LMU School of Film and Television Celebrates Lifetime Gift of $13 million from The Walter Lantz Foundation

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, LMU School of Film and Television, one of the top-ranked film programs in the nation, celebrated a lifetime of giving, totaling $13 million, from The Walter Lantz Foundation. The total donation is comprised of a recent gift to the animation program, art from The Walter Lantz Foundation Collection, and the remaining corpus of The Walter Lantz Trust, valued at over $5 million dollars, to be used as the lead investment for a new facility designed by Gensler.

Stephen Ujlaki, dean of the School of Film and Television, announced the gift and plans for the new building at the opening reception of the Woody Woodpecker and the Avant-Garde exhibit at the LMU Laband Gallery. The new facility will include a screening theater, visual effects workspace, editing suites and smart classrooms that will serve as a creative home for all students in the film program.

"Today is a special day for the School of Film and Television, not only because of the opening of this exhibit, but because this is the official launch of our new building campaign. This brings me to The Walter Lantz Foundation. I would like to acknowledge Trustees Ed Landry, who joins us today and Peg Jackson, who we sadly lost earlier this summer. They have been a significant partner of the School of Film and Television during my time here as dean. It was with their support that we were able to provide a new facility for the Animation Department, produce this exhibit that highlights Walter Lantz's legacy, and provide a lead gift for the new building," said Ujlaki. "We are well on our way to providing a new innovative creative space for future generations of students."

"The Walter Lantz Foundation is continually impressed with how well the school is preparing the next generation of young artists and storytellers," said Edward Landry, trustee of The Walter Lantz Foundation. "We are grateful to be able to take the school to an even higher level of excellence with this gift. Walter Lantz was a true pioneer, and if he were alive today he would be thrilled that his legacy will live on at LMU."

About LMU SFTV
Movie industry moguls helped establish Loyola Marymount University's (LMU) current campus on the bluffs above west Los Angeles in the 1920s. By 1964, LMU was formally teaching film and television curriculum, and in 2001, the School of Film and Television (SFTV) was established as its own entity. Today, SFTV offers students a comprehensive education where mastering technical skills and story is equally important to educating the whole person, including the formation of character and values, meaning and purpose. SFTV offers undergraduate degrees in animation, production, screenwriting, film and television studies and recording arts; and graduate degrees in production, screenwriting and writing and producing for television. The school is one of the few film programs providing students with a completely tapeless model of production and post-production, and SFTV's animation program is one of the few worldwide that teaches virtual cinematography. Selected alumni include John Bailey, Bob Beemer, Francie Calfo, Melissa Blake, Brian Helgeland, Francis Lawrence, Effie Brown, Lauren Montgomery, Jack Orman, Van Partible and James Wong, among others. Get more information at sftv.lmu.edu.

Contact: 
Julie Porter
[email protected] 
310-338-1697

SOURCE LMU School of Film and Television

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