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Donald Trump hasn’t stepped on stage once this election season to debate his Republican rivals, but the ex-president today challenged Joe Biden to show up for multiple face-to-face match-ups.

“I’ll do it right now on your show, I’ll challenge him right now,” Trump gleefully told Laura Ingraham tonight after the Fox News host pressed him in a piece of staged political theater to debate his 2020 foe in 2024. “We can do you, you can do anybody you want, Trump told Ingraham in the pre-recorded town hall as she offered to moderate at least one of the hypothetical debates. “I’ll take anybody from CNN, which is doing very poorly in the ratings by the ways as you probably know. I’ll take anybody because I think you have an obligation to debate.”

Knowing perfectly well that the much-cloistered Biden will have to respond, Trump took his version of a statesman approach.

Editor’s note: Running until the final general election results come in, the Deadline ElectionLine podcast spotlights the 2024 campaign and the blurred lines between politics and entertainment in modern America. Hosted by Washington bureau chief Ted Johnson and senior editor Dominic Patten, the podcast features commentary and interviews with top lawmakers and entertainment figures. At the same time, you can follow all the news in Biden & Trump rematch and more on the ElectionLine hub on Deadline.

Scandal and satire have been a significant part of political life in America since before George Washington crossed the Delaware. In that grand tradition, we tackle both topics today on the Deadline ElectionLine podcast – as you can hear above.

Breaking away from breaking news for a second, CNN’s Jake Tapper joins us today to talk about his upcoming United States of Scandal series, which debuts with two episodes on Sunday. Hosted by Tapper,...

Joe Biden will return to Los Angeles later this month for a fundraising swing including a fundraiser hosted by Haim and Cheryl Saban and Casey Wasserman.

The event will take place February 20, part of a West Coast visit that also includes events in the Bay Area.

According to the invite, tickets for the event start at $3,300 per person, rising to $250,000 for those who want to be listed as a co-chair. Those who contribute $25,000 and above will be able to get a photo with the president.

The event will raise money for the Biden Victory Fund, a joint committee that collects contributions for the Biden campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state committees.

Biden was in Los Angeles last weekend for a brief visit that included an event at the home of George Lucas. Sources earlier said that he was meeting with Black leaders from the entertainment industry to talk about the campaign.

Updated, with exclusive details of event: Joe Biden plans to return to Los Angeles next week for a pre-midterm swing next week that includes a fundraiser with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Oct. 13 event will be for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, tasked with retaining the Democrats’ House majority, according to a Dccc official.

The evening reception will be in Brentwood, with tickets starting at 5,000 per person, rising to 10,000 per couple and 50,000 per couple to host. The latter includes a photo and reception. All attendees are required to be fully vaccinated, including a booster shot, according to the invite. Further details, like the hosts of the events, have yet to be announced.

Biden was traveling to New York on Thursday, with an itinerary that included a fundraiser at the home of James Murdoch. That event also is for the Dccc.

Other events also are being scheduled, according to sources.

Biden...

Exclusive: First Lady Jill Biden will visit Los Angeles on Friday with an itinerary that includes a fundraiser hosted by writer-producer and Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman.

Per an invite, the Hancock Park lunch reception is for the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, which is raising money for the Democratic National Committee and state parties.

“With less than 65 days until Election Day, all support is critical to ensure Democrats across the country have the resources they need to make that final push to November,” the invite reads.

Tickets start at 5,000 per person, with those who write or raise 25,000 also designated as hosts.

After the event, the first lady will then visit Homeboy Bakery and Homegirl Cafe in Los Angeles. Founded by by Father Gregory Boyle, Homeboy Industries provides on-the-job training and rehabilitation services to former gang members and those previously incarcerated.

The first lady visited Los Angeles in June with her husband,...

When a stream of Democratic candidates trek to Los Angeles this month in likely their final effort to raise money before the midterms, they will be met by Hollywood supporters who are less deflated than they once were about the party’s prospects in November: Call them cautious, if maybe a bit more optimistic.

President Joe Biden’s recent legislative wins, coupled with a renewed focus on the chaos of Donald Trump, has given industry Democrats reason to believe that the party won’t face quite the drubbing that they did in the past. The backlash to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, fueling a new wave of activism within the industry, has raised hopes that it will translate into improved turnout, and perhaps even match what is expected on the GOP side.

The victory last week of Pat Ryan in a purple New York congressional...

Update: President Joe Biden told a group of donors at the home of Haim Saban that “we’re going to live with this inflation for a while,” but said that “this idea that inflation is caused by the economic growth we’ve caused is simply not true.”

Inflation, Biden said, according to pool reporters, is “going to come down gradually but we are going to live with it for a while,” as he argued that the solution is to lower prices on other things.

The event at the home of Saban and wife Cheryl Saban raised money for the Democratic National Committee, and was the second of two on Friday. They were Biden’s first in-person fundraisers in Los Angeles since he took office.

Folliowing remarks from DNC chairman Jaime Harrison and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-ca), Saban introduced Biden.

Biden also talked about the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde,...

