In lieu of the traditional awards luncheon this year, the Publicists of the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) celebrated their 57-year history with a highlight reel spotlighting “Who We Are and What We Do,” and a fundraiser supporting the Local 600 Hardship Fund, raising over $60,000 in donations received from publicists, studios and awards sponsors. The Fund assists fellow industry publicists and guild members who have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and need support.
ICG Publicist Awards chairs Tim Menke and Sheryl Main shared in a joint statement, “Although we are not gathered together today at the Beverly Hilton for our Annual ICG Publicists Awards Luncheon, we have two reasons to celebrate. First, our efforts in raising money for Local 600’s Hardship Fund were successful and incredibly impactful, raising over $60,000 thus far. We are grateful for each and every donation made and are so very heartened that these contributions will go directly to our members who need it most.
“Secondly, we’ve had quite a storied history of Publicists Awards luncheons going back 57 years and are proud to celebrate ‘Who We Are and What We Do.’ We look forward to gathering in person next year, on February 25, 2022 to once again carry on our annual, festive publicist tradition.”
The Hardship Fund provides grants of up to $1,000 to Local 600 members in need, based on lost work because of the industry’s coronavirus pandemic shutdown and financial difficulty. The Fund is administered through The Actors Fund.
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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