The USC School of Cinematic Arts is a hotbed of creative innovation, narrative storytelling, and design where we use narrative and cinematic tools to enhance technology, products and experiences to make life more engaging. The faculty, students and research staff at SCA collaborate with industry partners to develop new technologies and methodologies that make content and consumer experiences more engaging.
Contact us to learn how our sponsors and collaborators have built a relationship with the USC School of Cinematic Arts to capitalize on our storytelling expertise and develop the potential of diverse industries.
To partner your company or organization with SCA, contact:
Kyndal Wilson
Director of Development
Stewardship and Corporate/Foundation Relations
kwilson@cinema.usc.edu
IMAX
The IMAX Corporation, in cooperation with Michelle and Kevin Douglas, has revolutionized the creation and study of large-format filmmaking at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, while also enabling research into innovative uses for Cineplex and theatrical spaces. The Michelle and Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre and Immersive Media Lab, a fully digital, 35,000-square-foot training center, serves as a research and teaching facility for students to learn IMAX filmmaking and develop exciting, immersive applications for theatrical spaces.
Electronic Arts
The Electronic Arts Interactive Entertainment Program and the Game Innovation Lab are focal points for the study of and research into games within the Interactive Media & Games Division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. These programs not only train the brightest and most creative game designers and team leaders, they enable the use of games as a research tool for all aspects of life. The Electronic Arts Endowed Faculty Chair, currently held by the Director of USC Games Tracy Fullerton, is the key catalyst that enables the School to fulfill the intensifying demand for talented game developers who are solidly grounded in visual storytelling and innovative game play.
Jaunt
The Jaunt VR Lab is the hub for developing and exploring narrative best practices in virtual reality and augmented reality. By creating and funding the lab within the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Jaunt VR is collaborating to define the best practices and cinematic language that guide all virtual reality and augmented reality productions in the future. The Jaunt VR Lab is also at the frontlines of experimentation in immersive entertainment and exploring the practical and narrative limits of the medium, including augmented and virtual reality. Led by experts in immersive entertainment, visual effects, and short-form narrative, with the full resources of the School of Cinematic Arts as support, faculty such as Candace Reckinger and Eric Hanson are shaping the direction of this new medium and training a new generation of experts in immersive entertainment.
Microsoft
The Microsoft Corporation's Microsoft Next Generation Entertainment Initiative created the Microsoft Endowed Professorship, and has supported both research into games and the academic curriculum within the Game Innovation Lab and the Interactive Media & Games Division. The Microsoft Endowed Professorship, currently held by Dennis Wixon, supports training a new generation of game professionals in user research and computer-human interaction, helping to fill a critical talent gap in the industry.
New Form Digital
New Form Digital and Imagine Entertainment are collaborating with the School of Cinematic Arts to enable a two-semester program that ideates and develops content for New Form Digital's online platforms. Through a combination of financial support, mentorship and industry guidance, students prolifically create robust online episodic content.
Christie
Christie Digital Systems, a global leader in audio, visual and collaboration solutions has partnered with the School of Cinematic Arts to provide state-of-the-art projection and audio technology to the School's flagship theatrical venues. This high-profile placement of equipment offers students and industry guests the best possible cinematic experience.
Intel
Intel has worked with the World Building Media Lab closely since its inception on the lab's well-known Leviathan Project which debuted at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. Leviathan is a research-based, experiential storytelling platform that explores new possibilities in entertainment-where physical and virtual worlds connect through the power of creativity combined with emergent technology. Intel's financial and equipment support has enabled Leviathan's high-profile presence at festivals and conferences around the globe.
BMW
Researchers at the School of Cinematic Arts, in collaboration with BMW, have developed technologies to deepen the profound connection that drivers have with their cars. Using ambient storytelling techniques, this collaboration explored methodologies for augmenting the driving experience by combining narrative techniques with automotive data and cloud-based computing technologies. The result is an interactive experience that does not distract from the driving experience, but improves the engagement of car owners.
OptiTrack
OptiTrack supports advanced projects and courses at the School of Cinematic Arts with motion capture hardware and software installed in the most advanced classroom and laboratory spaces of the School, including the Motion Capture Stage at the Zemeckis Center, the Michelle & Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre and Immersive Lab, and the World Building Media Lab. These valuable, state-of-the-art technologies support content creation and research into the creation of film, games, animation, as well as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality experiences.