Academy Unveils Spectacular Re-Imagined Campus

The Television Academy christened its new North Hollywood campus – two years in the planning - with a 70th Anniversary celebrity gala featuring a gathering of more than 70 television stars and industry legends representing TV's most memorable moments past and present and a unique honor for the four broadcast networks

The Television Academy honored each of the four major broadcast networks with the historic "Hall Of Fame Cornerstone" award. Ben Sherwood, Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks & President, Disney|ABC Television Group, Nina Tassler, former Chairman, CBS Entertainment and Television Academy Foundation Board Member, Peter Rice, Chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group, and Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment were on hand to accept the awards.

Guests were given a first look at the Saban Media Center, named for Cheryl and Haim Saban and The Saban Family Foundation in recognition of their gift to the Television Academy's New Destination Campaign, as well as the dramatic expansion and reconfiguration of the Academy's campus. The entire project, which significantly increases the organization's office, meeting and auditorium/theatre spaces, includes new landscaped plaza and Hall of Fame sculpture garden. This "new home," is the result of the Academy's $40 million "New Destination" capital campaign, announced in March of 2014.

The centerpiece of the new Saban Media Center is the state-of-the-art 600-seat Wolf Theatre, the name made possible through a gift from Dick and Noelle Wolf and the Wolf Family Foundation. The theatre features Dolby's latest, award-winning audio and imaging solutions which positions the Wolf Theatre as the most technologically advanced non-commercial screening venue in the U.S.

The facility also includes a conference center and a television lab that will serve to support and provide continuing education for the Academy's 22,000 members. The Television Academy Foundation will soon move into a new office suite within the Saban Media Center, a fully-modernized base of operations for the Foundation's many educational outreach programs which include internship programs, college faculty outreach seminars, visiting professionals training, College Television Awards, scholarships and interviews with television icons.

The Wolf gift includes a generous endowment for collaboration between the Academy's Foundation and the Alliance for Children's Rights, designed to build a bridge for foster youth and the television industry. This foster youth initiative will be administered by the Academy's Foundation. It will include industry internships within the Foundation's summer internship program, a vocational training day for high school and college students led by representatives from the Academy's 29 peer groups, interview and job training, and mentoring of foster youth with an eye towards full-time industry employment.

Television Academy Chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum said, "Television is global, and yet, television is immensely personal. Television dominates the media space. And, television is a great place for our 22,000 plus members to express their creativity. We are very proud of our new home and all of the opportunities for our Foundation to support the next generation of creative leaders of our industry. The past 70 years have been phenomenal; we are in another Golden Age and the next decade will bring amazing innovations, remarkable new platforms and terrific creativity, all driven by industry professionals who are members of our Television Academy."

Tim Allen, Carly Chaikin, Jon Cryer, Ted Danson, Portia Doubleday, Chelsea Handler, Florence Henderson, Derek Hough, Felicity Huffman, Allison Janney, Cloris Leachman, Rami Malek, Garry Marshall, Maureen McCormick, Lea Michele, Bob Newhart, Phylicia Rashad, Marion Ross, Christian Slater, Suzanne Somers and Eric Stonestreet were among the celebrities on hand to launch the Saban Media Center and mark the Academy's 70th Anniversary.

The extraordinary gathering of talent posed for an unprecedented "class photo" featuring beloved television personalities representing many of TV's memorable moments, along with renowned television executives and legends responsible for the medium's most iconic and beloved programs.

About the Television Academy
The Television Academy seeks to constantly expand the horizons of television excellence. It strives to empower the storytellers who shape the constantly evolving television space through the programs, publications and events of the Academy and its Foundation. And it celebrates those who have led excellence by recording their stories and recognizing their achievements through accolades and awards, including television's most coveted prize, the Primetime Emmy Award. For more information, please visit TelevisionAcademy.com.

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CONTACT:
Stephanie Goodell
breakwhitelight for the Television Academy
stephanie@breakwhitelight.com
818-462-1150