USC’s School of Cinematic Arts is no stranger to collaboration. Each year, hundreds of students work together to produce films, video games and academic projects, relying on each other to bring in the best results. Five years ago, when Dean Elizabeth M. Daley began the project of constructing the new SCA Complex she had the help of a stellar group of alumni and peers from the entertainment industry by her side. On August 16 of this year, Daley will be on hand as SCA breaks ground on a 60,000 square foot new building, which will mark the final stage of the SCA Complex construction process.

“This is the final component of the original master plan for the campus, and enables us to integrate our programs and offer our students an unparalleled, all-encompassing practical and educational experience available nowhere else in the world,” said Daley. “It is a bold commitment, and signals clearly that the School of Cinematic Arts embraces all forms of new media.”

The new building, as yet unnamed, will house the School’s newest divisions, including the Interactive Media Division, the Institute for Multimedia Literacy, and the Media Arts and Practices Ph.D. Program. The four-level facility will include offices, laboratories, classrooms, and a digital theater.

Additional programs and curricula to be housed and offered in the new space will also include the USC Game Innovation Lab, Game Design, Interactive Architecture, Immersive, Mobile and Environmental Media, Crowd-sourced Cinema, Transmedia Storytelling, Alternate Reality Games, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality Experience Design.

The enormous undertaking to redevelop the SCA infrastructure began in 2006 thanks to the key involvement of alumni and supporters including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Walt Disney Studios and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“We’re grateful to all of our sponsors and supporters for their active involvement in taking the School into the future,” said Daley.