Media Contact: Micki Leventhal 312-344-7383
(Chicago, IL) -- Semester in LA (SILA), Columbia College Chicago’s signature program that provides full-time students with a five-week intensive learning experience working with professionals in the entertainment industry, moved to their new home on Raleigh Studios’ 11 acre Hollywood complex on May 12.
“We are thrilled to be entering into a lease with Raleigh, one of the oldest and most respected studio enterprises in the county,” says Doreen Bartoni, dean of Columbia’s School of Media Arts. “There is great resonance between the histories of Raleigh and Columbia, with a common commitment to new visions and voices in the creative entertainment industries. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with our new landlord.”
The 2,000 square feet of new space are located in the historic Bronson building in the heart of Hollywood on Melrose Avenue.
Semester in L.A. is an intensive program that allows full-time Columbia College Chicago students the opportunity to gain exposure to the entertainment industry. Columbia College has worked to build a solid reputation in Hollywood with a network of hundreds of working entertainment industry professionals who willingly offer their knowledge and advice in an effort to help students get ahead. Many graduates have gone on to work in production offices, television shows, talent agencies and film sets via internship opportunities offered to our students. Founded in 1999 by Bob Enrietto and Don Smith, a full-time faculty member in the college’s film and video department, the SILA program has made its home on the CBS Studio Lot since January 2000. The program is now headed by Jon Katzman and offers programs across a wide range of career fields in the entertainment industry.
“We have had a wonderful relationship with the CBS Studio Lot folks for nearly a decade,” says Katzman. “This move provides Columbia with the additional space we need to continue to grow the SILA program and it frees up space for some new needs that CBS Studio has identified. Plus, the students will really like being in the middle of the action in Hollywood instead of in the Valley.”
Columbia College Chicago, an urban institution committed to open access, opportunity and excellence in higher education, provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to more than 12,000 students in over 120 undergraduate and graduate programs, including film & video, art & design, arts management, television, radio, music, interactive multimedia – all within a liberal arts context. Founded in 1890 as a communications school for women, Columbia College Chicago was revisioned in 1963 as a liberal arts college with a “hands-on minds-on” approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Under the current leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D., Columbia is aggressively pursuing this mission. Columbia is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The college is accredited as a teacher training institution by the Illinois State Board of Education.
Raleigh Studios, which commenced operations in 1915 as Famous Players Fiction Studios, is the longest continuously operating studio in the country. Raleigh Studios has played a central role in creating and supporting the modern entertainment industry. Raleigh Enterprises purchased the studio in 1979 and immediately launched a comprehensive renovation of its historic buildings. As part of an extensive five-year master plan that added modern new soundstages, support facilities and offices to the lot, the refurbishment of the studio ensured the preservation of the best of its Hollywood traditions. As part of this process, Raleigh Enterprises virtually reinvented the art of soundstage construction as no new facilities had been built in nearly three decades. The Manhattan Beach Facility was opened in 1998 with nearly 600,000 square feet of stage, support and office space. For more information visit www.raleighstudios.com.
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