Friday, 18 September 2026 11:30 AM
Company Update
A DIY video team found out.
PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESS Newswire / September 18, 2026 / Can anyone make an IMAX movie?
With renewed excitement around large-format filmmaking and the cultural hype surrounding Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, a DIY video team tested how accessible the IMAX filmmaking process really is, ultimately earning an invitation to screen the finished film at IMAX headquarters.
"IMAX has always felt reserved for Hollywood-scale productions. We wanted to find out whether a small, independent team could create something genuinely worthy of its largest screen."-Stephen Skeel, Co-founder of 7 Wonders Video Agency
The answer took the filmmakers further than even they expected.
7 Wonders created a two-minute narrative short centered on a Greek hoplite, inspired by The Odyssey, working with historical reenactors from an organization called The Greek Phalanx. Production took place across several locations, including the Nashville Parthenon, Franklin, Tennessee, the Jersey Shore and the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania.
The team designed the film around IMAX's rare, towering presentation format, with the goal of creating imagery that would take advantage of the enormous vertical scale and sense of immersion associated with the screen.
Separate from productions like The Odyssey shot on IMAX 65mm film, IMAX also maintains a select roster of certified digital cameras through its Filmed For IMAX program. The newest addition is Fujifilm's GFX ETERNA 55, whose unusually tall large-format sensor made this experiment possible for a small crew. Lensrentals provided the camera for the production, giving the team access to a tool that was still very new.
But filming it was only half the challenge.
The team still had to determine whether an independently made project could actually make its way onto an IMAX screen.
As 7 Wonders navigated that process independently, the experiment ultimately resulted in an invitation to bring the completed film to the David Keighley Theater at IMAX headquarters in Playa Vista for a private screening.
"For us, that was the surreal part of the experiment," Skeel said. "We started by asking whether a small team could even participate in this world. A few months later, we were sitting inside an IMAX screening room watching our film fill the screen."
Ultimately, a final test presentation was conducted on Chattanooga's Tennessee Aquarium IMAX, which is six stories tall. 7 Wonders documented the entire process for a YouTube exploration.
The resulting 10-minute YouTube documentary, Can Anyone Film an IMAX Movie?, follows the experiment from the original idea through production and the eventual screening at IMAX headquarters.
The film approaches the subject as an independent editorial exploration rather than an official IMAX production, asking how much of the large-format filmmaking world is becoming accessible to smaller teams and where barriers remain.
The experiment also arrives at a moment when large-format filmmaking has reentered the broader cultural conversation. Films like The Odyssey have helped renew public interest not only in IMAX itself, but in the scale, spectacle and theatrical experience associated with shooting and presenting movies in large formats.
For 7 Wonders, the experiment started with a simple question and ended somewhere the team never expected.
Can Anyone Film an IMAX Movie is live on YouTube now.
WATCH THE FILM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3HfCO_Se1E
EDITORIAL NOTE
This film and press release are independent editorial projects produced solely by 7 Wonders Video Agency. IMAX Corporation did not sponsor, endorse, commission, or participate in the creation of this release. The film is not an official IMAX production, and no partnership or commercial relationship between 7 Wonders and IMAX exists or is implied. IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation.
ABOUT 7 WONDERS
7 Wonders Video Agency is an award-winning video and podcast agency specializing in cinematic storytelling, branded content and video marketing. The agency works with organizations ranging from growing companies to global brands across live-action production, animation, documentary storytelling, podcasts and digital content.
MEDIA CONTACT
Stephen Skeel
Co-Founder, 7 Wonders Video Agency
[email protected]
https://www.7wonders.com/
SOURCE: 7 WONDERS