MacGillivray Freeman Films

Founding

MacGillivray Freeman Films was established in 1963 in Laguna Beach, California by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman.^[2] Greg MacGillivray began making films when he was 13 and later partnered with, best friend, Jim Freeman to form MacGillivray Freeman Films. In 1966, the two dropped out of college to make a film in South America and follow their dreams after the success of one of their first surfing documentaries, Free & Easy^[3].

MacGillivray has produced and directed more than 40 IMAX films and shot over 7 million feet of 70 mm film—the most in cinema history. He has also developed three cameras that work with the format: a high-speed (slow-motion) model, the industry’s first lightweight model and the “all-weather” camera he used while filming on Mt. Everest.^[4]

1960's-70's Surfing Documentaries and Adventure Sport Films

MacGillivray and Freeman were only 19 when he released the cult surf movie Free and Easy. The film recouped production costs after only ten screenings and MacGillivray and Freeman were inspired to drop out of college and make movies full time.^[5]

In the ensuing years, MacGillivray and Freeman produced a series of documentaries about surfing and skateboarding, developing what at the time was a completely new cinematic perspective for the genre: putting the viewer in the middle of the action with board-mounted cameras.

Founding partner Jim Freeman was killed in a helicopter crash in 1976, two days before the release of To Fly!^[6]

Documentaries and other films

Prior to producing IMAX films, the company had success producing surfing documentaries, TV commercials and filming for Hollywood feature films. Its 1972 film Five Summer Stories is still considered a surfing classic.^[7]

In 1976, it produced Magic Rolling Board, a 10-minute documentary about skateboarding. The company has directed and photographed for Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount and Stanley Kubrick. The company was honored for its aerial cinematography when Jonathan Livingston Seagull was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Photography in 1974^[8]and when The Towering Inferno received the Academy Award for Best Photography in 1975.^[9]

IMAX films

Most well known for its IMAX films, the studio has produced and distributed 35 IMAX films since 1974. Its first IMAX film To Fly!, produced for the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, was later selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry.

Two of its films, Dolphins (2000) and The Living Sea (1995), were nominated for Academy Awards. Its film Everest (1998) was the first IMAX film to appear on Variety's Top 10 Box Office chart for North America and is currently the highest grossing IMAX film in history.

The company's films have been received nominations and won awards from the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA).^{[10][11][12][13]}

Film Library

This is a list of films from MacGillivray Freeman Films.

MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation

In 2004, Greg MacGillivray and his wife Barbara founded the non-profit MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation to contribute to the conservation of the world's natural and cultural heritage through giant screen films and companion educational programming.

One World One Ocean Campaign

MacGillivray Freeman established the One World One Ocean campaign,^[29] which along with other organizations, was featured in Laguna Beach Eco Heroes, a 30-minute documentary by The My Hero Project. The efforts of the Crystal Cove Alliance, ECO Warrior, Laguna Bluebelt, Laguna Canyon Foundation, Nancy Caruso, Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Wyland, and Zero Trash Laguna were also highlighted in the documentary.^[30]