Johns Hopkins Film & Media Studies faculty, Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation board members, filmmakers and local dignitaries joined representatives from the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media Studies on Friday, June 17 to celebrate the naming of the JHU/MICA Film Centre screening room after legendary film producer, Saul Zaentz.
The screening room, part of the state-of-the-art production facilities housed in the historic Centre Theatre, was named Saul Zaentz Screening Room to honor Zaentz’s lifetime achievements in the film industry and to recognize his impact on cinema history. The 49-seat screening room serves as a hub for the Centre’s many programs and also functions as a classroom, editing suite, and writers’ room. Johns Hopkins University recently launched the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media Studies thanks to a $1 million gift from the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation.
“Mr. Zaentz’s career is an inspiration for all of those who aim to create meaningful visual narratives and tell impactful stories at the highest level. His life was a master class of vision, tenacity and artistic integrity,” says Roberto Busó-García, director of the Fund and the university’s Master of Arts in Film and Media program. “His gift will allow Hopkins to help empower new generations of filmmakers as they bring their stories to life.”
Zaentz, widely known for producing Academy Award-winning works such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus and The English Patient, died in 2014. With the newly named screening room and The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund, his legacy is cemented at Johns Hopkins.
The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media Studies is a new program at the university that identifies and empowers new voices by connecting aspiring visual artists with veteran artists, executives and entrepreneurs who can offer expert advice and invaluable networking to jumpstart projects. The inaugural class of future filmmakers was selected in April and its fellows are currently developing their projects. A key caveat of the Fund requires all supported projects to be developed and produced in Baltimore.
In addition to the naming ceremony, the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association presented the Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Government Service to Judge Marvin J. Garbis, a Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation board member and Johns Hopkins alumni. Judge Garbis was honored for bringing credit to the university by his public service as an appointed official. President George H. W. Bush nominated Judge Garbis to the federal bench in 1989. He was commissioned by the Senate later that year and served as a United States District Court Judge for the District of Maryland for 13 years.
About The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media Studies
Founded in 2016, The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University seeks to further the pioneering legacy of Mr. Zaentz by connecting the Baltimore creative community with prestigious artists, veteran executives and successful entrepreneurs in an incubator program designed to seek and develop groundbreaking project ideas that will advance the art and craft of audiovisual media. www.zaentzfund.com
