LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A $5 million grant from USC Life Trustee Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation will go towards a state-of-the-art multimedia production studio at the USC Capital Campus in Washington, D.C., it was announced Monday.
Open to all USC students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, the multimedia center will be designed for video and audio streaming on platforms like YouTube and Spotify. The street-level Wallis Annenberg Studio with its wrap-around window will offer a front-row seat as USC multimedia storytellers cover breaking news, debates, elections, interview national and global leaders, and conduct live broadcasts, the university said.
Located in the heart of Dupont Circle, the USC Capital Campus was established by USC President Carol Folt in 2023 as a campus for experts, researchers and students to connect and share views on the national stage. The founding vision for the 60,000-square-foot building included a multimedia studio space to further amplify these conversations, according to USC.
“USC was a first mover when selecting this beautiful building to be our new home in the nation’s capital,” Folt said in a statement.
“We immediately envisioned a ground floor multimedia studio,” she said. “It has been such a pleasure to work with Dean Bay of the Annenberg School to bring this vision to life. The Wallis Annenberg Studio will be a hub for direct engagement between our students and opinion leaders and policy makers. Also, it furthers USC’s mission to be a part of the civic life of the nation’s capital and be a powerful force to serve the public good.”
The new facility will mirror the successful model of Wallis Annenberg Hall’s Media Center on USC’s Los Angeles campus, where students work under the mentorship of faculty and industry professionals — including newsroom leaders, network producers, editors and multiplatform storytellers, according to the university.
