Television's Biggest Stars Celebrate 8th Annual "Evening Before" Benefitting Motion Picture & Television Fund

CENTURY CITY, Calif., Aug. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Many of television's biggest stars came out to Century Park, CA on Sunday night to celebrate the Eighth Annual "Evening Before" event, which benefitted MPTF (Motion Picture & Television Fund).  Host Committee members including Kerry Washington, Jennifer Westfeldt & Jon Hamm, Lena Dunham, Halle Berry & Olivier Martinez, and Robin Dearden & Bryan Cranston, were joined by some of the brightest names in Hollywood for the weekend's most esteemed pre-Emmy Awards celebration. 

The television industry, from Emmy presenters and nominees, to other TV industry members, helped raise funds to support their industry colleagues and friends who benefit from MPTF's charitable programs and services such as financial assistance, crisis counseling, care giving support and of course the legendary retirement facility in Woodland Hills that is "home" to television and film veterans alike.  "Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our sponsors and donors this year's Evening Before has raised over $2 million surpassing our previous totals which is a wonderful recognition of the incredible support MPTF brings to the TV community," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation and Chairman of the MPTF Foundation.

In addition to the aforementioned names, the Eighth Annual "Evening Before's" Host Committee consisted of Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, Matt Bomer & Simon Halls, Julie Bowen, Connie Britton,  Ty Burrell, Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy, Jeff Daniels, Viola Davis & Julius Tennon, Zooey Deschanel, Michelle Dockery, Jimmy Fallon, Tony Goldwyn, Mariska Hargitay & Peter Hermann, Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Brad Hall, Julianna Margulies, Seth Meyers, Shemar Moore, Jim Parsons, Aaron Paul, Sunrise & Mark Ruffalo, Taylor Schilling, Kevin Spacey, Octavia Spencer, and Eric Stonestreet.  The Executive Host Committee included JJ Abrams, Matthew C. Blank, Linda & Jerry Bruckheimer, Charlie Collier, Roma Downey & Mark Burnett, Nancy Dubuc, Robert Greenblatt, Bonnie Hammer, Ted Harbert, Doug Herzog, John Landgraf, Paul & Deirdre Lee, Michael Lombardo, Ryan Murphy, David Nevins, Gary Newman, Richard Pleper, Peter Rice, Peter Roth, Josh Sapan, Ted Sarandos, Ryan Seacrest, Ben Sherwood & Karen Kehela Sherwood, Anne Sweeney & Phil Miller, Nina Tassler, Dana Walden, Dick Wolf, and Michael Wright.

This year's presenting sponsors included veterans essie, PEOPLE, and Target, and newcomers Delta Air Lines, Dodge, and Netflix, with additional support from returning platinum sponsor AMC Networks.

"In this eighth year we are grateful for the TV community's growing support and thrilled so many new members of our entertainment community are being introduced to the industry's charity through this fun event that celebrates achievement and the true heart of Hollywood," said Ken Scherer, CEO of the MPTF Foundation.

Among the celebrities who attended this year's event were Uzo Aduba, Malin Akerman, Fred Armisen, Christine Baranski, Mayim Bialik, Jason Biggs, Michael Bolton, Beau  Bridges, Danielle Brooks, Kate Burton, Lizzy  Caplan, Jessica Capshaw, Josh Charles, Anna  Chlumsky, Gary Cole, Chris Colfer, Jason Collins, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy, Guillermo Diaz, Peter Dinklage, Nina Dobrev, Minnie Driver, Edie  Falco, Jodie Foster, Johnny Galecki, Ricky Gervais, Judy Greer, Clark Gregg & Jennifer Grey, Tony Hale, Colin Hanks, Marcia Gay Harden, Angie Harmon, Julianne Hough, Mindy Kaling, Ben Kingsley, Lisa Kudrow, Padma Lakshmi, Jessica Lange, Matt LeBlanc, Lucy Liu, Joe Manganiello, Taryn Manning, James Marsden, Kate McKinnon, Stephen Merchant, Lea Michele, Kate Mulgrew, Bob Odenkirk, Hayden Panettiere,  Mandy Patinkin, Sarah Paulson, Amanda Peet, Jeff Perry, Amy Poehler, Zac Posen, Monica Potter, Laura Prepon, Gordon Ramsey, Retta, Krysten Ritter, Pablo Schreiber, Liev Schreiber, Adam Scott, Teddy Sears, Darby Stanchfield, Brittany Snow, David Spade, Kiefer  Sutherland, Lorraine Toussaint, Emily VanCamp, Sofia Vergara, Jon Voight, Kate Walsh, Matt Walsh, Bellamy Young, and many others.

Robyn Leuthe Norris produced the "Evening Before" for the eighth consecutive year, with a chic lawn party atmosphere designed by Silver Birches.

Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines serves nearly 165 million customers each year. This year, Delta was named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine and was named to FORTUNE magazine's 50 Most Admired Companies, in addition to being named the most admired airline for the third time in four years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 334 destinations in 64 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a newly formed joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta, Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.

Dodge
The Dodge brand is tearing into its centennial year as America's mainstream performance brand, celebrating its 100th anniversary on July 1, 2014. With the purification of the brand and consolidation with SRT, Dodge is getting back to its performance roots with every single model it offers.  From muscle cars to compact cars, minivans, crossovers and full-size SUVs, the Dodge brand's full lineup of 2015 models deliver best-in-class horsepower, class-exclusive technology and unmatched capability. For the 2015 model year, customers will be able to drive the new 2015 Dodge Charger and Challenger, including the 707 horsepower Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat models. The Dodge brand lineup also includes the 2015 Dodge Dart, Durango, Grand Caravan, Journey, and Dodge Viper SRT.

essie
America's nail salon expert since 1981, essie was founded in New York City by Essie Weingarten, the authority on color. essie is beloved for a visionary approach to nail lacquer featuring catchy, clever names that created a new standard for the category. A leader in luxury, essie is the go-to nail brand for beauty professionals, industry insiders, celebrities and women of style in over 100 countries. essie is committed to safe standards with an award winning line of nail care products and more than 900 shades created to date. www.essie.com

Netflix
Netflix is the world's leading Internet television network with over 50 million members in more than 40 countries enjoying more than one billion hours of TV shows and movies per month, including original series. For a low monthly price, Netflix members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

PEOPLE
Time Inc.'s PEOPLE revolutionized personality journalism in 1974, and each week, the PEOPLE brand brings more than 58 million consumers the latest news, exclusive interviews and in-depth reporting on the most compelling people of our time.  In addition to unparalleled access to the entertainment community, the stories of real-life "Heroes Among Us" remain an essential component of PEOPLE's editorial approach.  PEOPLE.com is the premier web destination for celebrity news, photos, style and entertainment coverage. With reporters across the globe, PEOPLE is headquartered in New York City.  For more information visit www.PEOPLE.com.

Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation serves guests at 1,925 stores – 1,795 in the United States and 130 in Canada – and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, that giving equals more than $4 million a week. For more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom. For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit ABullseyeView.com or follow @TargetNews on Twitter.

Motion Picture & Television Fund
For more than 90 years, MPTF (Motion Picture & Television Fund) has served as a beacon of hope for entertainment industry members in their time of need. As a charitable organization, MPTF provides financial assistance and services essential to the wellbeing of the community and is a leader in the development and implementation of services and programs for seniors and those who care for them. For more information, visit www.mptf.com.

SOURCE Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF)