Popular Movie Event Launches Community Partnership With Columbia 2/23

In 2011, the Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance (PDNA) continues it's long running movie series, Meet Me at the Movies, with two big announcements. A new partnership with the Colombia College Chicago, Film and Video Department and a new PDNA Scholarship which will direct movie event proceeds towards Sherwood Community Music School to benefit students of merit in need of financial assistance. "We are thrilled to be able to offer a scholarship to Sherwood which will benefit music students," said Jackie Walker, PDNA Board member. "We are not just a social organization, but a socially conscious organization," she said.

Meet Me at the Movies, sponsored by the Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance, is an established and popular community event which provides a culturally rich experience and social atmosphere for South Loop residents, neighbors and friends to share and discuss movies. After the film is screened at Sherwood Community Music School, our distinguished moderator - local film expert - professor, will lead a discussion about the movie with attendees directly in the theater. "I am excited and honored to be selected as host for the PDNA's Meet Me at the Movies program," said Jeffrey Smith, adjunct faculty member at Columbia's Film Dept. "I am looking forward to sharing my love for the movies with the community," he said.

Movie Event Details:
"High Society" (1956) is deluxe musical entertainment as only MGM could produce. The movie will be screened on Wednesday, February 23 starting at 6:30pm. Screening location, Sherwood Theater, located at 1312 S. Michigan Ave in Chicago. Movie tickets are $5 per person. Proceeds benefit PDNA Sherwood Community Music School Scholarship. RSVP: www.pdnachicago.com - Walk-ups Welcome
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About the Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance
The Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance is a community organization whose mission is to build a sense of community and to promote The Common good and social welfare for the Near South and South Loop area in Chicago. Also, to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood's historic character and educate the public about its history. Further, to address issues of the neighborhood and provide it with an effective and transparent communication link with city municipal and government officials, developers, businesses and other influential groups, and to empower the community to work together in improving the neighborhood with the objective of fostering a collective, respectful and unified voice that translates into a powerful and influential force for improving and maintaining the community.

About PDNA Meet Me at the Movies Host
JEFFREY JON SMITH is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter, a member of the adjunct faculty at Columbia College Chicago, and a graduate of Columbia's M. F. A. program in Film and Video. He is a forty-year veteran of Chicago regional theater, as an actor, director and playwright, and in 2000, he left his day job at Amtrak (after 25 years) to enter the Graduate Film Program at Columbia College. His thesis film The Miracle has been an official selection at 95 international film festivals, and won 32 awards, including a CINE Golden Eagle. The DVD of the film will be released in Spring 2011. He recently directed the film's star, Chicago actress Tekki Lomnicki, in her newest performance piece, Mr. Sandman, which was staged last year at Prop Thtr and Live Bait, and was re-staged at Victory Gardens Theater in January 2011. At Columbia, where he teaches directing, screenwriting and cinema studies, he recently taught a class devoted to Blake Edwards' Breakfast at Tiffany's and another focused on the life and career of Bette Davis. Jeffrey also teaches film classes at Facets Multimedia and is a facilitator for a private film club in Chicago.

About Columbia College Chicago, Film and Video Department
The Film & Video Department at Columbia College Chicago cultivates artists with a unique vision and the desire to express that vision on film. At the same time, we develop the technical skills that support this creative passion. Believing that the best way to learn filmmaking is to make films, we stress collaborative film and video production: classes are taught through a project-based, hands-on, student-centered process. Our diverse student body, imaginative faculty and state of the art facilities combine to develop the creative, conceptual, and technical skills needed to become a working film or video professional

About Sherwood Community Music School, at Columbia College Chicago
Sherwood Community Music School is an urban center for comprehensive community music education. A member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, Sherwood trains gifted young musicians who anticipate careers in music, beginning and amateur musicians of all ages, preschool children and parents, and professional musicians and music educators seeking continuing education.