The SAG-AFTRA Foundation announced today it will bestow its Patron of the Artists Awards to celebrated director/writer/producer Judd Apatow, Academy Award-winning director/producer Kathryn Bigelow, and visionary Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.
The award honors industry leaders who are champions of the arts and whose history of fostering creativity and creating opportunities for actors has made a positive impact on the acting profession and the performing arts. The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s celebration takes place Thursday, November 9 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
“We are excited to pay tribute to three extraordinary people whose creative impact on the performing arts has produced ground-breaking opportunities for a world-wide community of artists,” said SAG-AFTRA Foundation President JoBeth Williams. “As a director, writer and producer, Judd Apatow is known for discovering and nurturing some of the most beloved comedic actors and actresses on television and in film. Kathryn Bigelow is a trailblazing director and producer whose risk-taking gambles on unknown talent have expanded the careers of many artists both in front of and behind the camera. Ted Sarandos is an innovator whose executive leadership has created and supported tens of thousands of industry jobs. Judd, Kathryn, and Ted are the epitome of what it means to be patrons of artists and we are proud to honor them.”
Previous recipients of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Patron of the Artists Awards are director/writer/producer Lee Daniels, producer Megan Ellison, and director/producer Rob Marshall. The Patron of the Artists Awards event includes musical performances with ticket sales benefitting the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. In the coming weeks, the honorees for the non-profit’s Actors Inspiration Award, event performers and presenters will be announced. Sponsors include United Airlines and Variety. To purchase tickets and for more information, please visit www.sagaftra.foundation/patronawards.
Since 1985, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation has granted more than $18.5 million in financial and medical assistance including $7.5 million in scholarships to SAG-AFTRA artists and their dependents. In addition, the Foundation has offered 7,200 free educational workshops, panels and screenings to union performers nationwide and its children’s literacy programs have brought the love of reading to more than 300 million children worldwide.
In 2017, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation celebrates 32 years of giving back to the professionals of SAG-AFTRA, their families and communities. The Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization that provides vital assistance and free educational programming to the professionals of SAG-AFTRA while serving the public at large through its signature children’s literacy programs. The Foundation relies solely on support from gifts, grants and sponsorships to maintain its free programs.
