When Courtney Celeste entered the SAG Foundation/Players Directory drawing for an engraved seat in the Foundation’s Actors Center, she had no idea she’d actually win. Yet, that’s exactly what happened, and along with her winning listing in their time-honored casting resource, the generous folks at Players Directory have made a $500 donation to the Actors Center, a tradition for the past three years.

This collaborative effort between the SAG Foundation and Players Directory is yet another way the two organizations serve actors while shining a spotlight on a career path that, for most actors, requires a tremendous amount of work and dedication, as evidenced by Courtney Celeste’s very own professional journey.

After arriving in Los Angeles five years ago, the Toledo, Ohio native has appeared in short films as well as the ABC Family series Greek, building up a resume already impressive with credits from Toledo Repertoire Theater and Ohio Theater – and all while maintaining her work at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Courtney’s listing in the Players Directory puts her in the visible, accessible company of hundreds of Oscar, Emmy and Tony award nominees and winners as well as thousands of other pro-active professional working actors, a perfect complement to the career knowledge she already receives from the non-profit SAG Foundation’s programs to assist, educate and inspire actors in career, life and community. A frequent Conversations and LifeRaft attendee, and now with a chair bearing a plaque engraved with her very own name, Courtney’s place in the Actors Center is as celebrated as the journey she travels.

At this time, twelve more seats in the Actors Center are available for naming opportunities, each ready for personalization with a tax-deductible $500 donation. Proceeds go directly to the Actors Center, the only resource center of its kind in Los Angeles where actors are able to network, use computer facilities, take workshops and attend seminars geared toward maximizing their professional potential. For more information regarding donation opportunities, please visit www.sagfoundation.org or call the SAG Foundation at (323) 549-6708.

For more information regarding the Players Directory, please visit www.playersdirectory.com  

2010 marks the 25^th anniversary of the SAG Foundation. Since 1985, our non-profit 501(c)(3) organization has celebrated the actor with programs that assist, educate and inspire actors in their careers, lives and communities.

Why do we do it? We do it because we love actors. We love the impact they have on us, whether that means taking us outside of ourselves or encouraging us to look more deeply within. There is an art to being an actor, a good one, and the work required to achieve that art is an ongoing process. As many of us here at the Foundation are actors ourselves, we know the journey is not an easy one. We know what it takes to be an actor, and we celebrate the courage, strength and discipline it takes to travel an often bumpy road.

For 25 years we have dedicated ourselves to developing and sustaining programs that honor actors in their profession as well as in daily life. From inviting established professionals to share their experiences (Conversations, LifeRaft, Casting Access Project) to preserving the actor’s livelihood in times of need (Emergency Assistance, Catastrophic Health Fund, Self-Pay Assistance) to honoring the importance of learning (John L. Dales Scholarship Fund, Children’s Literacy Initiatives), the Foundation has been there to provide support for actors as artists with the power to entertain as well as improve the world around them.

Which makes 2010 a great year for actors to celebrate the Foundation. A separate organization from the Guild, the SAG Foundation is funded entirely through grants and donations, so we’d like you to entertain this simple formula: “25 for 25.” Why not make a contribution of $25 for 25 years? Or $2,500? Or $25,000?

Whatever you bring, this party’s for you. You can click the pink “Donate Now” button on the front page of our website to make your contribution right now. You also have the options of donating whenever paying your SAG dues, donating your residuals and supporting the Foundation through Planned Giving opportunities, detailed on our website’s “Get Involved” page.

We hope you’ll continue celebrating with us… for another 25 years and beyond!

The SAG Foundation is pleased to announce a matching scholarship program in conjunction with Woodbury University in Burbank, California.  Founded in 1884, Woodbury is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California.  It offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide variety of creative, academic, and professional fields.  Its prime location in close proximity to many of the world’s top media and design firms provides exceptional opportunities for creative professionals to balance their educational and employment needs.

