Barbara and Greg MacGillivray met in a math class at Newport Harbor High School.
He made her laugh; she helped him raise $50 to finance his first movie.
Now, some 50 years later, the high school sweethearts, along with their son, 33-year-old Shaun, and daughter, Meghan, 30, run the world’s largest independent IMAX film production company, MacGillivray Freeman Films Inc.
The Laguna Beach-based business, aside from enabling the MacGillivrays to travel the world making films about causes they care about, has become a family legacy.
“That’s what we are really excited about,” Barbara MacGillivray said. “Both Shaun and Meghan are imbued with the mission of making films that are educational, that have a cause. Greg will not stop working until he drops dead in his tracks, but it’s really nice to know that they’ll be able to carry on the mission.”
The private company, which has 35 employees, was honored in the small-business category Nov. 13 at the 14th annual Family Owned Business Awards luncheon hosted by the Business Journal and California State University, Fullerton’s Center for Family Business (see related stories, pages 1, 5, 6 and 7).
MacGillivray Freeman Films dates to the 1960s, when Greg and his late friend, Jim Freeman, started collaborating on surfing films. The company’s filmography includes 36 giant-screen movies, including “Everest,” which amassed $150 million and is currently the highest grossing IMAX film. The company also has two Oscar-nominated documentaries to its name, “The Living Sea” and “Dolphins.”
Each IMAX movie costs roughly $8 million to produce, Barbara MacGillivray said, adding that the family business tries to churn out one a year. The company shares the production costs with Canada-based IMAX Corp. and looks for sponsors to cover other expenses. For example, The Coca-Cola Co. provided publicity for “To the Arctic,” which was released last year. The image of the mother bear and her two cubs that were featured in the movie were on some 1.4 billion special-edition Coke cans, thanks to the partnership.
Other Projects
The company’s other projects also featured corporate endorsements.
ConocoPhillips Co. sponsored 1976’s “To Fly!” It was MacGillivray Freeman’s first IMAX movie, which still plays at the Smithsonian and has grossed more than $127 million. In addition, the outdoor footwear brand Teva, a division of Deckers Outdoor Corp., and low-flow toilet maker Kohler Co. helped fund “Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D,” which emphasized water conservancy.
“We try to find sponsors that are relevant to the messaging,” Barbara MacGillivray said.
The company has several projects in the works, including “Everest: Conquering Thin Air” and “Journey to the South Pacific.”
The company’s gross revenue ranges between $5 million and $20 million a year.
MacGillivray said that neither she nor Greg assumed their children would follow in their footsteps.
Shaun graduated with a degree in economics from Emory University, while Meghan planned to teach, double majoring in English and the Classics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
But each found their way back to the family business—Shaun handles all budgeting and production, as well as development for the new films, while his younger sister tackles social media, script editing and research. She’s also Greg’s full-time assistant, handling day-to-day tasks for the computer-averse filmmaker.
Traveling
The siblings were raised around movie sets, accompanying their parents to distant locations, such as Greece, Saudi Arabia, the Alps, Bali and Indonesia.
“They were so much fun to travel with, to share everything with them,” said Barbara MacGillivray, who aside from helping out with the movies also worked as a clinical psychologist. ”
Greg MacGillivray shared similar sentiments.
“My favorite part is being around loved ones when, on location, the sea conditions are stormy … when getting a good shot seems impossible, it’s nice to be with friends and family and continue the laughter,” he said.
The family, aside from their love of globetrotting, shares values such as “wanting to make a difference,” an attribute that has enabled them to function effectively as a business.
But it’s not a full-fledged democracy—Greg is the one “who sets the parameters when it comes to decision-making,” she said, because “he’s got the instincts to know where to go with the films.”
MacGillivray, when asked what her role in the family business is, settled briefly on “research director,” adding, “I just haven’t been comfortable with [titles], because this is part of my life, I do whatever needs to be done.”
