How I Go Columbia: Nickelodeon’s Andy Smith

Columbia native Andy Smith joined the staff of Columbia’s Nickelodeon Theatre in 2007 after receiving his master’s degree from UCLA in film, television and digital media.

That same year, Smith founded the Indie Grits Film Festival – an annual festival held in April that showcases the Southeast’s best low-budget DIY film-making, music, art, puppetry and food.

Smith currently serves on the board of the Art House Convergence and the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. In August, he announced a bid to run for Columbia City Council. Andy lives with his wife, artist Kimi Maeda, in Earlewood with their dog, Dziga, and their cats, Sergei and Benke.

Founded in 1979 by Carl Davis and Linda O’Connor, The Nickelodeon moved to its new home in the former Fox Theatre at 1607 Main St. in August 2012. This month at The Nick, don’t miss films such as “Walk in the Woods,” “Mistress America” and “Do I Sound Gay?” For a full schedule of events, visit www.nickelodeon.org.

Here, Andy Smith talks about his Columbia.

EAT: One of my favorite places to eat is Terra. Mike Davis does a terrific job there. The menu is always changing based on the season, so you always know you’re getting fresh produce and interestingly sourcedd proteins from around the area. And the seafood there is always incredible.

We also enjoy going to Bourbon on Main Street. I can walk there from work. It’s a great place for happy hour and another great place to grab a bite before or after a show at The Nick.

El Burrito at Five Points has always been a special place. It’s just got a great feel to it. They do a great job with fairly simple ingredients making them taste really great.

DRINK: Most mornings, I’m at Drip on Main Street getting some coffee. I always get the medium house.

After work, we love going to The Whig on Main Street. It’s a very special place where you get to see so many different kinds of people, and they’ve been a critical anchor on Main Street for the revitalization of the neighborhood.

I also love going to Hunter-Gatherer (Brewery & Ale House) on South Main Street. It’s where you inevitably run into tons of people from all over town. I’m also very exciting about the opening of Crouch Distilling.

LISTEN: I find myself at Conundrum (Music Hall) a lot. The last show I saw there was The Prairie Willows. My wife Kimi performed a piece with them, which was really interesting. She did a visual accompaniment to one of their songs. Also New Brookland Tavern, depending on who is playing. For Indie Grits, we like to find untraditional venues to put bands in, so we’ve had bands play everywhere from the (Columbia) Museum of Art to some sort-of-hidden back parking lots and other interesting places around town.

PLAY: We walk the Riverwalk a lot. Being on the river is always very relaxing, and in the middle of summer, it always seems much cooler down there. We also enjoy going to the Art Museum and 701 CCA. The Soda City Market on Saturday mornings is incredible. It’s grown so much over the last couple of years; it’s developed a really strong sense of community.

SEE: Of course The Nick always has a wide variety of films, so I take full advantage of that and try to watch as much as I can. My wife being in theater means we’re often going to Trustus or to USC to watch their productions.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 6:22 AM with the headline "How I Go Columbia: Nickelodeon’s Andy Smith."