In lieu of the traditional awards luncheon this year, the Publicists of the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) will shine a spotlight on the Local 600 Hardship Fund. The Fund assists fellow industry publicists and guild members who have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and need support. The announcement was made by ICG Publicist Awards Chair Tim Menke and Co-Chair Sheryl Main.
Said Menke and Main in a joint statement: “We believe that all publicists deserve accolades this year for adapting and accomplishing publicity during these unprecedented times. However, in place of our traditional awards ceremony, our fellow publicists expressed their desire to help the ICG’s most vulnerable working families experiencing hardship due to the pandemic. As our members continue to struggle with health and economic uncertainty, it was an overwhelming choice to make the ICG Hardship Fund our 2021 community goal in lieu of this year’s awards and help assuage the painful realities of our friends and colleagues who have lost their jobs.”
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, financial difficulty and good standing. The Fund is administered through The Actors Fund.
About THE ICG PUBLICISTS: Entertainment publicists first formed a union in 1937 as the Screen Publicists Guild, later becoming the Publicists Guild. In 2002, the Publicists Guild merged with the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600). The first Publicists Awards Luncheon was held in 1964 and has since grown to an event attended annually by around 800 publicists, press, motion picture and television industry leaders, and other IATSE leaders. Motion Picture and Television Showmanship Awards and Lifetime Achievement Awards have been bestowed upon numerous esteemed actors, directors and executives. Additional awards include the Maxwell Weinberg Awards for a Television Publicity Campaign and for a Motion Picture Publicity Campaign, Les Mason Award for Career Achievement in Publicity, and the Bob Yeager Award for Community Service. The Guild also publishes an ICG Publicists Directory. For more information about the ICG Publicists Awards, visit: www.icg600.com/ABOUT-US/Awards/Publicists-Awards #PublicistsAwards
ABOUTbout THE INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHERS GUILD (ICG) IATSE Local 600: The International Cinematographers Guild represents approximately 9,000 members who work in film, television and commercials as directors of photography, camera operators, digital imaging technicians, visual effects supervisors, still photographers, camera assistants, film loaders, all members of camera crews and publicists. The first cinematographers’ union was established in New York in 1926, followed by unions in Los Angeles and Chicago, but it wasn’t until 1996 that Local 600 was born as a national guild. ICG’s ongoing activities include the Emerging Cinematographer Awards and the Publicists Awards Luncheon. The Guild also publishes the award-winning ICG Magazine.
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