The Empire Gives Back...

Blurry, but I was there, by golly! It's Billy Dee Williams,
Harrison Ford, and Peter Mayhew at the Arclight in LA!

One of the best things about having your birthday in May is you grow up thinking all those summer blockbuster movies are opening just so you can have a super cool birthday party. During my childhood, almost all those movies were made by the tinseltown twosome of Spielberg and Lucas. Jaws, ET, Indiana Jones, and, of course, the original Star Wars trilogy are all films that have become cultural benchmarks for most of us and, to say the very least, quite lucrative for their creators.

So, George Lucas is spreadin’ it around. For the rest of 2010, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the greatest (don’t start with me!) of the Star Wars oeuvre. Lucas is providing a GORGEOUS digitally restored copy of The Empire Strikes Back for screenings around the country to benefit various charities.

Last night the very worthy and appreciative beneficiary was the amazing St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. For those in the audience who were unfamiliar with their amazing work, they brought along a family who have benefited greatly from the Hospital’s $1.5 million a day spent on research costs. Daughter Elizabeth was sent home to die just after she was born, but her parents found a doctor at St. Jude’s willing to take on her case. They not only saved her life but now, 11 years later, doctors are about to perform a new type of gene therapy that could effectively cure Elizabeth. The Empire screening last night was generously sponsored by Junk Food, so 100% of the money went to the cause. $75-$175 ticket prices raised about $40,000 – nearly two minutes of research time at St. Jude’s. I like to think it will be two minutes when someone looks up from a microscope and smiles.

Elizabeth was definitely the star of the event, even though a few others were present. Like Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi)… and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and… Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and… wait for it… Harrison Ford!

After the screening, Los Angeles Times columnist Geoff Boucher hosted a Q&A with the reclusive Mr. Ford. Ford rarely attends such gatherings, but sat for a full half hour and answered questions from Boucher and the audience. In his hesitant, quiet, rumbley voice he told old stories (how he got the role while working as a carpenter for Francis Ford Coppola) and new (his kids weren’t that impressed by having Han Solo OR Indiana Jones as a dad). My favorite exchange came courtesy of a fan asking Ford when it was revealed to him that Darth Vadar was Luke’s father. “Well,” Ford stammered, “I read the whole script.” I guess BI (before Internet) keeping secrets in Hollywood didn’t require the same security it does today. Ford also made a point of saying how proud he was that George was using the film to support so many worthy causes.

It was, to say the least, a great night for this hard core Star Wars geek. There was even a goody bag! I scored cookie cutters shaped like Yoda’s head and an R2D2 toy. Happy birthday to me!

A Fine Romance

Before joining the WhatGives!? rodeo, I worked for many years in the television industry. One of the most appealing aspects of that work was the formation of a production team every time a new show began. Long hours working towards one creative goal brings people together like nothing else. For those weeks or months, you are family; sometimes dysfunctional, but a family nonetheless. And sometimes, your family needs some help. That’s where the Motion Picture & Television Fund steps in.

Ninety years ago Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith established the Motion Picture Relief Fund to assist those in the entertainment industry who had fallen on hard times. At first they just put out donation tins to collect change – a simple method that provided rent money or paid hospital bills when work was scarce. Eventually there were charity balls, movie premieres, radio shows, even benefit polo matches adding money to the Fund.

In the 1940s the vision expanded to include a retirement home and hospital for folks who had given their lives to the business of show. Since then, the MPTF has flourished and now includes six outpatient health centers throughout the greater Los Angeles area; a children's center; a retirement community, health plans and much, much more. Their mission is as straightforward as their slogan: Taking Care of Our Own.

So, they serve 60,000 people a year, helping with everything from grocery shopping to major medical bills. You can imagine the millions of dollars needed to keep this great organization running and expanding programs. But the MPTF have two aces up their sleeves. One is the tireless dedication of entertainment industry professionals who give of their time and money to support the Fund. The other is the tireless dedication of those who give of their astounding talents.

Hugh Jackman hosts "A Fine Romance" featuring performers such as Patti LuPone and James Marsden.

One night a year those two groups come together to raise a boatload of cash for their friends and co-workers. This year? Over a million dollars. As I have been for the past five years, I was part of the team that produced this year’s “A Fine Romance”. Other nonprofits might look on with envy at the star-studded roster of performers and the well-heeled audience. But the reason it all works and is so successful is due to the personal relationships that have built the MPTF. Plus, there is an undeniably personal connection between givers and receivers – to the point that those roles have been known to reverse through the course of a career. There is always the distinct feeling that “it could happen to me” – unemployment, failing health, injuries. No donor is more committed than one who recognizes himself in the face of someone being helped.

So, yeah, it helps if Hugh Jackman is your host, but it helps even more you have found a way to strengthen the connection between your cause, your mission, and your donors. If you’ve made it personal, all you need is a fun event that allows all those connected, passionate supporters to hang out together and talk shop. If you’ve made it personal, you will succeed.

So dreeeeeamy...