CineGrid is an initiative to provide media professionals access to global cyberinfrastructure capable of carrying ultra-high performance digital media using photonic networks, middleware, transport protocols and collaboration tools originally developed for scientific research, visualization, and Grid computing. In the process, “learn by doing,” train the next generation, and cultivate global interdisciplinary communities to help advance the state of the art. CineGrid is people, facilities, networks and a not-for-profit organization.