The SAG Foundation’s John L. Dales Scholarship Fund supports the educational aspirations of qualified Guild members and their children.  Eligible applicants may apply for either standard or transitional scholarships depending on their circumstances.  Standard scholarships are applied towards a recipient’s college education.  Transitional scholarships assist SAG members who are seeking further education for purposes of career change.

Woodbury University will match the scholarship awarded by the SAG Foundation for any student who uses that award to enroll in one of its educational programs. The number and amount of the awards are determined annually by the SAG Foundation.  Students must be admitted to Woodbury through the regular admissions process.

This innovative partnership with a regional leader in higher education offers Guild members the chance to pursue post-secondary degrees in the heart of the entertainment industry.  Courses of study include animation, architecture, business, design, politics & history, and many more.  All Woodbury students are encouraged to explore their personal vision in a supportive cross-disciplinary atmosphere that meets the highest standards of academic excellence.

The SAG Foundation was founded in 1985 with the mission of assisting, educating, and inspiring actors toward their fullest potential in career, life and community.  Both organizations are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations.   By working together, they hope to leverage their distinct advantages for the benefit of Guild members and their children who are ready to take the next step in their education.  For more information about the matching scholarship offered to SAG members, please contact Davidson Lloyd at (323) 549-6649.

While largely unseen by the masses, the professional voice-over community is quick to set a shining example of solidarity, as evidenced by the enthusiastic turnout at the SAG Foundation’s recent garden party fundraiser announcing its upcoming Don LaFontaine Voice-Over Lab, a resource facility which will add an extensive voice-over component to the Foundation’s already successful Actors Center.

Inspired by the man who not only enjoyed a legendary voice-over career spanning over four decades (including over five thousand film trailers as well as his participation in a hilariously self-reflexive GEICO television campaign) but also gave freely of his time and expertise to mentor many of today’s top voice artists, the Don LaFontaine Voice-Over Lab has, even in its planning stages, tapped a tremendous amount of interest among the leaders of its intended community.

The September 2^nd event was graciously hosted at the home of v/o heavy-hitter Joe Cipriano (Deal or No Deal, The Emmy Awards) and his wife Ann, a welcoming and well-appointed venue which easily lent itself to the demands of a charity event. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres were served in the garden by the large, shimmering swimming pool and live entertainment from Aejay’e Jackson and the Full Spectrum Band kept the mood soulful and celebratory. The pool’s clubhouse (which already does double-duty as Joe’s personal sound studio) served as an excellent display center for the numerous silent auction items generously donated by many of the party’s attendees. Among the prizes which went home to the highest bidders were round-trip tickets to Tokyo, a high-quality Neumann microphone and vintage voice-over scripts, framed and bearing Don LaFontaine’s own handwritten notes.

Over two hundred leading performers, producers, agents and well-wishers from the voice-over community attended the $150-donation-per-person event, showing their support for the livelihood of voice-over artists and the timeliness of the Don LaFontaine Voice-Over Lab. Housing a state-of-the-art sound studio with two recording booths as well as classroom space, the Lab will not only serve as a technical resource but a learning center as well, having already secured enthusiastic commitments for voice-over classes, seminars and demonstrations from many top experts in the field.

All contributions to the Lab help to continue the mission of the non-profit SAG Foundation, an organization governed separately from the Screen Actors Guild and funded solely by grants and donations, to assist, educate and inspire SAG members in their careers and to give back to the communities in which they live.

It may have been the warm and radiant Nita Whitaker LaFontaine, however, who most effectively summed up the caring spirit of the SAG Foundation event when she delivered a hauntingly beautiful rendition of one of her late husband’s favorite songs, “Alfie.”

Hearing her sing the question, Are we meant to take more than we give or are we meant to be kind?, it was clear to everyone in the hushed, rapt audience that kindness was definitely the answer.

An answer to which Don LaFontaine, would have surely, resoundingly, agreed.