Bryan Singer Donates $5 Million To USC; Sumner Redstone Facility Christened

While deep-pocketed folks like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas get buildings named after them for big donations, director Bryan Singer has made history by becoming the first alumnus of USC‘s School Of Cinematic Arts to have one of the school’s six programs of study named in his honor. USC’s Dean Elizabeth M. Daley said today that SCA’s Division of Critical Studies has now been named the Bryan Singer Division of Critical Studies in honor of the filmmaker’s $5 million gift. The X-Men and Superman Returns director, who is prepping Fox’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past for a summer 2014 debut, graduated from the Critical Studies division in 1989; his Jack The Giant Slayer for Warner Bros opens March 1. “In a way, I began my career in the Division of Critical Studies at USC”, he said. “Watching great films and learning how to think about film from the faculty transformed me as an artist and as a person. I am honored to give back to the division and the school, which gave me so much.”

On Tuesday, fellow USC donor (and Harvard grad) Sumner Redstone was feted on campus at the christening of the newly dedicated Sumner M. Redstone Production Building. Lucas and Spielberg were on hand, the LA Times reported. The facility sits in the school’s Cinematic Arts complex and includes 2,600 square feet of production space on two sound stages named Redstone 1 and Redstone 2 after the media titan. Redstone gave $10 million to USC last month and has donated $45 million to the school to date.

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