Ms. Homma, as the director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where is your favorite place to watch movies?
We have such a lively cinematheque scene in LA, so there are a lot of local movie theaters that are true community gathering spaces. There’s the New Beverly, there’s The Vista…There’s also of course the two theaters that are part of our Academy Museum campus, the Ted Mann Theater and the David Geffen Theater. We can present across all film formats, we can even screen nitrate — we’re one of only five theaters in our country that can do that, which is really cool. It is so magical to be able to watch films on these different formats. So being able to frequent all of these unique theaters in LA is truly special for me as a film lover and a film goer.
What about growing up? Was there a space in your hometown that you frequented?
Yes, we had a local small town theater in Highland Park, Illinois, which is where I grew up. But we also watched a lot of movies at home on VHS on our old fashioned box television! Being able to pop a VHS in with my parents was something spectacular. I’m really lucky that my mom introduced me to a lot of musicals when I was young. Funny Girl, An American in Paris… My sister and I would watch those on repeat. We had a whole library of tapes, almost like our own little video store. I still can remember the sound of the rewind button, the whole thing was such a visceral experience, you know, adjusting the bunny ears and the coaxial cable… It was very tactile. You had a relationship to what you were watching in a way that’s very different than today.
“Movies would take me into worlds that were so different from my own…”
Were you already interested in the craft of filmmaking back then? Or was movie-watching more of an escapist, fantasy practice for you?
I would say both. I loved the escapist quality that these adventure movies and musical movies had. They would take me into worlds that were so different from my own. But I also had a very tangible relationship to film, because my father had a landscape architecture company, and he was hired by production designers to provide landscaping services on set to some movies. So he worked on movies like Backdraft and Home Alone, and he would bring stories and a craftperson’s perspective to all of the collaboration that encompasses filmmaking. And so growing up, my sister and I had a really acute understanding of that.
It seems like a natural progression for you to then take on this role that lets you not only present all the work that goes into making movies, but also preserve them.
Absolutely, I’ve always been naturally curious and a lifelong learner, and so I am really lucky that, working at the Academy Museum and leading this institution, not only am I being introduced to films that create more curiosity for me personally, it also allows me to understand cultures, technical and collaborative processes, and filmmakers and their creative geniuses even better. We present over 400 screenings per year, and are often bringing in guest speakers… It’s an incredible opportunity to continue learning about film through direct connection to experts. For example, recently we were lucky to work with Steven Spielberg and his team at Amblin on our Jaws exhibition, which features over 200 original objects, borrowing from Steven’s own collection, but also the collection of private collectors. It was fascinating learning about how the museum, the film’s director, and private collectors intersect. They all come together to keep film history alive, it’s an incredible devotion to preserve and celebrate stories.
What other stories about craft are you highlighting at the museum?
Right now in the Rolex Gallery on the third floor of our museum, you can learn about production designers Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, who worked on films like Barbie, Pride and Prejudice, and Anna Karenina. I think exhibitions like this one play a pivotal role, introducing people to all these different career paths and creative avenues within the film industry. You can come into the Rolex Gallery and it’s very theatrical, there’s a red velvet entrance trimmed in gold, there’s a floor to ceiling montage of scenes from one of the films; you can also see a real model of their desks that they dressed themselves. There’s an interactive-for-visitors miniature dollhouse that has different scenes from different films. We are constantly thinking about how we can give our visitors that tangible sense of what it takes to make a movie.
How has it been for you, growing this partnership with Rolex over the years?
Our relationship with Rolex goes so much further beyond just the name of the gallery — we are very much aligned in terms of our commitments, and so to have this partner since the very beginning, since 2017, it’s been crucial to what we’re doing. Rolex has supported the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving as a sponsor of the Oscars, hosting the Oscars ceremony’s Greenroom, supporting the Governors Awards, and the Student Academy Awards. So across all of our endeavors to celebrate, to honor, to present, and to educate the next generation, Rolex is right there as a partner with the Academy.
It’s an alignment of values, really.
We absolutely share in our commitment to preserving history, and the commitment to pass on knowledge from one generation to the next. That type of legacy that Rolex holds is what we also strive to accomplish with our own content and exhibitions. When you’re walking through the museum, you truly are taking a step back in time to look at and celebrate all of what film history has accomplished. So our partnership with Rolex is mission critical, really. I think together, we’re able to honor this industry, and that’s inspiring for people to learn more, to participate more.
How else does the museum get its visitors in that mindset of participating, not just viewing?
Well, across the entire museum, we want it to be an active environment for people to be participating. Going through a museum should be a social experience: people want to come with their families, with their friends or their partners, and so we’re striving to provide areas for them to do something, for them to interact with something. When you walk through Jaws, not only are you learning about how the original Bruce the shark was made, but there’s an opportunity to pull the levers of a scale model so you can understand how the head of Bruce the shark was moving, how the literal jaw was opening and closing. I think it’s so important for people to have that type of sensorial experience when they come to a museum. To actually do something, to have the ability to have your photo taken and on a replica Godfather desk… This creates forever memories.
“That’s pure joy to me, that we are a space where people can express their love of cinema.”
It really makes the experience more immersive.
Exactly right, and I love walking through the museum and seeing people engaging with the exhibits, observing how our visitors are responding, seeing that lightbulb moment when they discover something they like… I personally love to hear the whispers and conversations that take place in the museum. “Do you know Bong Joon-ho’s work?” “Yes, have you seen Parasite?” “No but I loved Okja!” Those conversations are so fun to overhear, because everybody has a favorite film and this is a way for people to share that. That’s pure joy to me, that we are a space where people can express their love of cinema.
Like you said earlier, it’s also a community space for film fans, which is great because you’re not meant to talk during a movie — so this is a new space for these types of conversations.
I love that! One of my favorite things about going to see a movie is you’re talking with your friends about it as you walk out of the theater. I love that people are doing that at the Academy Museum as well, it’s a place for conversation crossing genres and types of films, new and old, all by experiencing our exhibitions and all that we have to offer. So when our visitors leave the museum, I hope they leave feeling inspired. I hope they leave with a pocket full of films that are new to them, that they also want to go home and find a way to see those films themselves, because the impact of what we’re doing here.
There’s also something to be said for gathering and watching a film together. Is that also an experience you hope your visitors carry with them?
There is a community aspect to watching a movie together, and it’s so important for our visitors to experience that. We are going to go on this journey, starting off as strangers, but at the end of that film, we were laughing together. We were on an emotional journey together. We were surprised or scared at certain moments together, and that sharing of humanity that is a human experience. It connects us. We’re not staring at our phones, we’re not distracted in our thoughts, but we are together and sharing a feeling at the same time, in the same place, and that’s very important. It’s a beautiful, wonderful way in which we can go on an emotional journey together through the power of storytelling.