The Walter Lantz Foundation Ups Its Gift to LMU School of Film and Television's Animation Department to just over $1 Million Dollars, Funding the New State-of-the-Art Walter and Grace Lantz Animation Lab

Dedication ceremony will be held on May 8, 2013 at 5 p.m. on the LMU Campus

LOS ANGELES, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Walter Lantz Foundation has upped its gift to Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television's Animation Department to just over $1 million dollars, making this one of the largest grants the Foundation has ever given a university animation program.

Last year, the Foundation awarded LMU $540,000 that the school used to outfit its animation lab with state-of-the-art digital equipment including computers for LMU's newly created motion capture stage, a 3D scanner, lighting for stop-motion animation, and upgraded and networked computer workstations. The school plans to use the second gift of $500,000 to continue enhancing the lab, which will be officially named the Walter and Grace Lantz Animation Lab. A portion of the grant will also fund a new MFA graduate animation program emphasizing visual effects.

"Through The Lantz Foundation's extraordinary generosity, our students are able to remain current with the latest digital technology. We anticipate that the new learning opportunities provided by this gift will speed graduating students entry into the field," said Stephen G. Ujlaki, dean of the School of Film and Television.

"LMU's Animation School is making great strides in animation education, and we hope this gift will allow the program to continue its path of success and growth," said Edward Landry of the Walter Lantz Foundation. "Walter Lantz was a pioneer, and now future generations of animators will know and be inspired by his story."

Recently ranked one of the top animation programs in the country, LMU is one of the only film schools in Los Angeles to provide university-level courses in pre-visualization and virtual cinematography, which is the use of computer-generated worlds and characters to achieve shots and camera angles that would be impossible with traditional moviemaking tools.

The Walter and Grace Lantz Animation Lab dedication ceremony will be held at the Walter and Grace Lantz Animation Lab on the LMU campus on May 8^th, 2013.

About LMU SFTV
Movie industry moguls helped establish Loyola Marymount University's (LMU) current campus on the bluffs above west Los Angeles in the 1920s. By 1964, LMU was formally teaching film and television curriculum, and in 2001, the School of Film and Television (SFTV) was established as its own entity.  Today, SFTV offers students a comprehensive education where mastering technical skills and story is equally important to educating the whole person, including the formation of character and values, meaning and purpose. SFTV offers undergraduate degrees in animation, production, screenwriting, film and television studies and recording arts; and graduate degrees in production, screenwriting and writing and producing for television. The school is one of the few film programs providing students with a completely tapeless model of production and post-production, and SFTV's animation program is one of the only in the world teaching virtual cinematography. Selected alumni include John Bailey, Bob Beemer, Francie Calfo, Brian Helgeland, Francis Lawrence, Lauren Montgomery, Jack Orman, Van Partible and James Wong, among others. Get more information at sftv.lmu.edu or facebook.com/lmusftv.

SOURCE LMU School of Film and Television