LMU is opening a Playa Vista satellite campus for graduate film students and special events
Eyeing a greater presence in West L.A.’s ever-growing creative technology sector, Loyola Marymount University is expanding its footprint into Playa Vista.
The private Jesuit school just up the hill has signed a long-term lease deal for more than 50,000 square feet at The Brickyard, the newly completed multi-structure creative office complex adjacent to Playa Vista Central Park.
Set to open in the fall of 2018, the LMU Playa Vista Campus will house graduate-level programs for the LMU School of Film & Television as well as “dynamic creator spaces for students and the greater community,” the university announced in early February.
“LMU Playa Vista Campus is a game-changer,” LMU President Timothy Law Snyder said. “As the University of Silicon Beach, our industry partnerships, immersive and interdisciplinary learning opportunities, career pathways and ideal location are unmatched. LMU is already a crucible of creativity, where world-changing ideas are imagined and formed. Silicon Beach is one of the world’s fastest-growing startup ecosystems, an ideal counterpart for LMU as the definitive center for global imagination and its impacts.”
LMU’s fast-growing film school, currently No. 6 in USA Today’s national film school rankings and No. 8 in The Hollywood Reporter’s, has been quick to embrace emerging digital technology.
School of Film and Television spokeswoman Julie Porter said having a physical presence in Playa Vista will be a catalyst for new collaborations with innovators in the private sector.
“We’re really excited about the creative partnerships and opportunities within this dynamic community. And as the School of Film and Television partners with the tech giant and digital entertainment companies in Silicon Beach, we’re preparing students for the world’s most desirable careers— they’re building a portfolio of skills in demand by companies leading the creative economy,” Porter said.
Designed by Michael Maltzan of the L.A. architecture firm Gensler and developed by commercial real estate giants Tishman Speyer, The Brickyard — named for its white-glazed brick exteriors — encompasses 425,000 square feet of office and retail space at 12105 and 12126 W. Waterfront Drive. LMU did not disclose the terms of its lease.
The Brickyard satellite campus isn’t the school’s only entrée into Playa Vista. Its M-School Institute of Marketing, Center for Urban Resilience, Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship and School of Education have been active in the community for years.
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