Studio Movie Grill (“SMG”) made a surprise announcement this past week that Big Thought’s Lisa Schmidt would be the recipient of their 2018 Opening Hearts & Minds Award on June 14. The news was revealed following one of Big Thought’s special screenings of A WRINKLE IN TIME facilitated by Schmidt for underserved schools, hosted and sponsored by Studio Movie Grlll.

SMG’s Lynne McQuaker announces Lisa Schmidt as OHAM honoree (Photo courtesy of SMG)

The award presentation will be held on June 14^th at SMG NorthWest Highway prior to a special screening of a highly anticipated film at SMG, complete with red carpet entrances and celebrity appearances in support of the event celebrating Schmidt’s 30 years as an impactful educator and her tireless work with Big Thought  to further social-emotional learning with children and adults.

“The SMG team is honored to celebrate Lisa Schmidt and her inspirational work with Big Thought.  Our mission is to open hearts and minds, one story at a time and we experienced first-hand the impact that was made when we hosted over 13,000 students for special screenings of WONDER, many of which were facilitated by Lisa and the Big Thought team. Movies can be impactful and serve to connect us all and Lisa Schmidt’s work underlines the power of film to educate and enlighten. We look forward to continuing to work together and to a tremendous event in June to celebrate this incredible local hero’s life’s work,” shared Studio Movie Grlll Founder/CEO Brian Schultz.

Big Thought’s Lisa Schmidt and family (L to R: Kelly Cotton, Michael Cotton, Mei Cotton) (Photo courtesy of SMG)

Educator Lisa Schmidt founded and is project director of Creative Solutions, a Big Thought partnership with the Dallas County Juvenile Department and Southern Methodist University, that provides job and life skills training for teens and disadvantaged adults. Studio Movie Grill has worked with Schmidt and Big Thought, hosting and sponsoring multiple impactful screenings to support those programs (with films like WONDER WOMAN, WONDER, and A WRINKLE IN TIME. This is one of many programs that SMG undertakes to support the communities in which is finds itself – and one which the theater chain has ambitions to introduce to all its communities to benefit its constituents across the country.

2018 will mark the third Opening Hearts & Minds Award presentation at Studio Movie Grill. Last year, timed to the release of WONDER WOMAN, SMG chose a real life woman superhero nominated by its local communities in each of its markets including Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/FortWorth, Houston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Rocklin/Sacramento, Scottsdale/Phoenix, Simi Valley/Los Angeles and Tampa. Those 12 women were then flown to Dallas, given a red-carpet welcome and presented with donations to their organizations and causes, as well as an Opening Hearts and Minds Award 2017.

SMG attracts more than 11 million patrons annually and hosts thousands of corporate and special events. A leader among businesses in the arena of conscious business initiatives, and with a company-wide mission to open hearts and minds, one story at a time, SMG works tirelessly with the communities surrounding their theaters to better the lives of their guests. This includes a number of varied charitable initiatives, its 15-year-old legacy special needs screening program, Chefs for Children, funding charitable projects, community building and outreach initiatives, and supporting additional fundraising events and film festivals.

More information can be found at https://www.studiomoviegrill.com/