March 29, 2023—MacGillivray Freeman Films is nearing completion of principal photography for its upcoming 40-minute giant screen film Cities of the Future: Reimagining Our World, now slated for release starting February 16, 2024, to coincide with National Engineers Week.
Produced by the same team that created the award-winning film Dream Big: Engineering Our World in partnership with American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Cities of the Future
explores the visionary ideas and innovative solutions engineers are employing right now as they design the smart, sustainable cities of tomorrow.
Filming was completed in Amsterdam, where the MFF film crew filmed one of the world’s most sustainable buildings engineered with all the latest smart technologies, as well as the country’s renewable solar and wind farms; in Singapore, which aims to become the greenest, most sustainable city in the world; in Washington, D.C. where kids competed at the national Future City Competition; and in Los Angeles at the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), where researchers are designing a space-based solar program to direct and convert sunlight into renewable energy on Earth. Upcoming filming this spring will include a shoot with the Jetson One, a personal electric aerial vehicle, as well as a shoot at Joby Aviation, producers of an eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle), which may become the flying cars of tomorrow. We will also film a house being built with a 3D printer.
Available in 2D, 3D, IMAX and all digital formats, Cities of the Future will also take audiences on a tour of a completely sustainable future city being designed by engineers with ASCE’s Future World Vision digital platform, a bold, comprehensive project to reimagine and prepare for the future and explore infrastructure ideas based on real engineering data and principles.
“Cities of the Future will take audiences into the imagination of the world’s most innovative engineers who are working right now to design the cities we will live in 50 years from now,” said producer Shaun MacGillivray. “From electric flying vehicles to space-based solar power to the most cutting-edge green technologies, the creative innovations being designed to solve society’s greatest challenges are downright mind-boggling and totally awe-inspiring, and the immense scope of this kind of creativity matches perfectly with the power of the giant screen. It doesn’t get much more exciting than this.”
“Just like we did with Dream Big, we are creating a fully immersive experience that science centers and museums can use to fulfill their mission of bringing leading-edge educational experiences to their members and the public,” said Jane Howell, ASCE’s Chief Communications Officer. “We want Cities of the Future to inspire the next generation of engineers and help them recognize the power they have to shape our world and make it a better place.”
Cities of the Future is also designed to engage the public in a series of public forums. MFF and ASCE will help museums coordinate high-profile forums with film screenings, panel sessions, and other activities with a focus on building a shared vision of the future. Engineers, community leaders, city officials, and the public will come together to share ideas of what they see for cities of the future. The ideas and opinions gathered from these forums will go to ASCE and other engineering organizations for use in the real-time plans that engineers are designing now.
About MacGillivray Freeman Films
MacGillivray Freeman Films is the world’s foremost independent producer and distributor of giant screen 70mm films with more than 45 films for IMAX and giant-screen theatres to its credit. Throughout the company’s 50-year history, its films have won numerous international awards including two Academy Award nominations for The Living Sea and Dolphins and three films inducted into the IMAX Hall of Fame, including Everest, the highest grossing giant screen film of all time. MacGillivray Freeman’s films are known for their artistry and celebration of science and the natural world. It is the first documentary film company to reach the one-billion-dollar benchmark for worldwide box office. Visit macgillivrayfreeman.com.
About American Society of Civil Engineers
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to advance engineering knowledge and competency through the development of codes and standards, publications, education, and programs such as Future World Vision; raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices through initiatives such as the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure; works to recruit and inspire a more diverse engineering workforce through initiatives such as the award-winning film and educational project Dream Big: Engineering Our World. For more information, visit www.asce.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.
Contact:
Lori Rick, MacGillivray Freeman Films
818-212-3434, lrick@macfreefilms.com
