An Interview with Graeme Ferguson
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An Interview with Graeme Ferguson All photos courtesy of Imes Corp. Roman Kroitor's We Are Born of Stars ,. S' From left: Stephen Low's Titania", Roman Kroitar's CMOs World; Graeme Ferguson's The Dream is Alive. "Our idea of a horizontal 70mm format with 15- or 16-perf pull across was really figured out by us in the first few minutes." The Imax story is one of inventiveness, Achievement this past spring. Ferguson about photography as high school students experimentation and success. Conceived by not only co—founded the company, he and Wolf had the good luck of being pulled freelance cinematographer Graeme has also been responsible for producing off a tractor and sent to the Film Board. He Ferguson and National Film Board and directing some of its most successful started at the bottom as a splicer and ended producer and director Roman Kroitor in films: North of Superior (produced, up as one of its finest filmmakers the fall of 1967—their goal was to create directed, photographed, edited, 71), Man the world's most sophisticated film Belongs to the Earth (directed, produced WW You were in New York in the projection system. Today the Imax with Roman Kroitor, 74), Ocean mid-1960s as a freelance cameraman on Corporation has grown to 136 theatres in (produced and directed, 77), Hail Rooftops of New York, which actually got 20 countries, with a backlog of 45 theatres Columbia! (directed and photographed, an Academy award nomination for best scheduled to open during the next few produced with Roman Kroitor, 82), The short in 1960. How did you come to work years. The Sony IMAX Theater in New Dream is Alive (produced and directed, on Polar Life for Expo 67? York is one the highest grossing screens in 85), Blue Planet (produced, 91), Destiny in the United States, and Sony will be opening Space (produced, 94), Into the Deep Roman had asked me to consult for a day IMAX 3—D theatres in Tokyo, San Francisco (produced, 94). Wyndham Wise or two on Labyrinth when he was first and Berlin. Cineplex is adding an Imax conceiving that film. I had done a fair screen in Chicago and Famous Players has GF When I was a student there were amount of filming in the Arctic and announced plans to open Canada's first essentially very few ways of learning Alaska and so it wasn't a startling idea, state—of—the—art IMAX 3—D theatre as part filmmaking. The Film Board set up a very but I had nothing particularly to show of a downtown Toronto entertainment good program in which they went across the committee, so I showed them The complex which would include 14 the country each year and chose about a Love Goddesses. Based on The Love conventional 35mm screens. This level of dozen students in Canadian universities Goddesses, which couldn't be a more corporate success has been a long time who came and worked at the Board for the remote film from what they were asking coming and what started out as a very summer. I was at the University of Toronto me to do, they said okay, "we'll hire you clever idea to revolutionize film projection and was chosen as a summer student in to go and wander around the Arctic, but became a 25—year struggle to attain 1951. I was chosen for the camera give us a film on the polar life." I hadn't financial security. With that goal finally department. One of the other summer worked in 3—D, but I thought it would be achieved, it is now just a matter of time students in the department was Michel kind of nice to do the Arctic in 3—D for before Imax theatres will be found in every Brault and in the production department, Expo. They were designing Expo 67 at major market worldwide, just as Ferguson the summer students included Roman the same time that the New York World's and Kroitor dreamed of 30 years ago. Take Kroitor, who later became my Fair was going on, which had some One interviewed Graeme Ferguson when it brother—in—law. The other tie to all of this wonderful examples of multi—image and was announced that the Imax Corporation was in my high school days in Galt, multiscreen and, of course, there was a had been given its long overdue Academy Ontario. One of my classmates was Wolf whole tradition of that going back Award for Scientific and Technical Koenig. Wolf and I had been enthusiastic through the Expos in Europe and the 18 F ALL 1997 American exhibit in Moscow. A lot of printed all the reserved—seat tickets for multi—image that we had a great success people had been working on this idea. It Maple Leaf Gardens in those days. He was in, and we thought that was the central really goes back to the beginning of cinema. also the mayor of Galt. When I was going thing to do. Not the only thing; but the to make Polar Life, I said Robert, will you central thing. After about a year, our When and where was the idea for Imax come and be my business partner? He had attorney informed us that we could never hatched? never made films before but he was my copyright or trademark Multivision. It was business partner through Polar Life. It was too generic. It was a descriptive word. The It was right after Expo. I was up in not only a very popular film, but we words that you can copyright are words Montreal in August and Expo was very actually made it for less than the budget, like Kleenex, Xerox and Coke. If the name popular. It was obvious to us that there so we made a little money out of it. I called is descriptive you can't trademark it so was a big audience for what we were Robert and about a week or two later we you have to make up a word. We were doing. And it wasn't just because it was met in my office in New York one evening. sitting at lunch one day in a Hungarian multiscreen. It was because we had made The three of us sat down and we decided restaurant in Montreal and we worked out the screens bigger as well as multi—image. I to set up a company. Robert was in Galt, the name on a placemat on which we was at Roman's house one afternoon and Roman was in Montreal and I was in New wrote all the possible names we could he and I started discussing the fact that this York. We didn't even have one think of We kept working with the idea of was a very successful but a very headquarter. We started out with three maximum image until we turned it cumbersome way to make the films. We people in three different places. We agreed around and made it IMAX. asked each other, wouldn't it be better to to set it up as a Canadian company, and so have had or been able to have a single, Robert went back to Galt and set the How did you transform your idea into a large—format projector filling a large company up. I think if you look up the working model? screen? Obviously the next step was to incorporation date, it would be September have a large film format, larger than 1967. We did that all within a few weeks. Although neither Roman, Robert nor I anything that had ever been done. So we So the 30th anniversary is actually were engineers or even very technically talked for about an hour and sketched out September. oriented or skilled, we knew what the screen size that could be served and technology we would need. One of the the film format that would be capable of Where did the name Imax come from? things we knew was that you couldn't take filling the screen. Our idea of a horizontal a standard movie projector and just scale 70mm format with 15— or 16—perf pull That was a year or two later. We first the whole thing up and run a big film. We across was really figured out by us in the called the company Multiscreen knew that we would need to find a new first few minutes. We said, "let's invent Corporation because that was what people projector movement. Roman and I went this new medium." To do that we needed a knew us as. But the main thing was that out to Los Angeles to look at a movement company. When I made Polar Life, I chose a we called the system Multivision, because that was being used in some high—speed very experienced businessman, an old high we saw it as a large—screen way of printers. One evening we went to dinner school colleague named Robert Kerr. He showing multi—image films. It was with my old friend Jean—Philippe Carson. T A K E 0 N E 19 From left: Graeme Ferguson's North of Superior; Stephen Low filming The Last Buffalo; Rolling Stones at the Max. Jean—Philippe and I had worked together We were not terribly smart and we should work. Bill knew that McMaster in film in my freelance days, and now he thought we would just find somebody to University [in Hamilton, Ontario] had a was running the Eclair Corporation of build this projector for us.