President Joe Biden will headline two fundraisers on Friday as he winds down his swing through Los Angeles, raising money for the Democratic National Committee at the events that are expected to draw a significant number of Hollywood donors.

The president first will attend an event at the Brentwood home of Andrew Hauptman, co-founder of the investment firm Andell Holdings. Jeffrey Katzenberg will be a co-host of the event, which will be a smaller gathering of donors than the other on the president’s schedule.

The larger will be an early evening reception at the home of Haim and Cheryl Saban, the longtime Democratic donors, with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-ca), a member of the January 6th Committee, also on the bill. Tickets will start at 1,000 per person. At the top level is a “sponsor” ticket for those who write or raise 36,500. The event will raise money for the Democratic National...

Update, 2 Pm: Air Force One has just landed at Lax, which means BidenJam is in effect in the City of Angels.

Coming off the plane, the president was greeted Wednesday on the tarmac by Gov. Gavin Newsom, outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and various family members before jumping on Marine One for the trip into town.

The helicopter is flying to Dodger Stadium in Echo Park, after which Biden will motorcade through the neighborhood, Silver Lake, Los Feliz and into the heart of Hollywood.

To prepare for the presidential commute, streets are shutting down, cars are being towed and blockades are going up all over Hollywood Boulevard around Highland and La Brea as the president heads to the El Capitan for a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Potus’ first live and in-studio late night appearance since taking office will start filming around 2:40 p.m. Pt. After that, Biden...

Exclusive: Joe Biden will make his first in-person appearance at a Los Angeles fundraiser as president next week when he headlines an event at the home of Haim and Cheryl Saban.

According to an invite obtained by Deadline, the event is likely to be in the early in the evening of June 10. Biden will be in Los Angeles to attend the Summit of the Americas. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-ca) also is billed as one of the event’s special guests.

The fundraiser will raise money for the Democratic National Committee’s Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund. Tickets will start at 1,000 per person. At the top level is a “sponsor” ticket for those who write or raise 36,500.

The Sabans, who have been longtime Democratic donors and fundraisers, hosted an event for Biden in September 2020, in the midst of the presidential campaign. The high-dollar event — with tickets priced at 500,000 per person — raised 4.5 million.

A fundraiser for Joe Biden organized by Haim Saban raised $4.5 million on Monday, marking the media mogul’s first event for the 2020 presidential race.

Saban and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-ca) cohosted the event, with 22 people in the crowd, according to a pool report. Tickets were priced at $500,000 per person (meaning not everyone was a donor), and the other guests included Cheryl Saban, Tim Disney, Frank Gehry and Susan Disney Lord.

Saban, a longtime donor and bundler for Democrats, did not endorse during the primary, unlike 2016, when he was an early backer of Hillary Clinton.

He introduced Biden for the virtual event, and after a bit of a glitch in which Biden could not be heard, the former vice president echoed comments he made earlier in the day about California’s devastating wildfires and the connection to climate change.

“This crisis demands action,...

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open on Dec. 14 on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles — eight years after the project was first announced.

Tom Hanks, a museum trustee and co-chair of the Academy Museum campaign with chair Bob Iger and co-chair Annette Bening, made the announcement during the Oscars telecast on Sunday.

“There is plenty of culture to be found in the City of Angels, but there has never been a museum dedicated to the art and science of motion pictures,” Hanks said.

Academy Museum Director Bill Kramer said in statement, “We cannot wait to welcome the whole world to the Academy Museum. When our doors open on December 14, our thrilling combination of exhibitions, screenings, and public and educational programs will create unparalleled experiences for movie lovers everywhere.”

The opening date announcement comes two weeks after Academy President David Rubin said at the Oscar nominees luncheon that fundraising for...

Fundraising for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has reached more than $368 million in pledges and cash, making up 95% of its $388 million campaign goal.

The announcement was by Academy President David Rubin at the nominees luncheon on Monday, less than two weeks before the 92nd Academy Awards on Feb. 9. The Academy also said the facility would open later this year at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, where the former May Co. department store was located, following final exhibition design, build-out and testing. It gave no specific date.

The museum was first announced in 2012 with chair Bob Iger and co-chairs Annette Bening and Tom Hanks, when the Academy unveiled plans by architect Renzo Piano, and projected that the museum would open in 2016. The Academy launched a $250 million fundraising campaign and collected $200 million in pledges. After that, however, fundraising stalled and costs ballooned.

Museum director Bill Kramer said, “The motion picture community...

Haim and Cheryl Saban’s $50 million donation has landed them their name on the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures building on Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, but the billionaire philanthropists’ contribution to the project almost didn’t happen.

During Tuesday’s unveiling of the restored exterior of the new Saban Building (formerly the historic May Company department store flagship store) on Wilshire Boulevard, Haim recalled how Netflix boss Ted Sarandos invited him to dinner one night. The chairman-ceo of Saban Capital Group suspected that the Netflix boss was probably going to hit him up for a donation of some sort because he told him he was going to sit him next to Leonardo DiCaprio for the meal.

“I said, ‘How much?’” Haim said, before joking, “I knew this was not going well.'”

