If you doubted the new influence of China on Hollywood, here’s today’s big story. Dalian Wanda Group has donated $20 million to the Motion Picture Academy. The new Academy library will be named for Wanda. Dalian Wanda previously bought AMC Theatres for $2.6 billion in 2012.
Here’s the release:
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it has received a $20 million gift from the Dalian Wanda Group 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 second largest commitment received to date. In recognition of this gift, the Academy will name the Museum’s film history gallery The Wanda Gallery.
“The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a global cultural institution and the Dalian Wanda Group’s support of the project speaks to the worldwide importance and appeal of the movies,” said Academy Museum Campaign Chair Bob Iger. “Their gift to the Academy Museum is a huge boost to our efforts to design and build the world’s leading movie museum.”
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 by Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.
Jianlin Wang, Chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group, noted, “Our relationship with the Academy is an important part of our role in the global motion picture industry, I am, and the Dalian Wanda Group is, very pleased to partner with the Academy and support the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.”
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. “Dalian Wanda Group’s generosity will help the Academy create an immersive permanent exhibit that will illuminate and explore the history of moviemaking—one that explores movies from a global perspective,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.
Also, as part of a larger partnership with the Dalian Wanda Group, the Academy will extend its global programming reach and advise the Dalian Wanda Group on film screenings and symposia in China. “The Academy is deeply committed to promoting and encouraging the creation and exploration of movies around the globe,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Our partnership with the Dalian Wanda Group will help the Academy reach a vast, new movie-going audience in China.”
