Step into the Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and you are standing inside a Los Angeles landmark on Miracle Mile, where Wilshire Boulevard meets Fairfax Avenue. The old May Company building, now the Saban Building after a $50 million donation from Cheryl and Haim Saban, holds part of the Academy Collection, the largest film-related collection in the world, with more than 52 million objects. On October 17 the museum held its sixth annual gala, the fundraiser behind its exhibitions, education and programming.
The building
Renzo Piano oversaw the design. The Saban Building’s exterior was refurbished with new limestone and gold leaf tiles on its corner cylinder. Inside, the lobby leads to the Spielberg Family Gallery, and a spherical extension joined to the main building by skyways holds the glass-domed Dolby Family Terrace. Screenings and events run in two theaters, the David Geffen Theater in the sphere and the 277-seat Ted Mann Theater on the lower level of the Saban Building. The Shirley Temple Education Studio runs workshops on filmmaking and displays memorabilia from her career.
What is on show
The museum was due to open in 2020 but the pandemic delayed it. It welcomed selected celebrity guests on September 25, 2021 and the public on September 30. Its first temporary exhibition was a large display of work by animator Hayao Miyazaki. Its inaugural gala that September began a fundraising tradition that has continued every year since.
Soon after opening, the museum was criticized for a perceived lack of attention to Jewish industry pioneers such as Carl Laemmle and Jack Warner, a point first reported by Sharon Rosen Leib in The Forward. Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said he had hoped any honest historical assessment would include the role Jews played in building the industry from the ground up. In January 2022 the museum announced plans for a permanent exhibit on Jewish industry pioneers.
On July 14, 2022, the museum voluntarily recognized Academy Museum Workers United as the bargaining representative for 160 of its employees. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences oversees the institution.
The 2026 gala
This year’s gala honored John Carpenter with the Luminary Award, Colman Domingo with the Vantage Award and Charlize Theron with the Icon Award, with Taylor Swift performing to close the night. Tom Ford, Robert Rodriguez, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw co-chaired. Museum director and president Amy Homma has said the evening supports the museum’s mission to celebrate and preserve cinema for future generations.
Sources
- All the Celebrity Looks From the 2026 Academy Museum Gala
- Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Academy Museum Gala 2026 Inside Photos: Taylor Swift Performs, Curry Barker Chats With John Carpenter & More
Photo: Downtowngal (CC BY-SA 4.0)
