Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) will host a special open house and ribbon cutting of its new Design Media Production Technology (DMPT) production studio and Mac lab on Thursday, July 24.

GPTC President Dr. Jabari Simama and Georgia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Chris Clark will be in attendance, as well as elected officials and industry representatives. Teddy Riley, internationally renowned Grammy Award winning producer, writer and musician will also be present among other big names. Other industry leaders will be from the television, music, movie production, radio and animation industries.

GPTC is working with the chamber to host events like this and build new programs in dynamic industries such as film production, editing and sound and music production.

Georgia's film and entertainment industry has been growing by leaps and bounds.

"That's part of what prompted the development of this program - the need for a trained work force in the television and film industry," said Cory Thompson, Director of Programming at GPTC. "It's an exciting industry. It's and exciting program."

There are two academic tracks - recording arts technology, which focuses on music production and mixing, and design and media industry, which focuses on graphic effects, web interface, 3-D animation, television and film production and more.

Students can still enroll in the programs for the fall semester, said thompson.

"Dr. Simama is very honored that the chamber sees the significance of offering courses like this," said Zaundra Brown, GPTC director of public relations and information.

"They get interns that are students in our programs that are ready to work. Upon graduation hopefully these companies will be offering them jobs."

GPTC will also highlight student achievements at the event, which will be held from 4-6 p.m. at the GPTC Conference Center on its DeKalb campus.

Refreshments will be available.

Please RSVP by Friday, July 18 to Carmen Lewis at lewisc@gptc.edu or (404) 297-9522, ext. 1281.