CHICAGO, Sep 24, 2001 /PRNewswire/ --

Ontario Place and Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center Receive Top honors; MacGillivray Freeman Films' To Fly! Inducted into IMAX(R) Hall of Fame

At the annual large-format conference of the Giant Screen Theater Association (GSTA) in Chicago this week, IMAX Corporation (Nasdaq: IMAX; TSE: IMX) announced that Cinesphere at Ontario Place in Toronto and the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center in San Diego and its executive director, Jeffrey Kirsch, were recipients of the IMAX Founders Awards and MacGillivray Freeman Films' To Fly! was inducted into the IMAX(R) Hall of Fame.

The IMAX Founders Award recognizes an individual or individuals that have made a major contribution to the arts and/or sciences of 15/70 large-format films, as selected by a special panel of industry leaders. Previous years' Founders Award winners have included IMAX co-founders Graeme Ferguson and Roman Kroitor as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its Administrator, Daniel S. Goldin.

The IMAX Hall of Fame winner is nominated and voted on by every active theatre in the worldwide IMAX network. Previous inductees include the large-format hit, Grand Canyon.

"We are very pleased that the IMAX Founders Award has gone to the two IMAX theatres that became the cornerstones of the worldwide IMAX theatre network. Both facilities were innovators and risk takers and they provided the world with a completely revolutionary way to experience films," said IMAX co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We are also very excited that To Fly! has received this industry's highest honor. It is truly deserving of this recognition as it is the longest running ticketed film ever to play in one location anywhere in the world, as well as one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time."

Ontario Place's Cinesphere, located in Toronto, and the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater of San Diego shared IMAX's top honor, the Founders Award. Ontario Place houses the world's first permanent IMAX Theatre and celebrated its 30th anniversary of continuous operation in 2001. When Cinesphere opened in 1971 it was heralded as one of the most advanced theatres in the world. Housed in a triodetic-domed structure, Cinesphere was built to accommodate conventional as well as experimental film formats, including one that was developed to showcase the large screen and multiple image films produced for Expo '67 in Montreal and Expo '70 in Osaka. Maximum-sized images that heightened the impact of the movie-going experience amplified the story and for the first time, gave audiences the feeling of actually being in the picture.

The Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center first opened to the public in March 1973. It was the world's first IMAX Dome theatre and was a revolutionary planetarium featuring a 76-foot dome that tilted at a 25-degree angle down in front of the audience who were seated in tiered rows, each facing forward to give the illusion of being suspended in space. This tilted dome also served as the projection screen for a new 70mm/15-perf film format, which was named OMNIMAX by the Space Theater founders. Today this format is known as IMAX Dome and is featured in more than 60 IMAX theatres worldwide.

Jeffrey Kirsch became executive director of the facility in 1983. Under his leadership, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center has become a major force in the production of IMAX films for science museums. He has also taken the Fleet Center into its next era by heading the effort to more than double its size and increase its yearly attendance to more than 650,000 people, with educational programs reaching 110,000 students per year. Dr. Kirsch has contributed greatly to the growth and sophistication of the large-format industry as an executive producer and production advisor on numerous large-format films and as president of the Giant Screen Theater Association.

To Fly! premiered on July 1, 1976 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum as the centerpiece of the museum's grand opening celebration. Today, 25 years later, the film is still on NASM's schedule, making it the longest running ticketed film ever to play in one location anywhere in the world. The story of man's fascination with flight and his determination to fly, it is one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time, having received numerous honors and awards. In 1996 the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry where it joined such American classics as Birth of A Nation, Citizen Kane and Gone With The Wind. To Fly! also marked the debut of Greg MacGillivray's large-format filmmaking career. Tragically, his partner and co-director, Jim Freeman, was killed in a helicopter crash just prior to the film's premiere.

In addition, the GSTA presented a Special Achievement in Film award to David Keighley, President of IMAX's film processing unit. This award recognizes a special achievement of any kind within the film production area and David Keighley is its first recipient.

IMAX Corporation and its subsidiaries comprise one of the world's leading entertainment technology companies, with particular emphasis on film and digital imaging technologies, including giant-screen images, 3D presentations, digital post-production and digital projection. There were more than 225 IMAX(R) theatres operating in 30 countries around the world as of June 30, 2001. IMAX Corporation is a publicly traded company listed on both the Toronto and Nasdaq stock exchanges. More information on the Company can be found at http://www.imax.com.

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SOURCE IMAX Corporation

CONTACT:          Victoria Dinnick of IMAX Corporation, Toronto, +1-905-403-6366;
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