The Academy of Cinema and Television Announces Collaboration with Riley Smith

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The Academy of Cinema and Television Announces Collaboration with Riley Smith

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The Academy of Cinema and Television (A.C.T.) announced today a collaboration
with Riley Smith to create an online specialized educational series for kids and
teens interested in the Entertainment Industry.

Under this collaboration, which is the first in the series to be announced
worldwide, the Academy of Cinema and Television will launch a series of Question
& Answer training sessions that will initially include an Internet Q&A
featuring Riley Smith.

Like many of today's success stories out of
Hollywood, Riley Smith was born and raised in a community far from the lights,
glamour and soundstages of Hollywood. The majority of Smith's youth was not
spent at acting and dancing classes, but doing farm chores, tending to farm
animals and going to school. Smith was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was
exposed to horses at an early age due to his parents' horse ranch. At the age of
16, he won an American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Championship Title.
He went on to serve as the Corresponding Vice President, and then President, of
this association from 1995 to 1997. Smith had no idea, at the time, how well
these experiences would serve him in an entertainment career.

In his
senior year of high school, he was discovered by a talent scout in a local mall,
and went on to New York City to compete at an International Modeling and Talent
Association (IMTA) convention. (In January of 2008 over 60 students from the
Academy of Cinema and Television competed at the Los Angeles IMTA convention and
several were signed by talent agencies.)

Smith's experience at the IMTA
convention led him to be selected for a Tommy Hilfiger modeling campaign, but he
also was spotted by a LA agent Abby Bluestone, at Innovative Artist. Smith
remains a top talent at Innovative Artist today, as Riley used the money he
earned from the Tommy Hilfiger campaign to pay for acting classes. Only three
months into class and in the middle of a successful run in modeling, Riley was
flown to Los Angeles, for a screen test for the 1998 WB pilot "Minor
Threat".

"Minor Threat" was not picked up, but the set-back did not stop
him. After "Minor Threat" he went on to appear in no less than five prime time
network pilots, more than a dozen guest-starring roles, and a number of series
("Freaks and Geeks," "Raising Dad, 24," "Joan of Arcadia," "Drive"). Movies
Smith has appeared in include: "Motocrossed," " Not Another Teen Movie," "
Eight-Legged Freaks," "Barely Legal," "Radio," "Weapons," and "White Air."

Like all students selected for acceptance to the Academy of Cinema and
Television, Smith is loaded with natural talent. He is also a songwriter and
guitarist, and will soon be releasing an album of original
material.

Smith is a perfect match for the Academy's new online Q&A
educational series. According to Academy Director Jack White, the new Q&A
series idea came about because the school wants to let kids, teens and their
parents know that entering the world of entertainment is possible if the raw
talent is in place. "We wanted to show both students and non-students that
making it in the entertainment industry is doable."

The success of rising stars like Riley Smith is the proof.

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About the Academy of Cinema and Television
A.C.T. is a private institution
with cutting edge training centers that have revolutionized performance
education in on-camera acting, modeling, singing and dancing. A.C.T. is
constantly evolving to meet new technologies, new formats, and new approaches to
on-camera training. The selection process at the Phoenix-based school is by
invitation only. The academy concentrates on preparing a select group of
talented young people to enter the entertainment industry. Class size is kept
small to optimize the learning environment. This new online educational Q&A
series will make it possible for students and parents to learn from Hollywood's
most popular rising stars and obtain an insight into the inner workings of the
industry.