Long Sought After Hollywood Museum Gets $25 Million of its Needed $300 Million From David Geffen

Of the long list of things that Los Angles has needed - or wanted - over the years - none has been as long in coming as a museum to honor the industry - and art form - that defined Los Angeles to the world - moving pictures.  And the just announced gift by David Geffen - $25 million - brings the 2010 launched campaign to raise $300 million dollars to over half of that amount, according to Deadline Hollywood.

David Geffen Foundation Donates $25M To Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures: New Theater To Be Named For Him

By THE DEADLINE TEAM Monday April 8, 2013 @ 10:07am PDT

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it has received a $25 million commitment from The David GeffenFoundation for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The gift was made as part of the Academy Museum’s $300 million capital campaign and is the largest commitment received to date. In recognition of this gift, the Academy will name the Museum’s premiere-sized theater The David Geffen Theater.

“David’s support of this project is transformative,” said Academy Museum Campaign Chair Bob Iger. “It takes a large and diverse group of supporters to build a project on the scale of the Academy Museum. David joins an esteemed group of individuals, companies, and foundations who are leading the charge.” The Academy launched the Museum’s capital campaign in 2012 and has already secured more than half of the campaign’s goal in commitments. The campaign is co-chaired byAnnette Bening and Tom Hanks.

And...

Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali, the Academy Museum will be located next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the historic Wilshire May Company building. Slated to open in early 2017, the Academy Museum will contain nearly 300,000 square feet of state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, theaters, screening rooms, education centers, and special event spaces.

Further details about the theater and the project can be found in the rest of the article at DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD.  And below is a rendering of the rear addition - described in the above link -  that will hold the theater.  The view is looking south down Fairfax to Wilshire.