
Mirada teamed up with UCLA to create a one-of-a-kind film designed specifically for projection onto the fa ade of the Universitys iconic Royce Hall. The 10-minute film produced at 5K+ resolution was developed from beginning to end by Mirada, and became a true passion project for the creative team; Mirada co-founder Javier Jimenez is a UCLA alum, and the company has participated in mentorship programs with UCLA students for several years.
This project was an incredible creative collaboration; we had writers, directors, musicians, designers, and visual effects artists working closely with the marketing and special events teams at UCLA to create this live event spectacle that pays homage to the history of the University and its values, said Jimenez. As a UCLA alumnus, I am incredibly proud of this institution, and this project further underscores UCLAs commitment to the future and to continued innovation across disciplines.
The film was directed by Jes s de Francisco, art directed by Miradas Daryn Wakasa, concepted by David Fowler and de Francisco, led by digital effects supervisor, Andy Cochrane and written by Ryan Erke. The entire story was framed to fit visually and conceptually within the size and shape of Royce Halls towering facade. The larger than life imagery projected onto a 230x99 foot surface tells a story in three parts: Part I honors the visionaries that founded UCLA almost a century ago, Part II is a journey through the illustrious history of the institution and its many luminaries, and Part III is a journey of imagination presenting UCLAs visions for the future. The film was narrated by actor John Lithgow and was scored by Atli rvarsson.
The film combines archival stock imagery with original filmed content along with extensive motion graphics design and visual effects, explained director De Francisco. The opportunity to direct a projection mapped film, and having the creative freedom to visually transform a building that is such a hallmark of Los Angeles was incredible. To see the project come to life, projected at 468,000 lumens is stunning, and the building and space lent themselves beautifully to the story to be told.
Mirada had a creative and production team of over 40 working on the project for six months, and developed a custom pipeline to produce over 19,000 5K+ image frames, much of which included complex CG animation tightly choreographed to move along the dimensions of the building, timed to the accompanying score. The film debuted at a screening on Friday, May 16th; projection was facilitated by Chaos Visual Productions using D3 software and eighteen 26K Barco projectors.
UCLA Centennial Show
Let There Be
Conceived, Produced and Directed by Mirada
Director/Creative Director: Jes s de Francisco
CEO/Executive Producer: Javier Jimenez
President: John Fragomeni
Executive Producer: Patrick Nugent
Head of Special Projects: Andy Merkin
Head of Production: Sascha Flick
Producer: Jason Cohon
Production Manager: Jessica Roulston
Production Coordinator: Zack Whitley
Sr. Art Director: Daryn Wakasa
Digital Effects Supervisor: Andy Cochrane
Film Concept: Jes s de Francisco, David Fowler
Writer: Ryan Erke
Designers: Janice Ahn, Luke Belderes, Mark Brinn, Jeffrey Chang, Alex Hanson,
Tae Kim, Ken Lee, Miwa Matreyek, Clara Moon, An Nguyen, My Tran, Neil Tsai, Jacklin Yoo
Animation Lead: Andrew Tan
Animators: Sarah Blank, Ivan Cruz, Kenny Ceron, Frank Lin, Isaac Park,
Ken Quemel, Noah Rappaport, Gian Carlo Rondani, Yan Sedie-Ng
BTS Director: Ryan Erke
Camera Operator (Film): Andy Cochrane
Camera Operator (Show): Paul Bode
Camera Operator (Interviews): Zen Sekizawa
Camera Assistants: Marshall Rao, Jake Martin
Gaffer: Damon Casarez
Sound Recordist / Mixer: James Ridgley
Make-Up: Linda Whang
Prop Master: Rudie Schaefer
Integration: Graham Herbster
Modeling: Toshi Sakamaki
Asst. Editor: Jorge Sandoval
Post Production Manager/HR Director: Tina Van Delden
Director of Marketing: Caroline Gomez
Narration by
John Lithgow
Music by
Atli rvarsson
Projection Team: Chaos Visual Productions
Marty Wickman: Owner
Systems Engineer: Stephan Hambsch
Project Manager: Russell Wingfield
3D Lead: Jason Davis
Sound Design & Mastering: Outlaw Sound
Sound Engineer: Steve Pierson
Live Event Audio: CLAIR/Soundworx
Project Supervisor: Nelson Walti
Front House Mix: Ron Anonsen
Special Thanks
Willem Henri Lucas, UCLA
Adam Sadowsky, founder Syyn Labs
David Wicks for the use of Drawing Water
Guvenc Ozel at Idea Labs
About Mirada
Mirada is a studio designed for storytellers. Founded by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, and Motion Theory co founders Javier Jimenez and director Mathew Cullen, Mirada is equal parts design studio, visual effects & animation facility, and creative and technology incubator. Mirada opened in 2010 with narrative tradition at its heart and technological innovation as its engine. http://www.mirada.com
###
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/06/2026
Lightware announces the GVN-HC-TX220AP, a new transmitter in the Gemini GVN 1G AV-over-IP family that introduces full-featured USB-C for professional 1Gb AV-ove...
