September 14^th, 2004 (12:00am) - Electronic Arts and the USC School of Cinema-Television today unveiled the EA Game Innovation Lab at USC’s Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts. Scheduled to attend an event marking the occasion are Elizabeth Daley, Dean, School of Cinema-Television, Don Mattrick, President of EA Worldwide Studios, Rusty Rueff, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at EA and filmmaker Robert Zemeckis.

The EA Game Innovation Lab, based in the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, is a state-of-the-art research space and think tank where new concepts in game design, play, and usability are developed, prototyped, and play-tested. Lab users will push games beyond the currently defined genres, markets, and play patterns, creating a body of knowledge about players, games, and game playing that is informing the next generation of software and hardware.

“EA’s decision to invest in the future of interactive media education at the USC School of Cinema-Television is advancing a 75-year tradition of bold, experimental thinking about storytelling,” said Daley. “And I can think of no more fitting time than the School’s diamond anniversary year to launch this groundbreaking new partnership.”

On March 22, 2004, EA announced a multi-million dollar donation to the USC School of Cinema-Television to advance interactive entertainment education by creating a launch pad for the next generation of game designers. The historic contribution is part of EA’s global educational and talent development effort. The gift will help fund a 3-year Master of Fine Arts program within the School’s Division of Interactive Media. With this forward-thinking contribution, the School will grow its efforts to graduate visionary thinkers who have a deep understanding of the many facets of interactive entertainment.

The creation of the Electronic Arts Endowed Faculty Chair — the first-ever endowed chair at a university for the study of electronic gaming and interactive entertainment — will enable the School to meet the intensifying demand for talented game developers who are solidly grounded in story and content. It also will help bring some of the game industry’s top talent to USC as educators, while drawing top student candidates from home and abroad to learn one-on-one from these experts. EA will name an executive to serve in this post in the coming weeks.