Logo for L’Ecole De Cinema – School of Cinema Mel Hoppenheim at Concordia University in 2014.
Photo Credit : Concordia University
Mel Hoppenheim at Mel's Cité du Cinéma studio, in Montreal, December 8, 2010.
Photo Credit : Dave Sidaway for the Montreal Gazette
Mel Hoppenheim
Mel Hoppenheim is a filmmaker, cinematographer, philanthropist and entrepreneur who significantly contributed to the development of the arts through his visionary contribution to the Quebec and Canadian film industry.
Hoppenheim was born in Montreal, and graduated from the famed Baron Byng High School in 1954. He got his start in the film industry by renting cameras and equipment to local cinematographers. In 1965, he founded Panavision Canada, which was so successful that, six years later, he expanded with technical installations in Toronto (1972) and then Vancouver (1977).
In 1988, Hoppenheim made a major investment in the future of moviemaking by purchasing the historic Theatre Expo, which was baptized Cité du Havre as part of the construction of Expo 67. He expanded by building five additional state-of-the-art studios within the new complex.
In 1990 he built eight additional studios under the banner Cite du Cinema Mel’s – making these installations the largest privately owned film studios in North America. These studios were designed to be the most cutting-edge production facilities in the world film and television industry, turning Montreal into a center for the production industry that rivaled Hollywood, attracted renowned film makers and boosted employment in Montreal.
Forward thinking and pre-occupied with encouraging future talent in the film industry, Hoppenheim prioritized Education. He founded the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University in 1997, which now counts over 900 students. He was also instrumental in supporting the National Institute of Image and Sound (INIS), a private school specializing in writing, directing and film/television producing.
He is a major philanthropist in healthcare specifically at the Montreal Heart Institute, where he funded the most sophisticated diagnostic and imaging technology in Canada and the Montreal Children’s Hospital where he funded the Chair in Pediatric Neurology. His philanthropy activity has touched numerous other charities.
Hoppenheim’s tremendous contributions to Canadian moviemaking and culture were honoured in 2010 with the honorary Genie Award; in 2012 by the Montreal World Film Festival with the Special Grand Prize of the Americas. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Concordia University in 2008 and was bestowed the Order of Canada, in 2015.