03/06/2026
Evergent, the customer management and monetization leader for streaming and digital subscription businesses, and Minno, the global leader in faith-based content...
03/06/2026
Alfalite, Europe's only LED display manufacturer, has completed a new broadcast installation with the deployment of two UHD Finepix 1.5 MATIX AlfaCOB LED di...
03/06/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is completing a contract to build eight...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Creamsource, known for its tried-and-true Vortex Series of cinematic lighting, has announced the Vortex2 (V2) and Vortex2 Soft (V2S), two compact additions to t...
03/06/2026
Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC thi...
03/06/2026
Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette
Jessie Electa Petrov June 2, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026 release helps artists tackle complex ...
03/06/2026
La T l 's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 2, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Videohub 120 120 12G provi...
03/06/2026
ZY Optics to Offer Exclusive First Look at Zone T1 Cine Kit at Cine Gear Expo 20...
03/06/2026
Berklee Alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume to Perform Together on St. Vincents 20...
03/06/2026
RT has today announced Heineken 0.0 as the broadcast sponsor of their FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage.
The sponsorship, brokered by Dentsu, will see Heineken 0....
02/06/2026
Tennis Channel has completed a transition from satellite-based distribution to a...
02/06/2026
Daktronics has announced the 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day educational event for high school educators and student production teams, taking place Jun...
02/06/2026
Fandango will bring Telemundo's live Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA W...
02/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) has announced the live television schedule...
02/06/2026
Spalk, a cloud-based multilingual commentary and production platform, has announced three new partnerships: Ligue 1 (English and Portuguese highlights), Eurolea...
02/06/2026
NHL Network's 2026 Stanley Cup Final coverage began June 1 with NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Final Media Day from the Carolina Hurricanes' Lenovo Center at ...
02/06/2026
Matrox Video has announced the Maevex MGX Series, a lineup of IPMX-ready video e...
02/06/2026
Marshall Electronics will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7521), showcasing a lineup of 4K and HD compact POV cameras for corporate, education, hospitality, wo...
02/06/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated have...
02/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C50...
02/06/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced the promotion of Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO. In his new role, Marchitto will oversee system design across ...
02/06/2026
The NHL has announced that Brothers Osborne will headline a free outdoor concert...
02/06/2026
CP Communications has announced the appointment of its first two female executives in the company's 40-year history. Tabitha Coleman has been named Vice Pre...
02/06/2026
The Lighting Design Group (LDG) has announced the completion of Studio C at Yahoo's headquarters at 770 Broadway in Manhattan. The studio launched April 24 ...
02/06/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Z) has announced a partnership with FIFA to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA World Cup 2030, FIFA Women's World Cup 2...
02/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
02/06/2026
The department is broadcasting NCAA Baseball Super Regionals at Plainsman Park this weekend
Broadcast and production crews at Division I institutions are busy ...
02/06/2026
The initiative is extends beyond the league's arenas to team training rinks,...
02/06/2026
Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Pen lope Cruz, and Edward Norton appear in The Invite by Olivia Wilde, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Co...
02/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
02/06/2026
Powerful new vocal-production tool announced
Described as a vocal performance station , Klevgrand's latest plug-in combines pitch-correction with harmo...
02/06/2026
Launched alongside Go Green sale extension
McDSP have just released the latest addition to their APB line-up, DC-2 Dual Compressor, and have also announced ...
02/06/2026
Create custom tools for Ableton Live 12 Suite
Ableton have just introduced a new open JavaScript toolkit that allows anyone to create their own custom tools...
02/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
02/06/2026
Plus UAD Half Yearly Sale now live
The latest arrival to the Universal Audio range delivers a new native pitch-correction plug-in that's capable of deli...
02/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to present comprehensive performance, conformance and spectrum-m...
02/06/2026
BTL Laboratory becomes Taiwan's first test house with a CTIA Certification c...
02/06/2026
blueCORE standalone processors headline solutions designed to simplify the trans...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...