watson: Dana and Albert "Cubby" Broccoli Endowed Chair in Producing. Chair Graciously Funded by Dana and Albert "Cubby" Broccoli Charitable Foundation
- Mary Sweeney: Dino and Martha De Laurentiis Endowed Professorship. Chair Graciously Funded by Martha De Laurentiis
- Dennis Wixon: Microsoft Endowed Professorship. Chair Graciously Funded by Microsoft Corporation
- Michael Fink: The Kortschak Family Endowed Division Chair in Film and Television Production. Chair Graciously Funded by Walter G. and Marcia B. Kortschak and Kortschak Investments, L.P.
- Richard Weinberg: Charles S. Swartz Endowed Chair in Entertainment Technology. Chair Graciously Funded by Stephanie Rothman
- Nancy Forner: The Michael Kahn Endowed Chair in Editing. Chair Graciously Funded by The Wunderkinder Foundation
- Bruce A. Block: The Sergei Eisenstein Endowed Chair in Cinematic Design. Chair Graciously Funded by The George Lucas Family Foundation
- Alex McDowell: The William Cameron Menzies Endowed Chair in Production Design. Chair Graciously Funded by The George Lucas Family Foundation
- Mark Jonathan Harris: Mona and Bernard Kantor Endowed Chair in Production. Chair Graciously Funded by The Estate of Mona and Bernard Kantor
- David Weitzner: Mark Burnett Endowed Chair To Honor The Director of the Summer Production Program. Chair Graciously Funded by Mark Burnett
- Michael Renov: The Haskell Wexler Endowed Chair in Documentary Chair for the Study of American Film. Chair Graciously Funded by The George Lucas Family Foundation
Other Notable faculty members and instructors (Past and Present)
See also
- Film
- Glossary of motion picture terms