On Tuesday, November 5th, MPTF (Motion Picture and Television Fund) hosted their 8th Annual Reel Stories, Real Lives in West Hollywood, CA. The unique event “celebrates the impact of MPTF on the entertainment community by telling powerful stories of entertainment industry members who have benefited, written and performed by Hollywood’s biggest and brightest stars.”
Hosted by Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell star Awkwafina, the evening raised awareness in an entertaining and powerful way.
“Once a year, with the Reel Stories, Real Lives event, MPTF has an amazing opportunity to showcase the broad range of support this nearly 100 year-old organization provides to our entertainment community. There’s no better way to do this than through the very compelling power of story-telling, and thanks to some very gifted writers and presenters we open a window to the many incredible ways we care for entertainment industry members in their time of need.” Said Bob Beitcher, President ad CEO of MPTF.
Yvette Nicole Brown, Lizzy Caplan, Topher Grace, and Michael Peña were the storytellers of the night with each story written by one of Hollywood’s leading feature and television writers, including Lindsey Beer, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, John Hoffman, Chris Nee, and Billy Ray.
“They asked me to come and read a story, and I knew about it, but I ended up doing a lot more research. I read the story and was very moved by it and when I realized how much they make available to this community… in a self-centered way it’s amazing. It’s amazing what they do for these people.” Topher Grace told Celeb Secrets, “This might be the most important kind because it benefits the community I’m apart of.”
Topher also shared with Celebs Secrets some fun details about his latest film, Jon Stewart’s political comedy Irresistible.
“Everyday I was hanging out with Steve Carell and Jon Stewart, it was a fun crew. Rose Byrne was in it and Mackenize Davis and Chris Cooper. I worship the Daily Show, especially the time when Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert were on it, and being with both him and John everyday was just a dream. So I remember saying to Steve “It was so easy and Jon is such an amazing and nice guy. It couldn’t have been like this at the Daily Show, it must have been so stressful.” and he said “No, no Jon is just wonderful.” I thought “Of course. That’s what makes Jon so successful is that he’s just a wonderful guy. He believes in the people who work for him and he’s just a wonderful leader.” I loved working for him.”
You can learn more about MPTF, Reel Stories Real Lives, and all the incredible services they offer to the community by visiting https://mptf.com/reelstories/.
Reporting by Mariah Crom
