As Fairbanks and his enablers reasoned that training in the cinematic arts should be seen as a legitimate academic discipline at major universities, given the same degree considerations as fields like medicine and law.

But he found tepid acceptance at the University of Southern California that agreed to allow one class, called “Introduction to Photoplay” that debuted in 1929, the same year as the Academy Awards.

[5] On September 19, 2006, USC announced that alumnus George Lucas had donated US$175 million to expand the film school with a new 137,000-square-foot (12,700 m2) facility.

An architectural hobbyist, Lucas laid out the original designs for the project, inspired by the Mediterranean Revival Style that was used in older campus buildings as well as the Los Angeles area.

The exhibit has been relocated to the Cinematic Arts library which has many collections for the study of figures whose lives and works are part of society's shared history.

The Division of Cinema & Media Studies (CaMS) is the central hub for film theory at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Notable faculty members of the Cinema and Media Studies department include Todd Boyd and Drew Casper.

The curriculum is designed to prepare a select group of students for careers as producers and executives of film, television, and new media.

Donations from film and game industry companies, friends, and alumni have enabled the school to build the following facilities:[10] At the center of the new television complex is a statue of founder Douglas Fairbanks.