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Media Release
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Fundraiser at MTC 50th Anniversary Homecoming Dinner makes for
extraordinary year of support for Canadian artists' health and welfare
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For Immediate Release: May 9, 2008
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WINNIPEG - For the third time in 2008, Manitoba Theatre Centre is investing in the health and welfare of Canada's performing arts community through a fundraiser for the Actors' Fund of Canada, this time by raising money for the Fund through ticket sales for its 50th anniversary Homecoming Dinner on Sunday May 11. Earlier this year, MTC included a benefit reading of David Mamet's Oleanna in the 2008 edition of its Master Playwright Festival and staged a benefit performance of Satchmo Suite at the MTC Warehouse. The events netted a combined total of over $4,300 for the Fund.
The Actors' Fund is the lifeline for Canada's entertainment industry and marks 50 years of service to entertainment industry members in 2008. Performers and those working behind the scenes in theatre, film & TV, music and dance can apply for emergency financial aid from the Fund, which recently set a new record for the amount of financial aid delivered to the performing arts community in a single year, topping half a million dollars in the 12-month period that ended on March 31. The Fund has helped over 10,000 entertainment industry workers recover from illness, injury or other circumstances causing severe economic and personal hardship since it was founded in 1958.
MTC General Manager Zaz Bajon is a passionate advocate for the Fund, saying: "The Actors' Fund of Canada is of incalculable benefit to people working in the entertainment industry. Our profession is not like many others. The nature of our business is that most artists are independent, working from contract to contract, sometimes with weeks or months between engagements. As freelancers, they have little access to benefits that many other people take for granted to tide them over if they get sick, are injured or temporarily unemployed.
If we believe the work our artists and cultural workers do is valuable to Canada, then we in the arts owe it to ourselves and our colleagues to make sure that those who are experiencing financial difficulties due to circumstances beyond their control have somewhere to turn. Let's remember that the circumstances that make the Actors' Fund such a necessary resource for a colleague in crisis could happen to any one of us, at any time. Of course there are many worthwhile charities that deserve to be supported but as practitioners in the arts, we should remember that the Actors' Fund is our own."
Adds Actors' Fund Executive Director David Hope, "Like a 'triple threat' performer who can sing, dance and act, MTC is really outstanding. This year they are supporting the Actors' Fund with three fundraising events - each one unique and all greatly appreciated by all of us here at the Fund. It is extremely generous of MTC to use the occasion of its 50th anniversary to give a gift to us as we celebrate our 50th. When you add the fact that MTC regularly makes a donation to the Fund on the opening night of its productions and encourages artists performing in those productions to donate also, it's hard to think of anything more they could do to show their commitment to this cause."
The Actors' Fund of Canada is a registered charity that has provided over $3.5 million in rent payments, grocery money, utility payments and other basic living expenses in the last 10 years. Performers, creators, technical staff and other production team members can benefit from the Fund, which receives no government funding and is wholly sustained by support from individuals and entertainment industry organizations.
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CONTACT:
David Hope, The Actors' Fund of Canada
Phone: 1-877-399-8392
E-mail: contact@actorsfund.ca
Web site: www.actorsfund.ca
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©2010 The Actors' Fund of Canada - 1000 Yonge Street, Suite 301 Toronto, ON M4W 2K2
contact@actorsfund.ca / Tel: 416.975.0304 / Toll-Free: 1.877.399.8392 / Fax: 416.975.0306
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