The USC School of Cinematic Arts was founded in 1929 when Douglas Fairbanks, the first president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recommended that the academy have a “training school” for filmmaking. USC agreed to allow one class called “Introduction to the Photoplay,” which debuted the same year as the Academy Awards. From that single class grew a Department of Cinematography, making USC the first American college to offer a bachelor’s degree in cinema.
The school has evolved significantly over the decades, becoming an independent academic unit in 1983 as the USC School of Cinema-Television, before being renamed the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2006. Its current facilities were made possible by a landmark $175 million donation from alumnus George Lucas, representing the largest single donation to USC and the largest to any film school worldwide.
The USC School of Cinematic Arts provides a cross-divisional education experience where future leaders in the entertainment industry learn all aspects of their craft. The school’s interdisciplinary approach enables students to take courses across seven disciplines without boundaries, training fully-formed media makers, collaborators, and scholars.
SCA is known for its prolific content creation, with students collectively creating up to 175 films per year across six disciplines in the master’s degree program: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design, and Screenwriting.
The school maintains state-of-the-art facilities including the School of Cinematic Arts Complex, which features soundstages, digital theaters, post-production centers, and animation facilities. Many of these spaces are named after industry legends and donors such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and 20th Century Fox.
Additional facilities include the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts and numerous specialized labs and research centers that keep the school at the cutting edge of media technology and innovation.
The USC School of Cinematic Arts offers programs across multiple divisions:
– John C. Hench Animation + Digital Arts
– Division of Cinema & Media Studies
– Film & Television Production
– Interactive Media & Games
– Media Arts & Practice
– Peter Stark Producing Program
– John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television
– The John H. Mitchell Business of Cinematic Arts
This comprehensive approach ensures students receive training in both the artistic and business aspects of the entertainment industry, preparing them for successful careers in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
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