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Media Release
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Cast and Crew of Fox TV's "24" and CBC TV's "The Border" Raise $30,000 to Help Charity Weather Record Demand for Aid from Film & TV Workers
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For Immediate Release: February 19, 2008
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TORONTO - The Actors' Fund of Canada and the Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance (MPICA) announce a $30,000 donation to the Actors' Fund from the 10th annual "Lights, Camera, Auction" fundraiser held in Los Angeles in October 2007. The Actors' Fund was one of two charities to benefit from the event and celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2008.
The Actors' Fund is the lifeline for Canada's entertainment industry. It provides short-term emergency financial aid to professionals performing or working behind the scenes in film & television, theatre, music or dance.
Jon Cassar, Emmy Award winning Executive Producer/Director of Fox Television's "24" and Nigel Bennett, Gemini-winning actor featured in the CBC TV series "The Border" are the founders of MPICA. The auction featured celebrities and memorabilia from many of TV's hottest shows and included special guests such as "24" cast members Carlo Rota, Roger Cross, Jean Smart, Paul Blackthorne, Paul Schulze and "24" Executive Producers Howard Gordon and Joel Surnow.
Cassar coments on MPICA's support for the Fund: "We at MPICA are happy to contribute to the Actors' Fund of Canada, especially on this their 50th anniversary. For fifty years the Fund has changed lives and helped those who are in need. It is with great honor and respect that we call our organization a friend of the Actors' Fund."
Adds Bennett: "As a professional performer, I know only too well the ups and downs of our business. Just when it seems there is no way out of a desperate situation, Actors' Fund is ready and willing to lend a hand. The contribution from MPICA is our way of saying "Thank you", to this great organization and of recognizing how essential it is that the Fund is able to continue its work."
Left: Jon Cassar / Right: Nigel Bennett
The Actors' Fund provided $382,500 in rent and mortgage payments, grocery money, utility payments and other emergency aid to workers in the film & television sector alone in 2006-07 - help that made the difference between survival and destitution for those workers and their families devastated by the financial consequences of serious illness, injury or sudden unemployment. The Fund faces a record high demand for financial aid this year. Executive Director David Hope expects its annual payout for all entertainment industry workers to top half a million dollars by its March 31 fiscal year-end. Says Hope, "The writers' strike is over, but the fallout for Canadian entertainment workers continues. MPICA's support is especially welcome now, not just due to current industry conditions, but also as a testament to the valuable work the Fund has done over the past fifty years."
The Actors' Fund of Canada is a registered charity, receives no government funding and is wholly sustained by support from individuals and entertainment industry organizations. Performers, creators, technical staff and other production team members can apply for help from the Fund, which regularly delivers over $400,000 in assistance to clients annually and has provided over $3 million in emergency financial aid in the last 10 years.
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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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