No Movies Without Writers
Showcase Interviews Jessica Niebel,
Exhibitions Curator of the New Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Part Two
Read Part One in last month’s edition of socalwritersshowcase.com.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will realize its long-held dream when the Academy of Museum of Motion Pictures opens on Fairfax and Wilshire in Los Angeles. We spoke to exhibitions curator Jessica Niebel about this remarkable event.
Showcase: What about the books, publications, periodicals, screenplays, and Core Collection in the Academy Library?
Niebel: The Margaret Herrick Library is a treasure trove for these materials, a place where scholars, filmmakers, students, cinephiles, and the general public can go to study and learn more about films, filmmaking, and film history.
Showcase: What original annotated scripts are there?
Niebel: The Herrick holds a wealth of annotated scripts which are researchable online and at the library. At the museum, we feel privileged to be able to draw from this unique collection and display selected scripts or script pages in our diverse exhibitions. The core exhibition will feature many extraordinary examples from the Herrick’s collections which will be rotated out over time so that visitors can discover something new every time they come.
Showcase: What connection does the museum have with the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills?
Niebel: Both the Museum and the Library are part of the bigger Academy umbrella. We share the same goals to collect and preserve film history, make our holdings accessible, and educate the public. While the Library makes its collections accessible in its reading room, which is open to the public, and through loans for exhibitions, the Museum can display these materials in its diverse galleries and show them in context with other materials, film clips, and other curated content. We feel blessed to be able to work very closely with the Library, work with and learn from its amazing collections, and rely on the expertise and knowledge of our wonderful colleagues there.
Showcase: The museum will offer panel discussions and symposia in addition temporary and permanent exhibits. What’s coming up soon?
Niebel: The Museum will open with a long-term exhibition that explores the evolution of film from its beginnings to its possible futures. Where Dreams Are Made: A Journey Inside the Movies will occupy two floors of the Museum’s Saban Building and looks at the development of the art and science of motion pictures. It brings together evocative settings, key objects from the Academy’s unparalleled collections and the growing collection of the Museum itself, and an array of multi-screen presentations.
Opening temporary exhibitions will include Hayao Miyazaki (working title), the first major exhibition of the master animator’s work in the United States, organized in collaboration with Studio Ghibli, and Transcending Boundaries, a major work by the Tokyo-based interdisciplinary art collective teamLab installed in the Museum’s 34-foot-high project space.
Additional exhibitions will include: Making of: The Wizard of Oz, an immersive space that takes a look behind the curtain of the iconic film, as well as a history of the Academy Awards and an Oscars® experience.
The 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater located in the Sphere Building will become a hub for major film events including previews, openings, and special presentations with the world’s leading filmmakers. The more intimate 288-seat Ted Mann Theater will offer daily screenings. Both theaters will be home to an array of live performances, lectures, panels, and other events. Both theaters will present film with sound experiences and superior screen quality. Together, they will be equipped to show movies as they were originally meant to be seen with 16, 35, 70mm and nitrate capabilities as well as digital laser projection. Opening programming will be announced soon.
Showcase: What would you like to add?
Niebel: We are excited to open Los Angeles’ first film museum, a meeting point for professionals from the industry, scholars, students, film fans, cinephiles and everybody who loves film from here and from all over the world.
For more, visit academymuseum.org.