Television Academy Takes A Big Step Toward its ‘New Destination’

The Television Academy is leading the way into the future and giving back to its members in a really big way — beginning with a dramatic and much-needed expansion of the Academy’s NoHo Arts District campus.

The Academy’s New Destination Campaign, the $40 million fundraising initiative launched earlier this year, is supporting the construction of new facilities as well as the creation of a significant endowment to strengthen the Television Academy Foundation’s philanthropic programs.  

The Academy has made a commitment of up to $8.5 million as seed money for this project, funded from sponsorship fees, ticket revenues and other income associated with the Primetime Emmy Awards.  In addition, the initiative has already secured significant commitments from a number of outside donors, Academy officials report.  Announcements regarding these partnerships will be made in the new year. 

Groundbreaking Set for Early 2015

In preparation for an official groundbreaking in early 2015, the dismantling of the current theatre and conference center is now underway, and all of its adjacent Hall of Fame Plaza statues and busts are set for temporary storage and relocation.  

These construction developments follow the Academy’s earlier announcement of the organization’s re-branding in the spring of this year: a new name, new look, a vibrant vision for the future, and the countdown to the organization’s 70th Anniversary in 2016.

A key component of that countdown will be monthly updates on the new multi-purpose Media Center, which will replace the Goldenson Theatre. While the venue was home to Television Academy events for 23 years, projection standards and evolving technologies long ago exceeded the beloved theatre’s visual and audio capabilities.  In addition, the structure was never designed for large-scale live events such as the Academy’s Emmy nominations announcement, the Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards, and the Foundation’s College Television Awards, all of which will be presented in the new space.

In addition, the last decade of Television Academy membership growth and increased activity created the need for more meeting and event space.  Likewise, more office and administrative space was needed for the expanding educational initiatives of the Foundation. 

Reimagining How Members Connect On-Site and Online  

Reimagining the entire structure as a fully functional media center has yielded a roadmap to a new state-of-the-art 600-seat theatre, flexible conference center and production facilities, and office space that allows the Foundation outreach programs to grow.  

The new 30,000-square-foot edifice will offer well over a 50% increase in usable space, enabling the Academy to more easily present and record an array of large and smaller scale events. 

This means panels with the casts of series like Game of Thrones, celebrations of such trailblazers as Carol Burnett — and also more intimate gatherings with performers, writers, directors and more industry insiders – will be available for streaming in real time with greater efficiency, ensuring they reach members across the country and around the world.  

Television Academy operations officials also expect the center’s new technology to link board, peer group and committee meeting attendees with colleagues at remote locations more readily, a welcome option for meeting participants juggling work and personal travel obligations. 

Room for the Foundation to Grow

Foundation leaders look forward to its new media center home to better accommodate seminars, information exchanges and provide a space for young talent to imagine and create television’s future. 

This philanthropic arm provides student recognition programs, scholarships, and invaluable outreach services — including unique learning opportunities for college faculty who are educating future generations of content creators. But the division may be best known for its renowned, hands-on Television Academy Foundation student internships.    

For three decades, the Foundation has placed hundreds of college students from all over the U. S. in paid internship positions across our industry in such areas as production, post, marketing, business affairs, development, public relations, and in other business and creative functions. Entertainment companies look to the Foundation to discover new voices and hire new talent from its growing pool of diverse applicants.

The New Destination endowment will bolster the Foundation’s ability to fulfill its mission as never before, enabling the division to double the number of interns placed, increase the amount of scholarships awarded, and educate and inspire future generations for years to come.  

“Nearly 70 years after the first Golden Age of Television began, the Television Academy is leading our television and digital media industry in a new era — this transformational, globally-connected age in which we’re living right now,” says Bruce Rosenblum, Chairman and CEO of the Academy.

Members are excited, he says, to have a new physical space in which they may help one another meet the challenges and take full advantage of the opportunities that this new age of storytelling presents.

“None of the New Destination endeavors would be possible without the vision of our members,” Rosenblum continues, “all of whom make the Academy’s thought leadership possible.”

For more information, check out these Frequently Asked Questions, or contact us at NewDestination@televisionacademy.com. 

And get regular updates here at TelevisionAcademy.com.