David Geffen donates $25 million to academy film museum at LACMA

David Geffen has donated $25 million to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ new museum dedicated to the history of film. In recognition of the gift — the museum’s largest commitment received to date — the academy will name a theater to be housed in the museum on the LACMA campus for the music executive and philanthropist.

Geffen’s commitment is part of the Academy Museum’s $300-million capital campaign, chaired by Disney’s chairman and chief executive, Bob Iger. Annette Bening and Tom Hanks co-chair the committee.

Said Iger in a statement, “David’s support of this project is transformative. It takes a large and diverse group of supporters to built a project on the scale of the Academy Museum.”

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The museum is being designed by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali and will be located on the corner of Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, in the historic May Co. building.

Added Geffen, “This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the creation of an iconic architectural space and cultural institution that will combine the best of the old and the new and provide a permanent public home for the academy’s rich tradition of honoring the shining stars of the cinematic arts.”

The museum is slated to open in early 2017. Of the $300 million, with Geffen’s gift, more than half has been raised so far, with other large donors including Jerry Bruckheimer and Alan Horn and corporations such as Dolby Labs and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

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Academy has long sought to build prominent film museum in L.A.