Time Inc.’s People and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) will come together to co-host the official SAG Awards® Post-Awards Gala, held immediately following the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles on a transformed Shrine Auditorium stage. This is the 21st year that People and EIF have united on the Gala, which honors the charitable efforts of actors in their communities and make an annual donation to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. Tony Schubert of Event Eleven will design and produce the Gala for the ninth consecutive year.
People and EIF have collaborated on a variety of causes for more than a decade. Through their combined contributions, People and EIF support three SAG-AFTRA Foundation programs over the course of 2014-2019: Storyline Online, a free, streaming digital library of children’s literacy videos; and the Catastrophic Health Fund and the Scholarship Program for SAG-AFTRA artists in need of real support.
“We are honored once again to partner with EIF to support the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and its important initiatives in the entertainment community,” says Jess Cagle, Editor in Chief, People. “People has a history of celebrating the philanthropic efforts of Hollywood and supporting those charitable initiatives on all our platforms."
“The dedication of actors who lend their powerful voices to EIF initiatives are invaluable in raising awareness and making an impact,” says EIF President and CEO Lisa Paulsen. “We are honored to work with People and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation to be able to give back to the community of actors who consistently supports EIF’s work and are committed to charitable giving.”
Storyline Online is an award-winning children’s literacy resource featuring beloved actors reading children’s literature alongside creatively produced and enhanced original illustrations. Storyline Online currently receives nearly 12 million views a month in 228 countries and territories, having read to more than 190 million children worldwide.
The Catastrophic Health Fund provides financial grants to eligible SAG-AFTRA members who suffer from catastrophic illness or injury and, no longer able to work, need assistance with insurance premiums and/or significant medical costs.
The Foundation’s Scholarship Program awards $400,000 in scholarships annually to eligible SAG-AFTRA members and their dependents to pursue higher education. In addition, People and EIF are donors to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s state-of-the-art voiceover lab in New York, named the EIF Voiceover Lab, which provides free voiceover workshops and recording time in professionally equipped sound booths to thousands of union voice actors.
As a nonprofit, all SAG-AFTRA Foundation programs and resources are made possible through gifts, grants and sponsorships from generous supporters like People and EIF.
“In 2016, our children’s literacy website Storyline Online produced and released new videos featuring actors Ed O’Neill, Christian Slater, Allison Janney and Mary Steenburgen. We look forward to releasing several more videos in 2017. This tremendous growth is a direct result of the significant grant made by People and EIF,” said Cyd Wilson, SAG-AFTRA Foundation Executive Director. “Not only do these two organizations genuinely care about advancing children’s literacy, but also at a time when working artists are struggling more than ever to find real support when times are difficult, People and EIF have been outstanding patrons of our catastrophic health and scholarship programs, helping to keep these vital resources available and alive. We rely on industry leaders like People and EIF who understand the value of art and storytelling in our culture, and who have stepped up to champion our Foundation and the artists of our industry.”
For more than 30 years, the Foundation has granted more than $18.5 million in financial and medical assistance to SAG-AFTRA members and families. In addition, the nonprofit has offered over 7,000 free educational workshops, panels and classes to SAG-AFTRA artists nationwide.
About PEOPLE
Time Inc.’s People revolutionized personality journalism when it launched as a weekly in 1974 with a mission to celebrate extraordinary people doing ordinary things and ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Ubiquitous and still at the center of pop culture more than 40 years later, the People brand is accessible across all media and platforms (print, digital, video, OTT, mobile, social) bringing more than 80 million consumers a unique mix of breaking entertainment news, exclusive photos, video, unparalleled access to the red carpet, celebrities, and in-depth reporting on the most compelling newsmakers of our time. An essential component of People’s editorial vision remains human interest stories, which touch and often mirror the lives of our passionate audience. ComScore ranks the People and Entertainment Weekly Digital Network No. 1 in the entertainment news category. And now, the People/Entertainment Weekly Network app offers a free, advertiser-supported OTT streaming video service. People is an award-winning 24/7 news organization headquartered in NYC with reporters worldwide. For more information visit People.com and Timeinc.com, and follow @people on Twitter and Instagram, @peoplemag on Facebook, and the People channel on YouTube and on Snapchat’s Discover.
About The Entertainment Industry Foundation
Founded in 1942, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) is a multifaceted organization that occupies a unique place in the world of philanthropy. By mobilizing and leveraging the powerful voice and creative talents of the entertainment industry, as well as cultivating the support of organizations (public and private) and philanthropists committed to social responsibility, EIF builds awareness and raises funds, developing and enhancing programs on the local, national and global level that facilitate positive social change. For more information, visit www.eifoundation.org.
About the SAG-AFTRA Foundation
In 2017, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation celebrates 32 years of giving back to the professionals of SAG-AFTRA, their families and communities. The Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides vital assistance and free educational programming to the professionals of SAG-AFTRA while serving the public at large through its signature children’s literacy programs. The SAG-AFTRA Foundation relies solely on support from gifts, grants and sponsorships to maintain its free programs. Visit sagaftra.foundation.
About the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®
The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® presented by SAG-AFTRA with Screen Actors Guild Awards, LLC will be produced by Avalon Harbor Entertainment, Inc. and will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017 at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). TBS and TNT subscribers can also watch the SAG Awards live through the networks' websites and mobile apps. In addition, TNT will present a primetime encore of the ceremony immediately following the live presentation. One of the awards season’s premier events, the SAG Awards® annually celebrates the outstanding motion pictures and television performances from the previous calendar year. Of the top industry honors presented to actors, only the SAG Awards are selected entirely performers’ peers in SAG-AFTRA, which this year number 121,546. The SAG Awards was the first televised awards show to acknowledge the work of union members and the first to present awards to motion picture casts and television ensembles. For more information about the SAG Awards®, SAG-AFTRA, TNT and TBS, visit sagawards.org/about.
Requests for photos and graphics for the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards should be addressed to awardsphotos@sagawards.org.
