MacGillivray Freeman’s Experiential Film Sets New Standard for Immersive Storytelling on World’s Largest 360-Degree LED Screen.
Laguna Beach, California – August 5, 2025 — Celebrating two years of remarkable impact, MacGillivray Freeman Films (MFF) announces the continued success of One Epic Ocean, the acclaimed 360-degree film spectacular anchoring the $1.2 billion SeaWorld Abu Dhabi marine park. Since its debut in May 2023, this immersive cinematic journey has become the park’s emotional and experiential centerpiece, helping drive record attendance and contributing to more than 20 international awards for innovation, design, and storytelling.
Presented four times daily inside SeaWorld Abu Dhabi’s One Ocean hub, the 14-minute spectacle is presented on the world’s largest 360-degree LED screen spanning 716 feet in circumference and 50 feet high—the equivalent of nearly ten IMAX screens arranged in a circle. Projected at an unprecedented 44K resolution, the display offers nearly three times the pixel clarity of the Sphere in Las Vegas, making it the highest-definition natural history film ever created.
“One Ocean’s screen takes Disney’s classic CircleVision concept and cranks it up past 11… [One Epic Ocean] is the highest-definition nature film presentation in history.”
—Attractions Magazine
The UAE Times called it, “One of the most beautiful interior spaces I’ve ever seen… It brought tears to my eyes. SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is the best aquarium in the world.”
As the world’s largest indoor aquarium theme park, spanning five floors and nearly 2 million square feet with 15 million gallons of water, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi earned Guinness World Record recognition in 2024. With more than 2 million visitors in the past year alone, the park has become a global benchmark for immersive themed experiences.
Pioneering Filmmaking Meets Cutting-Edge Tech
With two Academy Award® nominations for its ocean films The Living Sea and Dolphins, MacGillivray Freeman Films was the natural choice to produce the park’s signature live capture content in partnership with SeaWorld, Miral and Thinkwell. For One Epic Ocean and other displays, MFF produced 114 minutes of original 22K-resolution content (up-scaled to 44K during playback)—the largest production of its kind.
To capture footage in full 360-degree clarity, MFF and a team of engineers developed two entirely new camera systems: one underwater, featuring nine 4K compact cinema cameras, and another topside aerial rig with five 6K cameras mounted on a drone. “The underwater camera system was an incredible feat of engineering,” said Director of Photography Jonathan Bird. “Getting nine cameras to work in perfect unison underwater? Borderline impossible.”
From the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Peninsula, the MFF team filmed across eight countries on five continents, traveling 66,000 miles in nine months. “We carried more than 30 heavy film equipment cases through airports, jungles, ice fields, and reefs,” said production manager Meghan MacGillivray. “This was a monumental undertaking.”
“The main challenge was taking a prototype camera system that had only been tested in an aquarium out into the world’s most extreme environments,” said cinematographer Zach Peterson. “One month we were fighting to keep the camera from overheating in the 93-degree waters of Abu Dhabi, the next we were trying to keep the camera batteries from freezing in the icy waters of Antarctica.”
Creating a Very Different Post-Production Pipeline
Editing footage at this scale required groundbreaking post-production methods. Over 1.3 million frames were digitally stitched and blended by CGI artists at Light Sail and MFF, with 300,000 frames undergoing rotoscoping—a labor-intensive process of tracing objects for removal, fixing the object’s convergence, then re-compositing the removed and repaired objects into the backplate images, frame by frame. The final master files totaled 24.5 terabytes and are played back uncompressed and upconverted live in real time from 22K to 44K resolution.
“To complete a project of this magnitude required that traditional post-production methods be tossed out the window,” notes Terry Brown, VP of Technology and Digital Post. “First of all, our editorial proxies were at an incredible 6K resolution. Next, we had to stitch together footage from the nine 4K cameras from the underwater rigs and the five 6K cameras of the topside/drone rig. Then we had to spend more than a month on site during construction, finishing the color and final editorial tweaks.”
“This is by far the most complex, most challenging piece of content we’ve ever created,” said Shaun MacGillivray, President of MFF. “We had to invent two new camera systems, new storytelling techniques, and new ways to get 22K content to play seamlessly on the world’s largest cylindrical screen. The result is an emotional, fully immersive experience that connects deeply with audiences.”
More Than a Film – A Gateway to Wonder
One Epic Ocean does more than dazzle—it sets the tone for the entire SeaWorld Abu Dhabi experience. As senior correspondent Joe Kleiman of In Park Magazine says:
“Whether viewed at length or in passing, One Epic Ocean does not overwhelm the park’s other experiences but prepares guests for the adventures ahead in an engaging and entertaining way. I can think of no filmmakers better suited for this production than MacGillivray Freeman Films, who have a decades-long love and appreciation for the wonders of the ocean. I instantly recognized their work when entering the space and, much like their award-winning films for IMAX and other giant screen theaters, I noticed that it evoked a connective and emotional response from the viewers, myself included.”
The result is an immersive experience unlike any other. Imagine standing in an enormous space filled with educational displays when suddenly the surrounding 50-foot-tall walls begin to change color and ocean life begins to swirl around you. You feel like you’re swimming as a Galapagos hammerhead shark passes by in its 360-degree circumnavigation. The animals are so close, you can see the colors in a whale’s eye!
The show’s immersive visuals are complemented by a 70-speaker spatial audio system, adding a rich auditory layer to the experience. Visitors frequently describe the show as “breathtaking,” “transformative,” and “the highlight of the entire park.”
In addition to One Epic Ocean, MFF produced eight short educational films and a vertical-format film for SeaWorld Abu Dhabi’s “Endless Ocean” realm, plus CGI backplates for live sea lion presentations. In total, the company delivered nearly two hours of finished content, cementing its role as a creative and technical powerhouse.
A Legacy of Innovation
MFF’s pioneering work in immersive filmmaking dates back to 1981, when Disney tapped the company to produce the CircleVision 360° film Wonders of China for EPCOT. That 35mm nine-camera project ran for two decades and was seen by more than 100 million people. With One Epic Ocean, MFF continues its legacy of transporting audiences to the heart of the natural world through unmatched cinematic experiences.
About MacGillivray Freeman Films
Based in Laguna Beach, California, MacGillivray Freeman Films is the world’s foremost independent producer and distributor of giant screen 70mm films with nearly 50 films for IMAX® and giant screen theaters to its credit. Throughout the company’s 50-year history, its films have won numerous international awards including two Academy Award® nominations for The Living Sea and Dolphins and three films inducted into the IMAX Hall of Fame, including Everest, the highest grossing giant screen film of all time. MacGillivray Freeman’s films are known for their artistry and celebration of science and the natural world. It is the first documentary film company to reach the one-billion-dollar benchmark for worldwide box office.
