L.A. film museum to dub lobby after Schwartz and Reisman following $5M gift

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – The upcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will include a lobby and gallery space named after business titans Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says the Canadian couple donated $5 million towards design and construction.

In appreciation, the museum’s mezzanine lobby and gallery space will be dubbed the Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman Mezzanine Gallery.

The museum will be located next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and is slated to open in early 2017.

It is expected to contain nearly 28,000 square metres of galleries, exhibition spaces, theatres, screening rooms and special event spaces.

Schwartz is CEO of Onex Corporation and Reisman is chief executive of Indigo Books & Music Inc.

The academy said Monday in a release that $5-million naming gifts also came from producer and academy governor Gale Anne Hurd and the family of film exhibitor Ted Mann.

Hurd’s donation will fund the Hurd Stage, where academy members and other industry professionals will conduct clinics and master classes.

The Simms/Mann Family Foundation will support the Ted Mann Theater, which will host retrospectives, special programming and host a permanent exhibit devoted to the history of the Oscars.

The academy launched the museum’s capital campaign in 2012. The campaign is co-chaired by actors Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.