The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: Coming Soon

Are you a cinephile? I believe I am. If I’m not out and about jaunting around, it’s a safe bet you’ll find me watching a movie somewhere. (Preferably horror or thriller, however, I don’t discriminate based on genre. If it sounds interesting, I’ll give almost anything a gander.) I love everything about movies: the storylines, the places movies take us to, the characters, their costumes, the FX, and so much more. Basically, I find the whole movie process fascinating.

That’s why I’ve kept my eye on the progress for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, ever since I first saw a commercial about the renovations at the Overlook Hotel in 2018. It was actually a clever ad announcing the forthcoming museum. Appropriately enough, the ad ran during, what else? An Academy Awards® ceremony!

About the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Amazingly, in the over 100-year history of the movie industry, there’s never been any kind of museum devoted to the magic and art of making motion pictures. The Academy Museum will remedy that!

At one point, it looked like it might open in 2019. Then it got bumped to 2020. And then the pandemic happened so now the grand opening is set for September 30, 2021.

The Museum’s Exhibitions

1. Spielberg Family Gallery – Stories of Cinema 1

This is the “Grand Lobby of the Saban Building,” where “visitors are greeted by a soaring, glass-walled gallery and multiscreen experience where an introduction to the exhibition Stories of Cinema can be enjoyed for free.”

2. Wanda Gallery – Stories of Cinema 2

This is “a multi-floor exhibition that connects audiences to celebratory, complex, diverse, and international stories of the people who make motion pictures and the artworks they create.” This gallery, “like motion pictures themselves… will evolve and change over time,” but it’s where visitors can learn how movies are made and about the history of the Academy Awards. They’ll even get to peek behind the scenes of how The Wizard of Oz was created. Basically, this is the gallery that illuminates how all of the various disciplines that go into making a movie work, from screenwriting and casting to makeup, design, acting, directing, and producing.

3. Rolex Gallery – Stories of Cinema 3

Here’s where you can “explore how animators, production designers, costume designers, sound designers, hair and makeup artists, visual effects artists, and more conceptualize, design, and realize new environments and their inhabitants.” Visitors will see “concept artworks, animation cels, models, maquettes, matte paintings, animatronics, costumes, and soundscapes.”

4. East West Bank Gallery – Oscars Experience

Have you ever envisioned yourself accepting an Oscar? This “immersive environment” simulates the experience of walking onto the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and accepting one. (So you’ll know what to expect until you can do it for real!)

5. Special Collections Gallery – Path to Cinema: Highlights from the Richard Balzer Collection

This exhibit explores the evolution of the movie experience we know today from where it first began by way of various inventions, which are part of, and on loan from, Richard Balzer’s collection. He was an “author, documentary photographer, organizational consultant, and passionate explorer of the pre-history of cinema” who collected “more than 9,000 pre-cinema objects from Europe, Asia, and America dating as far back as the 17th century.”

6. Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery – Hayao Miyazaki

This inaugural temporary exhibit will first feature objects from Studio Ghibli’s archives of the Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist who is best known for My Neighbor Totoro and the Academy Award®-winning Spirited Away.

7. Upcoming Exhibition – Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898 – 1971

This exhibit is slated to open in 2022 and “will reveal the important and underrecognized history of African American filmmakers in the development of American cinema.”

The Museum’s Programs

Until the museum opens to welcome in-person visitors, they’re presenting a series of virtual conversations, screenings, and education programs like workshops.

Explore the Museum Online

To get an idea of the sorts of things they’ll have in their collection, they’ve posted photos of several artifacts online under the “Explore” tab that you can view and learn about, which include:

• Joseph Stefano’s typewriter – It’s the one he used to write the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
• Extraterrestrial Headpiece – The one that was worn in Alien.
• A Magic Lantern – Not the kind you rub and a genie pops out of, but an early kind of projector that was used from the 18th to mid-20th centuries. The one you can view online is dated 1890 from Germany and is quite ornate. (It looks like an Indian temple.)

Tickets

As of this post, ticket prices haven’t been announced yet. I’ll be sure to update with that info when they post it.

Opening Date

As noted above, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is set to open and officially start welcoming visitors on September 30, 2021.

For More Info

Visit academymuseum.org.

Check-In

If you were nominated for an Oscar, which of the following would it be for? (You can select more than one. Or even fill in one that’s not listed.)

• Screenplay
• Music
• Costume Design
• Set Design
• Cinematography
• Directing
• Acting