MPTF’s ‘Lights, Camera, Take Action!’ Telethon To Help Crew Members In Need – Watch Live
The Motion Picture Television Fund telethon Lights, Camera, Take Action! returns for its third edition Sunday, airing live in Los Angeles on KTLA-Channel 5 from 7-9 p.m. PT.
Yvette Nicole Brown and Tom Bergeron return to co-host the event, overseeing an evening of stories, songs and celebrity appearances to help raise funds for Hollywood crew workers in need. Also returning this year are producers Phil Rosenthal (Somebody Feed Phil) and writer-critic-producer David Wild.
In addition to KTLA, you can watch the telethon livestream on Deadline above.
The MPTF telethon’s first year raised more than $850,000 and scored an L.A. Area Emmy nomination. Last year, the show raised $750,000 at a time when workers were impacted by the summer-long WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Organizers have set a $750,000 goal for tonight’s event, which will feature KTLA’s Dayna Devon as host of the live Celebrity Lounge, and Tiffany Smith hosting the tote board. Click here to donate.
Others expected to answer phones and make appearances tonight include, per the MPTF, Adam Shapiro, Alex Winter, Camilla Belle, the cast of The Neighborhood, Cedric the Entertainer, Clark Gregg, Colin Farrell, Cooper Koch, Diane Schuur, Ellen K, Emily Hampshire, Henry Winkler, Ike Barinholtz, Jay Ellis, Jeff Torres, Jimmy Jam, Jimmy Kimmel, Jonathan Nolan, Josh Margolin, Keegan-Michael and Elle Key, Ken Jeong, Kyle Bornheimer, Lisa Loeb, Maria Russell, Max Greenfield, McG, Melissa Gilbert, Morgan Freeman, Howie Mandel, Rob Morrow, Spencer Garrett, Tony Goldwyn, Virginia Madsen, Walton Goggins, Whoopi Goldberg, Will Forte and William Shatner, with more expected.
“Our organization’s founder, Mary Pickford, recognized at the very inception of the film industry in Hollywood that for most of the workforce employment would be unpredictable and that successful careers would be difficult to carve out,” MPTF CEO and president Bob Beitcher said. “These past few years, with the pandemic and then the strike-related work stoppages, have not only demonstrated Mary’s insight but also highlighted the need for an organization like MPTF that ‘takes care of our own’ in times of financial crisis.”
