Forming the Future Faces

The future of any industry truly rests upon the caliber of the upcoming generation whose responsibility it is to take the reigns and trudge onward and upward—successfully.

Take, for example, Walt Disney Studios chairman Richard Cook who, after 38 years with the juggernaut studio, has seen the House of Mouse expand into the international empire it is today. But as Disney plans to head in new directions, the ousting of Cook makes for more room at the top.

Upper Management: exit stage left, cueing relative newcomers, center stage in the spotlight.

The continued success of the entertainment industry then rests so heavily on the schools and universities—the teachers of upcoming writers, directors, producers, and executives—to cultivate the creativity of the next generation. But if the industry is committed to improvement and growth, that next generation will have to do much more than simply ‘learn the ropes’. The USC School of Cinematic Arts has taken this initiative to teach cutting edge technology and challenge the well-established form of traditional film.

By cultivating talent that is best suited to lead in the direction that the industry is headed—not necessarily in where it’s already been—the USC School of Cinematic Arts continues to establish its place as a front runner in creative media education. With the introduction of a stereoscopic 3D (S3D) technology program (and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to practice on), students are encouraged to tackle the very kinds of technology that aim to revolutionize movies and the movie-going experience.

In fact, this is the very technology that industry experts from television, film, sports, and gaming met to discuss at the 3D Entertainment Summit last this past Thursday and Friday. It was there that a perplexed Jeff Katzenberg—CEO of DreamWorks Animation—addressed the conference with the confidence that S3D format is the next greatest technology that many companies still have yet to get on board with.

"To the degree to which they are innovative and entrepreneurial and think about their customer, they end up with a phenomenal new business. To the degree they don't, and stay entrenched in old models, they will lose, the enterprise will slip right out of their fingers."


His challenge to the rest of Hollywood is something that fresh-faced newcomers should take to heart—the biz is in a constant state of change, but this may be the start of a more revolutionizing takeover than the older generation is ready to accept.

There was a time that even Richard Cook was a newcomer, fresh out of his alma mater USC. Out with the old, in with the new.