The gang was all there under a hot early afternoon sun: Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis and, of course, the guest of honor George Lucas. The man behind "Star Wars" -- a 1966 graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television -- has just gifted his alma mater 175-million dollars!
As an adjunct professor there this fall term (I'm teaching USC CNTV 589: "Produce or Perish"), I was there with several hundred others to hear the speeches and see the ceremonial lifting of shovels to break the ground on the new construction project. That's producer and trustee Frank Price, Dean Elizabeth Daley and University President Steven Sample all sporting hard hats along with George.
Buying naming rights is all the rage these days, of course, and Lucas got to give the school a brand new name for his chunk of change. Unlike Doritos Bowls and Tostitos Centers and Burger King Stadiums and whatnot, Lucas chose to use his influence to simplify and clarify. The new name of the USC School of Cinema-Television, effective today, is:
That's right. The USC School of Cinematic Arts. According to Lucas himself, here's the why of the name change.
“Though ‘cinematic’ was often understood in the 20th century as dealing with movies, in this century it is taking on a much broader context, looking beyond the media,” said Lucas. “I believe that the new name of the school embodies the movement of the industry and the art form, and positions all who learn here as leaders not just for the moment, but for generations to come.”
Just for the record, this is the largest private donation ever received by the university, period. For that kind of cash, USC would probably have called it Lucasville or Lucas World if he'd asked them to, so you really do have to admire the man's restraint.
As an aside to all this, one of the guests in my producing class this term talked about the illegal practice of "Block Booking" -– where a big feature film is tied to a less desirable film, forcing theater owners to take both. Back in 1977, Fox was fined $25,000 for this practice. The big feature film was "The Other Side of Midnight." The less desireable film? The one that nobody wanted? The one that theater owners had to be forced to take? Yeah, you guessed it. Some little thing called "Star Wars." From what I've seen today, this Lucas guy has done alright with it...
George Lucas has a lot on his mind about the industry. What he said to Daily Variety after the ceremony was probably more controversial and important than what he said during his time at the podium. For starters, he thinks the big tentpole mega-movie blockbuster strategy that studios are pursuing is exactly the wrong strategy. He sees a future of many, many smaller films and he's moving his own company in that direction.
The USC SCA (School of Cinematic Arts) donation puts $75 million toward the building fund for a brand-new state-of-the-art complex to house the school. The other $100 million portion of the gift will go toward support initiatives in four core areas: students, faculty and staff, technology and programming, and alumni outreach. The gift will also serve as a major catalyst for the school to reach the $200 million goal of its current endowment campaign.
Besides the obvious positive vibes, it was a fun outdoor event, too. We lunched at standing tables on chicken or beef sandwich rolls, french fries, pasta salad and cookies. The swag du jour included newly-minted hats with the new school name on them and t-shirts. Directors -- past, present and future -- will be wearing them all over Hollywood in the weeks to come. And, yes, that's Lucas getting "hatted" by Spielberg. It reminds me that JFK had a "no hats" rule during his campaign. People kept giving him hats but he never put them on because people take pictures of you wearing them -- you never look as good as you did when you arrived -- but the goofy hat picture is what gets printed. Having said that, I'm not giving back my hat, I love the damn thing.
USC's School of Cinematic Arts really is the best of the best when it comes to an education in film and TV and new media. My son is an undergraduate there now getting a major in "Interactive Media." He's been getting a spectacular education and, now, many more students just like him are going to get an even better one. The current class I teach, for example, is in another building besides the CNTV one, mine being described by staff as "the ugliest building on campus." Maybe in a few years, we'll get to teach this thing in the hip new hacienda-style architecture of the new so-far unnamed Lucas building.
Bottom line: George Lucas has made a lot of money in his life but, even so, nobody writes a check like this one without a wince. Thanks, George. It really is a great thing you've done. And we don't care what size movies you want to make from now on, just keep making them...
