The entertainment industry turned out in force last
night in support of Motion Picture & Television Fund's (MPTF) third
annual "Reel Stories, Real Lives" event, a unique evening of powerful
readings which told the stories of industry members and their families
who have benefitted from MPTF's services in recent years. The event,
held at Milk Studios, was hosted by
Will Arnett and featured video remarks from
Mark Wahlberg and readings by renowned
Hollywood actors including
Casey Affleck, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Andy Samberg, and Taylor Schilling,
Each story was written by some of
Hollywood's leading feature and television writers including
Scott Cooper, M.A. Fortin & Joshua Miller, Michael Green, Karey Kirkpatrick & Steve Hickner & Billy Ray, and John Krasinski.
This year's show also included a special tribute to volunteering at
MPTF by the very creative Funny or Die production team starring Beth Grant and Frances Fisher.
MPTF President and CEO
Bob Beitcher said, "My love affair with MPTF began 12 years ago at an event just like tonight's 'Reel Stories' hosted by
Kevin Spacey. Witnessing
Hollywood's
finest tell the amazing stories of how MPTF takes care of industry
members in their time of need made me proud to be part of the
entertainment community, led me to step up my financial contributions to
MPTF, and screamed to me 'get involved.' And thankfully I did!"
The evening drew approximately 450 industry leaders, and celebrity guests including
Casey Affleck,
Will Arnett,
Frances Fischer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Beth Grant, Anne Hathaway, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Brie Larson, Samantha Mathis, Dawn Olivieri, Sasha Pieterse, Andy Samberg, Taylor Schilling and more.
The event, which was produced by
Guymon Casady,
Bill Gerber, Kevin McCormick,
Karen Rosenfelt, Greg Sills, Courtenay Valenti,and Warren Zavala also featured a special exhibit,
The Music Within: Celebrating the Wonderful World of Album Art Cover Design, including worksby John Cage,
Jo Ann Callis,
Bruce Davidson,
Henry Kiltz,
William Eggleston,
Raymond Pettibon,
Norman Seeff,
Alex Steinweiss,
Andy Warhol, Hipgnosis, and more.
"There is no better way to introduce the next generation of
Hollywood
to the importance of MPTF to this industry than the creative talent
brought together to tell the stories of the people helped by this
charity," said
Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chairman of the MPTF Foundation. "My thanks to
Will Arnett
for hosting and to the talented actors and writers who are giving so
generously of their talent to bring to life the mission of caring for
our own in these compassionate real-life stories."
CEO of MPTF Foundation Ken Scherer said, "MPTF Foundation is truly
fortunate to have the force of nature that has become what we
affectionately call Team Valenti – my thanks to
Guymon Casady,
Bill Gerber,
Karen Rosenfelt,
Kevin McCormick,
Greg Sills,
Courtenay Valenti, and
Warren Zavala
– for channeling their individual passion into creating this event that
has built awareness and motivated engagement with the next generation
of
Hollywood. And out of this event has emerged a new Next Gen group under the leadership of
Natalie Bruss and
Zachary Browning," Scherer concluded.
The evening was generously sponsored by UCLA Health, Delta Air Lines, and
The Hollywood Reporter.
