Next stop: ancient Greece

Greg MacGillivray’s latest Imax film takes viewers back to the Parthenon.In his latest eight-story high adventure, Imax filmmaker Greg MacGillivray takes his audience back in time with “Greece: Secrets of the Past.”

After award-winning success with last year’s release of “Mystery of the Nile,” MacGillivray, and his Laguna-based company, MacGillivray Freeman Films, is confident the film will add to a string of successes accomplished over the last three decades.

Dozens of antique cameras along the hallways of MacGillivray’s offices show the filmmaker’s affinity for history.

MacGillivray’s career has led him all over the world. His career credits include photography for Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” and work on one of the most iconic surfing films, “Big Wednesday.”

Credited with several Imax technical innovations, two Academy Award nominations [for best documentary, short subjects, for “Dolphins,” in 2000 and “The Living Sea” in 1995], and the inclusion of his 1976 documentary, “To Fly!”, in the Library of Congress’s film registry, MacGillivray enjoys the validation awards give him, but the true reward is filmmaking.

“Greece: Secrets of the Past” aims to make the trip back in time an emotional one.

“This is not a period drama, it’s more realism, it’s about being there today,” MacGillivray said.

While following the personal journey of an archeologist, the film sets out to encompass the magnitude of Greece’s influence on our culture.

MacGillivray specializes in spectacular cinematography, but taking an audience back thousands of years took ingenuity.

From MacGillivray’s perspective, the film’s prized moment comes when the archeologist and his three compatriots walk into the Parthenon and it transforms back to its glory days in ancient Greece.

The group comes across a 42-foot tall statue of Athena made of gold and ivory that is brought to life with CGI.

MacGillivray said he always shoots for originality but makes sure to never lose sight of the basics.

“The main thing we do is make sure the films are good,” MacGillivray said.

Another goal for each film involves raising awareness of the importance of conservation.

Having started out with surfing movies when he was a freshman in high school, MacGillivray has gained experience in every aspect of filmmaking.

From his late partner Jim Freeman, who died in a helicopter accident while on location, he learned technical aspects of cinematography.

But MacGillivray credits Kubrick as being his greatest influence.

As a second unit director for Kubrick on the set of “The Shining,” MacGillivray said he learned countless tricks.

“Personally, he taught me to never give up on a film or a scene,” he said. “What took 14 months for him would take most directors two-and-a-half months.”

The 25 employees of MacGillivray Freeman Films spend an average of three years making a film.

With three films in production at any given time, the company releases one movie a year.

“For 20 years, we made the best-selling documentaries as far as sales and attendance until ‘Fahrenheit 911’ broke box office records for documentaries, MacGillivray said.

“All of us work long hours and put our heart and souls into projects.”

“Greece: Secrets of the Past” opens Feb. 17 and will be screened at the Reuben H. Fleet Center in San Diego at 12 p.m. and 9 p.m. For more shows and information, visit the website at www.rhfleet.org. For information on MacGillivray films, visit www.macfreefilms.com.

20060217iur96jncMARK DUSTIN / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Greg MacGillivray sits at an editing station in his Laguna Beach office as a frame from his upcoming Imax film “Greece: Secrets of the Past” appears on the screen behind him.