LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The excitement and glamour of Hollywood are coming to Los Angeles residents on Oscar night. The Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) announced today that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS(r)) selected the institution to host the only Academy-sanctioned community charity event in the city of Los Angeles on Sunday, February 24, 2008. The gala will benefit the University's extensive HIV/AIDS research and community outreach programs.
Guests will experience the thrills and surprises of the 80th Academy Awards through the University's Oscar Night(r) live viewing gala to be held at the historic Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. The Oscar ceremonies will be televised by the ABC Television Network.
Beating out 47 other non-profit Los Angeles organizations, the University is in pre-production mode as they prepare to host this glamorous black-tie Oscar viewing party. "Oscar Night(r) America parties give communities across the country the opportunity to both share in the excitement of Oscar Night(r) and support worthy causes," said Academy Executive Director Bruce Davis. "And it's terrific that a worldwide television event can help benefit so many charities on a local level."
Charles Drew University was selected as the Academy's Los Angeles non-profit organization to benefit from Oscar Night(r) America because of its outstanding HIV/AIDS response activities which include groundbreaking research, clinical services and treatment, education, in-home nursing, six University bloodmobiles that provide free HIV antibody and immune assessment screenings, counseling and referral services. The University's HIV/AIDS services also extend far beyond South Los Angeles -- into some of the poorest regions of the globe -- providing clinical and technical services in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America and Mexico.
"We are honored to have this opportunity to raise awareness about our HIV/AIDS research and programs. Already, these programs have saved thousands of lives in South Los Angeles and around the globe," said Dr. Susan Kelly, Charles Drew University President and CEO. "The University has a proud tradition of responding in an effective and sustained way to the HIV/AIDS crisis, dating back to the earliest years of the epidemic."
"For us, it is a remarkable opportunity to close the 11-mile gap that separates South Los Angeles and Hollywood," said Elizabeth Garcia, CDU Executive Vice President for Operations and event chairperson. "With the Academy Awards focusing so much on HIV/AIDS issues globally, it is timely and important that the Academy is shining the spotlight on its own back yard."
Oscar Night(r) America Los Angeles will communicate the advances in the fight against HIV/AIDS that are being made in South Los Angeles and worldwide. "At Charles Drew University, we truly walk the talk when it comes to HIV/AIDS, and we do it regardless of race or economic status," said Dr. Kelly.
The University, in association with Americua Films, is producing a major Gala and Viewing Party which kicks-off with celebrities walking down the Red Carpet. Event highlights include:
* 5-Star delectable food kiosks and champagne fountain * 1930s and 1940s Golden Cinema Era theme motif * Silent Auction -- featuring celebrity gowns and accessories * Erte designs of the 1930s modeled in a Pre-Oscars Fashion Exhibition and fashion show featuring local designers (silent bids for designer couture) * Ballroom dancing exhibitions (Dancing With The Stars pizzazz) * Live viewing of 80th Annual Academy Awards (giant screens throughout the venue) * Chocolate Tequila Cafe * Cigar Aficionado Magazine -- sponsored Cigar Lounge * And, a rocking after-party to dance the night away
Veteran actor/director Miguel Najera, President of Americua Films and the event's executive producer is creating an Oscar party with the same quality of entertainment and ambiance that unite the community and Hollywood elite to celebrate the film industry's most important night. "Of all the events I have been honored to produce, Oscar Night(r) America for Charles Drew University is by far the most important because the monies raised go to support people with HIV/AIDS and for research on a cure for this dreadful disease that has taken so many lives of people associated with the film industry," said Najera. "The theme of the evening being the 1930s seems apropos to remind everyone of the beginning of Hollywood cinema and pays tribute to those we have lost."
Greeted with flutes of champagne, guests will be transported back to the 1930s and 40s with a setting created by award-winning designer Irene Fredericks. "It's going to be a night full of excitement, romance, fun and glamour. Guests will be surrounded by the glitz of old Hollywood, reminiscent of the old Coconut Grove Lounge motif, complete with our 1930s Casablanca-style Cigar Lounge," said Fredericks.
"The 2007 ONA party was a beautiful and worthy event, and one, we are proud to be a part of the 2008 party," said Diane G. Medina, V.P., Diversity and Community Relations, KABC-TV, and the event's premier media sponsor.
For more information and ticket purchase, visit www.cdrewu.edu/ONA-LA. Or email eliaesparza@cdrewu.edu. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Pam Marcello at pmarcello@mocoproductions.com.
About ONA Program
Oscar Night(r) America (ONA) is sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' grassroots program that enables charities to host glamorous Oscar viewing parties. Since its inception in 1994, ONA has generated over $20.4 million in funding for a wide spectrum of charitable organizations -- every cent staying within the community where it was raised. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center(r), and televised live by the ABC Television Networking beginning at 5 p.m. (PT).
About Charles Drew University
CDU is a private nonprofit, nonsectarian, minority-serving medical and health science institution chartered in 1966 located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles. The University has provided quality college, graduate and post-graduate education and training to thousands of qualified minority and other students for more than 35 years. As part of its mission, the University has also provided urgently needed healthcare services to chronically underserved residents of the poorest communities in Los Angeles County, serving the 1.7 million citizens in its 94-square-mile service area. If this service area were a municipality, it would be the fifth largest city in the U.S. The University has been remarkably successful in achieving its primary goal of producing physicians and other healthcare professionals who return to the community to serve people who are uninsured or underinsured. It has graduated over 500 medical doctors, 2,500 physician specialists, 2,000 physician assistants and hundreds of other health professionals. The Charles Drew University's unique environment of providing medical education has been lauded as a national model. Research shows both that its students become more committed to the mission as they progress through their medical education and that 10 years after graduation, 70% of Charles Drew University trained physicians are still working with underserved populations.