Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/605448
98 SAG-AFTRA | Fall 2015 | SAGAFTRA.org Scene Around MEDIA ACCESS HONORS PWDS P erformers with disabilities took center stage at the Media Access Awards following a formal breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills on Oct. 22. Danny Woodburn (Seinfeld) hosted. The annual awards are some of the most prestigious for industry professionals who have substantially contributed to the overall awareness of the disability experience through the media. Each year, the SAG-AFTRA Performers With Disabilities Committee presents two of these awards, the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award, which this year was presented to American Horror Story's Mat Fraser, and the SAG-AFTRA Disability Awareness Award, which went to franchised agency Kazarian/Measures/Ruskin & Associates Inc. The Harold Russell Award is named for the first actor with a disability to receive an Oscar. It honors a professional performer, writer or other industry professional with a disability who has helped to validate, strengthen and enhance the cultural heritage and pride of people with disabilities. The SAG-AFTRA Disability Awareness Award honors a SAG-AFTRA member with a disability or an organization who has increased the visibility of disability issues in the entertainment industry. AAIFF LUNCH AT SAG-AFTRA John Woo, Executive Director of the Asian American International Film Festival, back row, right, joins SAG-AFTRA members July 24 at the AAIFF Filmmaker Lunch, which was hosted by SAG- AFTRA. It was an intimate gathering at the SAG-AFTRA New York national office that allowed filmmakers to network and plug their films being screened at the festival. WOMEN OF ACTION Secretary-Treasurer and Los Angeles Local President Jane Austin and National Board member and Helen Gibson Award recipient Debbie Evans at the Action Icon Awards on Oct. 18 in Los Angeles. E ach year, the Diamond in the Raw Foundation, which seeks to better the lives of at-risk teen girls, honors women of action in entertainment. In an address to guests, Secretary-Treasurer Jane Austin emphasized the importance of getting women involved in every aspect of the industry. "I am so delighted that the women in this room are not sitting back and waiting for change. We are the women of action. Today's honorees are the ones redefining what it means to 'act like a girl,' the ones who see the words 'you can't' as a challenge, and the ones who are paving the way for the next generation of women." CIVIL RIGHTS HONOR SAG-AFTRA's LGBT Committee National Co-Chair Jason Stuart was honored with the Jose Julio Sarria International Civil Rights Award, which was presented by the International Imperial Court System in San Francisco on Sept. 24. The event marked the 50th anniversary for the Court, an LGBT organization founded by Sarria, who became the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States in 1961. Casting director Eric Dawson, left, and SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award honoree Mat Fraser (American Horror Story: Freak Show) at the annual Media Access Awards in Beverly Hills on Oct 22. TIBRINA HOBSON/GETTY IMAGES