To achieve that, Ferguson and Kroitor recruited high school friend and businessman Robert Kerr and engineer William Shaw, another high school buddy, to develop the camera, projection system and theater configuration. Their Imax system debuted at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan, with the filmWith a frame that was nearly 10 times larger than conventional 35mm film, the bright, clear, steady and giant images resulted in a revolutionary immersive theater experience.
Ferguson served as Imax president from 1970-90. Brad Wechsler and Richard Gelfond purchased the company through a leveraged buyout in 1994 and took the company public, listing it on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Born in Toronto on Oct. 7, 1929, Ivan Graeme Ferguson worked for a summer at the National Film Board of Canada in 1950 while studying political science and economics at the University of Toronto, then collaborated in India with Swedish documentarian Arne Sucksdorff after graduation.
He moved to New York in the late 1950s and, as a freelance director, cinematographer and editor worked on the 1960-62
IMAX invented by Canadians.
Graeme and Phyllis, Rest In Peace. IMAX gsca
RIP.