| MacGillivray Freeman Films | |
| Founded: | 1963 in Laguna Beach, California, USA |
| Industry: | Film |
| Founders: | Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman |
| Hq Location City: | Laguna Beach, CA |
| Hq Location Country: | USA |
| Areas Served: | Worldwide |
| Key People: | Greg MacGillivray (Chair, Founder, Director) Shaun MacGillivray (President, Producer) Brad Ohlund (Director of Photography) Steve Judson (Writer and Editor) |
| Products: | Motion Pictures |
| Website: | https://macgillivrayfreeman.com |
MacGillivray Freeman Films is an American film studio based in Laguna Beach, California and founded in the mid-1960s by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman. It produces documentaries, feature films, and IMAX films.
MacGillivray Freeman Films was established in 1963 in Laguna Beach, California, by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman.[1] Greg MacGillivray began making films when he was 13 and later partnered with his best friend, Jim Freeman, to form MacGillivray Freeman Films. In 1966, at the age of 19, the two dropped out of college to make movies full time starting with a film in South America after the success of one of their first surfing documentaries, Free and Easy, which recouped its production costs after only 10 screenings.[2]
In the ensuing years, MacGillivray and Freeman produced a series of documentaries about surfing and skateboarding, pioneering a cinematic perspective for the genre by putting the viewer in the middle of the action via board-mounted cameras.
MacGillivray has produced and directed more than 50 films, over 35 of which are IMAX, and has developed three IMAX cameras: a high-speed (slow-motion) model, a lightweight model and the “all-weather” camera he used while filming on Mt. Everest.[3]
Freeman died in a helicopter crash in 1976, two days before the release of To Fly![4]
Prior to producing IMAX films, the company produced surfing documentaries, TV commercials and filming for Hollywood feature films.
In 1976, it produced Magic Rolling Board, a 10-minute documentary about skateboarding. The company has directed and photographed for Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount and Stanley Kubrick. Cinematographer Jonathan Livingston Seagull was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Photography in 1974.[5] The Towering Inferno received the Academy Award for Best Photography in 1975.[6]
Most well known for its IMAX films, the studio has produced and distributed 35 IMAX films since 1974. Its first IMAX film, To Fly!, produced for the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, was later selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry.
Two of its films, Dolphins (2000) and The Living Sea (1995), were nominated for Academy Awards. Its film Everest (1998) appeared on Varietys Top 10 Box Office chart for North America.
The company's films have received nominations and awards from the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA).[7] [8] [9] [10]
Below is a list of films and television commercials produced and/or distributed by MacGillivray Freeman Films.
| Let There Be Surf | 1963 | n/a | 16 mm | Jim Freeman's first commercial film. | |
| Outside the Third Dimension | 1964 | n/a | 16 mm | Produced and directed by Jim Freeman. A film about Hawaiian surfing photographed and released in 3D. | |
| A Cool Wave of Summer | 1964 | n/a | 16 mm | Greg MacGillivray's first commercial film. An avant-garde film about surfing in California. | |
| The Glass Wall | 1965 | n/a | 16 mm | Produced and distributed by Jim Freeman. | |
| The Performers | 1965 | n/a | 35 mm | Produced and directed by Greg MacGillivray. A study of three Californians who find surf and adventure in Hawaii, Mexico and Florida. | |
| Moods of Surfing | 1968 | 15 minutes | 35 mm | Short Film for Theatrical Release by United Artists. | |
| Television Commercials | 1969 | n/a | n/a |
| |
| Catch the Joy | 1969 | 15 minutes | 35 mm | An aesthetic look at the sport of Dune Buggy-ing by United Artists. | |
| Waves of Change | 1969 | n/a | 35 mm | ||
| Television Commercials | 1970 | n/a | n/a |
| |
| Sentinels of Silence | 1970 | 28 minutes | 35 mm | Narrated by Orson Welles. Photographed by Jim Freeman. | |
| Ski Movie One | 1970 | n/a | n/a | Produced with Summit Films | |
| Five Summer Stories | 1972 | n/a | n/a | ||
| To Fly! | 1976 | 27 minutes | 70 mm | The premiere film for the Theater of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution | |
| The Living Sea | 1995 | 40 minutes | 70 mm | ||
| Dolphins | 2000 | 39 minutes | 70 mm | ||
| To The Arctic[11] | 2012 | 40 minutes | 70 mm | A close up look at Arctic wildlife | |
| Journey to the South Pacific | 2013 | 40 minutes | 70 mm | A film about marine conservation in Indonesia | |
| Humpback Whales[12] | 2015 | 40 minutes | 70 mm | A film about the resurgence of Humpback whales | |
| National Parks Adventure[13] | 2016 | 43 minutes | 70 mm | A celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the US National Park Service | |
| [14] | 2017 | 42 minutes | 70 mm | Pioneers of engineering and man-made wonders | |
| We, The Marines[15] | 2017 | 37 minutes | 70 mm | Large format documentary made for permanent exhibit at the National Museum of the Marine Corps | |
| America's Musical Journey[16] | 2018 | 40 minutes | 70 mm | Exploring the roots of America's music | |
| Out Where The West Begins[17] | 2021 | 40 minutes | 70 mm | Four-episode documentary series explaining the history of the Western United States |
In 2004, Greg MacGillivray and his wife Barbara founded the non-profit MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation to contribute to the conservation of the world's natural and cultural heritage through giant screen films and companion educational programming.
MacGillivray Freeman established the One World One Ocean campaign,[18] which, along with other organizations, was featured in Laguna Beach Eco Heroes, a 30-minute documentary by The My Hero Project. The efforts of the Crystal Cove Alliance, ECO Warrior, Laguna Bluebelt, Laguna Canyon Foundation, Nancy Caruso, Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Wyland, and Zero Trash Laguna were also highlighted in the documentary.[19]