Actress Lauren Tom to be Honored at Reception

Actress Lauren Tom to be Honored at Reception

For Immediate Release Media Contact: Micki Leventhal 312-344-7383
March 8, 2005

Event Will Benefit Asian Arts & Media, Film Education

WHAT: A Day With Lauren Tom

Obie Award Winning actress Lauren Tom joins Chicago's arts and film communities for a benefit brunch reception followed by a conversation with Tom who will screen selections from the films in which she has appeared.

"A Day With Lauren Tom" is presented by The Center for Asian Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago, the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media and the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in conjunction with the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media's 10th Asian American Showcase. The proceeds will benefit the Center for Asian Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago, the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media and the educational programs of the Gene Siskel Film Center.

WHEN: Sunday, April 10, 2005

·Brunch Reception: 11:00 a.m.
·Screening & Discussion: 1:00 p.m.

WHERE:

·Brunch Reception: Renaissance Hotel, 1 West Wacker Drive
·Screening/Discussion: Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 North State Strett

HOW
MUCH:$65 per person
includes brunch reception and admission to the screening/discussion.

RESERVATIONS
& INFORMATION: 312-344-7870

Lauren Tom is an Obie Award-winning actress, best known for her role as a dutiful daughter in the film The Joy Luck Club, and a recurring role as Ross's girlfriend on NBC's Friends. Raised in Highland Park, Illinois as part of the only Asian family in a largely Jewish neighborhood, she started as a dancer with the Hubbard St. Dance Company and at 18 moved to New York to perform in A Chorus Line on Broadway and in numerous plays at the New York Shakespeare Festival including "American Notes" for which she received an Obie Award. She most recently appeared in Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thornton, and is currently shooting "Synergy" with Scarlett Johannson and Dennis Quaid. Other film credits include When A Man Loves a Woman, Mr. Jones, With Friends Like These, Catfish in Black Bean Sauce, and Manhood with John Ritter. As an accomplished actress and featured voice on shows like "King of the Hill" and "Futurama," Tom is opening doors for Asian American women in the film and television industry.