The Hollywood Reporter – 28.02.2018

When Netflix’s Ted Sarandos

moved to L.A. in 1998, it struck

him that only Universal Studios

and the Chinese Theatre recog-

nized the role movies played in the

life of the city. “It was a big hole,”

he recalls. “I imagined people trav-

eling here would be disappointed

in the presentation of Hollywood’s

heritage.” That’s why, though

he’s been a member of the Motion

Picture Academy for just three

years, he signed on as an enthu-

siastic supporter of the Academy

Museum, rising at Wilshire

Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.

Designed by architect Renzo

Piano, it promises to add a signa-

ture edifice to L.A.’s Museum

Row, becoming a mecca for tour-

ists. And museum director Kerry

Brougher also envisions it as a

creative gathering spot, “a focal

point for the film community.”

The project, officially launched

in 2011, is finally taking shape. A

sort of concrete bowl that forms

the bottom half of the sphere that

will house a 1,000-seat theater

has been erected. And production

From left: Netflix’s Ted

Sarandos, museum board of

trustees vice chair; Annette

Bening, museum capital

campaign co-chair; producer

Jason Blum, board treasurer;

producer Kimberly Steward,

board secretary; and museum

director Kerry Brougher were

photographed Feb. 14 at

the new Academy Museum.

Says Steward, “It’s going to be

a place where artists can

hang out and still be relatable

to the general public.”

Inset above: Artist’s rendering

of the completed museum.

Ta k e s S h a p e

Seven years after it was first

proposed, the $388 million

Academy Museum is closer

to completion, with an

A-list board of trustees and

a giant sphere rising in the

middle of L.A. The question

now is: When will it open?

By Gregg Kilday

W

Photographed by Adam Amengual

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