The Entertainment Industry Foundation and PEOPLE Announce $1 Million Gift to the SAG Foundation in Celebration of the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ®

December 11, 2013

LOS ANGELES (December 11, 2013) – The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), Hollywood’s leading charity, and PEOPLE magazine will make a $1 million multi-year gift to the Screen Actors Guild Foundation in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Screen Actors Guild Awards® and to recognize the entertainment community’s charitable contributions.

For nearly two decades, EIF and PEOPLE have co-hosted the SAG Awards® Gala to commend the charitable efforts of actors in their communities. This year’s special donation from EIF and PEOPLE is in recognition of the SAG Foundation’s dedication to making a difference and the enormous amount of time and effort that actors commit to charitable endeavors.

“EIF and PEOPLE are delighted to make this gift to the SAG Foundation to express our profound gratitude for the commitment of both the Foundation and our actors to creating positive change,” says EIF President & CEO Lisa Paulsen. “We are honored to support the efforts of a community that devotes so much time and talent to helping others.”

“We are proud to partner with EIF to donate this gift to the SAG Foundation celebrating 20 years of the annual awards,” says Larry Hackett, editor of PEOPLE.  “It is an honor for us to support the actors and community who amaze us on-screen and inspire us off-screen through charitable endeavors.”

The multi-year donation from EIF and PEOPLE will support three SAG Foundation programs: Storyline Online, a video-based children’s literacy website (storylineonline.net); the Catastrophic Healthcare Fund; and the Dales Scholarship Program. Funds from the donation will also go toward the completion of the SAG Foundation’s new state-of-the-art voice-over lab (VOL) in New York, a uniquely equipped facility to educate aspiring performers interested in learning about and working in the voice-over field. The new VOL will be named “The Entertainment Industry Foundation Voice-Over Lab of the SAG Foundation.”

“The SAG Foundation is incredibly grateful to EIF and PEOPLE for their many years of support culminating in this extraordinary gift,” says SAG Foundation President JoBeth Williams. “This generous donation will allow us to expand our children’s literacy and scholarship programs in significant ways as well as create a brand new voice-over lab for New York-based performers.”

This year’s SAG Awards® Gala, hosted by EIF and PEOPLE, will be held immediately following the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ® ceremony on Saturday, January 18, 2014 which will be simulcast live from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). A primetime encore presentation will follow immediately on TNT at 10 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (PT). A live stream of the SAG Awards can also be viewed online through the TBS and TNT websites, as well as through the Watch TBS and Watch TNT apps for iOS or Android. (Viewers must sign in using their TV provider user name and password in order to view the live stream.).  The awards ceremony will be preceded by the SAG Awards® Red Carpet Pre-Show webcast which streams on sagawards.tntdrama.com, tbs.com and People.com beginning at 6 p.m. (ET) / 3 p.m. (PT).

About The Entertainment Industry Foundation

As one of the entertainment community’s leading charitable organizations for more than 70 years, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support initiatives addressing critical health, education and social issues. Visit eifoundation.org.

About PEOPLE

PEOPLE revolutionized personality journalism in 1974, and each week, the PEOPLE brand brings more than 53 million consumers the latest news, exclusive interviews and in-depth reporting on the most compelling people of our time. In addition to unparalleled access to the entertainment community, the stories of real-life “Heroes Among Us” remain an essential component of PEOPLE’s editorial approach. PEOPLE.com is the premier web destination for celebrity news, photos, style and entertainment coverage. With reporters across the globe, PEOPLE is headquartered in New York City. For more information visit www.PEOPLE.com.

About The Screen Actors Guild Foundation

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation provides vital assistance and educational programming to the professionals of SAG-AFTRA while serving the public at large through its signature children’s literacy programs. Founded in 1985, the Screen Actors Guild Foundation is a national non-profit organization, independent from SAG-AFTRA, which relies solely on support from grants, corporate sponsorships, and individuals to maintain its programs and create new ones. Visit sagfoundation.org.

CONTACT:

Andy Gelb

Slate PR

310.461.0111

andy@slate-pr.com