Response to the Screen Actors Guild Recent Action Concerning the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Long Term Care Facility
Statement of Frank Mancuso Chairman
Motion Picture & Television Fund
Board of Directors
WOODLAND HILLS, CA, July 26, 2009
– The following statement is from Frank Mancuso, Chairman of the Motion
Picture & Television Fund Corporate Board of Directors:
“We are disappointed by the action taken by
the SAG Board but appreciate their willingness to hear our presentation
and the support we received from the 48.26 percent of its members who
voted against this resolution. We also appreciate SAG
National Board of Directors’ President Alan Rosenberg’s acknowledgement
of our ‘significant financial and operational concerns.’
“If MPTF does not close its long term care
unit, which is losing nearly $1 million each month and transfer the 84
residents who currently reside there to highly qualified community
nursing homes, the fund will go bankrupt within five years and all of
our operations will be forced to close. We would no longer
be able to provide services to SAG members who made 23,000 visits to
our health centers and social workers last year or any of the 60,000
other industry members who rely on us for care. Nor would
we be able to continue providing financial assistance to the
entertainment industry, including the 214 SAG members who received
financial aid from the Fund in 2008.
“The Board struggled to find a solution that
would ensure the future stability of the Fund while allowing us to keep
the long term care facility open. Sadly, after years of
exploring alternatives, we came to the inescapable conclusion that the
long term care unit had to close to protect the rest of the institution. It
would be a disservice to our community to force into bankruptcy this
indispensable organization simply because family members of the 84
people living in the facility prefer to have them remain there. We wish they could too. And were it financially feasible, the Board would insist on having them stay. But it is not.
“MPTF is not abandoning the 84 residents who
remain in the long term care facility but we cannot and will not
compromise the best interests of SAG’s membership and the rest of the
60,000 people we serve every year by keeping it open. This is the correct and only decision the Board could make. The long term care facility must close.” | 
