MacGillivray Freeman Takes Home Best Soundtrack Award at the Giant-Screen Theater Association Conference

MacGillivray Freeman Films was awarded the Best Soundtrack Award forits large format film Journey Into Amazing Caves at theGiant-Screen Theater Association's 6th annual Achievement Awardsceremony during the GSTA's 25th annual conference in Toronto, Ontario,last week.

Journey Into Amazing Caves was first released to large-formattheatres in March 2001 and has since played in 98 theatres. Over 5.5million people have seen the film. Directed by Stephen Judson andnarrated by Liam Neeson, Journey Into Amazing Caves is producedand distributed by MacGillivray Freeman Films in association withCincinnati Museum Center, with major funding provided by the NationalScience Foundation. The soundtrack features songs and music by TheMoody Blues including two new compositions by the band, "We Can Fly"and "Water," with additional music by Steve Wood. The film's soundtrackwas mixed at Wilshire Stages by Ken Teaney, C.A.S., with sound designby Andrew DeCristofaro, M.P.S.E. The soundtrack CD is available fromARK 21.

Journey Into Amazing Caves follows the story of two dedicatedcavers on a quest to find the mysterious life forms that live in someof the world's most remote and spectacular caves, from the ice caves ofGreenland to the underwater caves of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. "We'revery grateful for this recognition from the GSTA," says Judson. "Wecraft soundtracks with great care because they're key to a film'semotional impact. For Journey Into Amazing Caves, we wereextremely lucky to work with the Moody Blues. Under the leadership ofJustin Hayward and John Lodge, their music really brought the film tolife. And Steve Wood did a great job integrating it all into a scorethat captured the soul of the movie."

Further recognition for MacGillivray Freeman Films andProducer/Director, Greg MacGillivray, came during the GSTA's 25thAnniversary Celebration event during which the GSTA recognizedMacGillivray as one of the most important lifetime contributors to theGSTA and to the large-format film industry at large. MacGillivray wasamong six individuals to be recognized, a group that also included thefour founding fathers of the IMAX Corporation, Graeme Ferguson, RobertKerr, Roman Kroitor, and William Shaw, and theatre pioneer MichaelSullivan.

"I am deeply honored to have received this recognition from theGSTA, and I feel humbled to have been recognized in the same company ofsuch greats as Graeme, Roman, Bill, and Mike," says MacGillivray. "Thisindustry really does exist because of their efforts and theirs alone.Throughout the years, I have been very fortunate to have worked with somany talented filmmakers and theatre operators, and together we've seenthis industry grow from a few IMAX theatres sprinkled across thecountry to what it is today, a thriving network with over 250 theatresworldwide. I love this film format above all others, and know that itwill continue to provide audiences with a cinematic experience unlikeany other."

During a career that spans over 35 years, MacGillivray has producedor directed 26 large format films starting in 1976 when his first giantscreen film, To Fly!, premiered at the Smithsonian's NationalAir & Space Museum (NASM). To Fly! is the highest-grossingdocumentary in history, and has been seen by over 100 million people.It continues to play at NASM where it has played without stop for overtwenty-five years, making it the longest running documentary inhistory. In 1996, To Fly! was selected by the Library ofCongress for inclusion in the National Film Registry where it joinedsuch classic films as Citizen Kane and Gone With The Windas one of the most important representations of American filmmaking inthe last 100 years. Since that auspicious debut in the large format,MacGillivray has directed such major giant screen hits as To TheLimit (1989), The Magic of Flight (1996), thefastest-grossing large-format film, Everest (1998), and twoAcademy Award-nominated films, The Living Sea (1995) andDolphins (2000). In addition to his two Academy Awardnominations, MacGillivray has received numerous critical awards,including the Clio, the Cine Eagle, and the industry's Maximum ImageAward for Best Film.

MacGillivray is also well-known in the industry for his artistic andtechnical innovation. He has initiated the development of three camerasfor the IMAX format—a high-speed (slow-motion) camera, theindustry's first lightweight camera, and the all-weather camera usedduring filming on Mt. Everest.

MacGillivray is currently completing two new giant-screen films forrelease next spring: Coral Reef Adventure (February 2003), anunderwater odyssey into the world's most beautiful and endangered coralreefs, and Top Speed (April 2003), a film about the humanpursuit of excellence and what it takes to be the fastest in theworld.