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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For Immediate Release:
May 5, 2008
Media contact: Rachel Epley, 312.427.6267, Ext. 110
Sherwood Conservatory of Music of Columbia College Chicago will present its Ninth Annual Scholarship Competition and Gala on Friday, May 9, 2008. Nina Owen and Nancy Shields are co-chairs for the event, which features the final round of the school’s annual musical scholarship competition at The Arts Club of Chicago. Sherwood Executive Director Kathleen Butera explains that the two-fold purpose of the gala is to raise tuition funds and to recognize high achievement in the arts.
Sherwood’s Ninth Annual Scholarship Competition and Gala begins at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction and open bar/hors d’oeuvres reception. The competition concert takes place at 6:45 followed by presentation of the William Hall Sherwood Award to Mr. Ponce. The event will be held at The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 East Ontario Street. Valet parking is available for $12 at The Arts Club. Individual gala tickets are $100 for adults and $20 for children under the age of 18.
Special honored guest, Phil Ponce, host of WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight,” will receive the 2008 William Hall Sherwood Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts. In addition to his television work, Ponce is a professor at Loyola University Chicago and is the university’s Distinguished Journalist in Residence. His awards include “Illinois Journalist of the Year,” the Studs Terkel Award for Journalism, and the City Club of Chicago’s Award for Excellence in Journalism.
In addition to presenting sponsor Jenner & Block, the Scholarship Competition and Gala has received major funding support from Kirkland & Ellis, Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC, and Marquette Bank. Additional support has been provided by Underwriting Sponsors Stratford and Nancy Shields.
At the event, four qualifying advanced-level students who received the highest scores during preliminary auditions, which were held on March 28 through April 17, will vie for the full-tuition William Hall Sherwood Scholarship. Second and third place winners will receive the Arthur Wildman Memorial Scholarship and the Walter and Marian Erley Memorial Scholarship, which offer partial tuition payment.
The panel of judges for the event includes Elizabeth Buccheri, assistant conductor at Lyric Opera of Chicago and senior lecturer in piano at Northwestern University, Josephine Lee, artistic director of the Chicago Children’s Choir, and Robert Katkov-Trevino, artistic director of the Millennium Chamber Players and assistant conductor of the Ohio Light Opera.
The judges will determine the top winners in the advanced-level category of the annual competition. Beginner and intermediate level students, who received top scores in the preliminary competitions for their categories, will perform in Sherwood’s Honors Recital on June 7, 2008. Advanced-level students will join them for this performance, which takes place in Sherwood’s Recital Hall, 1312 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago.
Each year approximately 25 scholarships are awarded to Sherwood students. Through Sherwood’s Tuition Support Program, no student at the school pays the full cost of tuition. Some receive additional support through Sherwood’s program of need-based financial aid.