When Sarandos explained he was looking for funding for the museum, Haim quickly dismissed the idea, saying...

Written by Jennifer Conroy

Look To The Stars Correspondent Jennifer Conroy recently attended Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Making a Difference: 70 Years of Heroes and Hope and filed this report.

Ashton Kutcher and Gerard Butler

Credit/Copyright: Shahar Zaran

Haim Saban is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, philanthropist, musician, and producer of records, film & television. As the 232nd richest person in America this businessman is estimated a net worth of $3 billion with interests in entertainment, media, and finances. He reminds me of Iron Man. The opening scene of the movie, of a hero among many who can do just about anything with his fame, money, and power.

Haim Saban is indeed our modern day Iron Man leading the charge as it is the 12th year that Haim has chaired the event, but the gala has actually been around in some form since 1981. It’s become more grand since Haim has started chairing,...

On Monday, November 13, 2017, Saban Community Clinic celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a fundraising gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, honoring Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netflix, and Peter Benedek, Founding Partner and Board Member of United Talent Agency, for their philanthropic leadership.

Ted Sarandos, with actress Winona Ryder, and actor/comedian Jeff Garlin

Top TV industry executives and celebrities who attended the dinner gala, hosted by the Friends of Saban Community Clinic, the Clinic’s fundraising arm, raised $4.6 million for its healthcare services. Media mogul and philanthropist Haim Saban and his wife, author and artist Cheryl Saban, matched that amount — bringing the fundraising total to $9.2 million!

“The work of the Clinic is critically important. We are truly inspired [by the stories we heard tonight] and are honored to do our part,” said Cheryl Saban.

Proceeds from the event benefit the Clinic’s low-income and uninsured patients. Last year, the Clinic provided more than 100,000 patient visits.

Kathy Ireland, whom Forbes Magazine describes as "Supermodel-turned-mogul was honored with the inaugural Dream Big Award at the Los Angeles Team Mentoring (Latm) 19th Annual Soiree celebration.

Keltie Knight, Kathy Ireland, William Figueroa , and Maria Melton

Twenty five years after the eruption of the L.A. riots, Los Angeles Team Mentoring (Latm), Los Angeles’ pioneering non-profit organization guiding middle school students from challenging urban neighborhoods to reach their full potential and develop their leadership skills, celebrated its Silver Anniversary on the evening of Thursday, October 19 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. The evening raised over $800K.

Ms. Ireland was recognized for her innovation, compassion, and long standing commitment to bettering the lives of at-risk youth. Also honored at the Soiree were The Dwight Stuart Fund and William Figueroa, Latm’s Director of Programs, both honored for their many years of service to L.A.’s most vulnerable communities...

Kathy Ireland, whom Forbes Magazine describes as “Supermodel-turned-mogul,” will be honored with the inaugural Dream Big Award at the Los Angeles Team Mentoring (Latm) 19th Annual Soiree celebration.

Twenty five years after the eruption of the L.A. riots, Los Angeles Team Mentoring (Latm), Los Angeles’ pioneering non-profit organization guiding middle school students from challenging urban neighborhoods to reach their full potential and develop their leadership skills, is celebrating its Silver Anniversary. The gala will take place on the evening of Thursday, October 19 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica.

“We are thrilled to recognize and honor Kathy for her innovation, compassion, and long standing commitment to bettering the lives of at-risk youth. Kathy is recognized as one of our country’s most successful self-made women and at the same time is a shining example to our youth that dedication to causes that can better our future and the future of our kids,...

When the Academy invited press for a hard-hat tour of its long-delayed, over-budget Museum of Motion Pictures, we heard Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti say nice things, as did new Academy president John Bailey, museum director Kerry Brougher, new chair of new board of trustees Ron Meyer, and museum committee chair Kathleen Kennedy. Yes, it’s great that, after 90 (!) years of planning, we’re finally getting a 300,000 square-foot Los Angeles movie museum at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire to celebrate Hollywood past, present, and future.

However, that’s not what we came for. We wanted to know when it’s going to be finished and what it’s going to look like. (Notably, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, who did much of the heavy lifting and controversy-dodging about museum funding and and construction, was on site but not part of the press conference. And Lacma director Michael Govan showed up late for the construction-site tour.

When the Academy invited press for a hard-hat tour of its long-delayed, over-budget Museum of Motion Pictures, we heard Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti say nice things, as did new Academy president John Bailey, museum director Kerry Brougher, new chair of new board of trustees Ron Meyer, and museum committee chair Kathleen Kennedy. Yes, it’s great that, after 90 (!) years of planning, we’re finally getting a 300,000 square-foot Los Angeles movie museum at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire to celebrate Hollywood past, present, and future.

However, that’s not what we came for. We wanted to know when it’s going to be finished and what it’s going to look like. (Notably, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, who did much of the heavy lifting and controversy-dodging about museum funding and and construction, was on site but not part of the press conference. And Lacma director Michael Govan showed up late for the construction-site tour.

Hillary Clinton has raised $47.5 million to date toward her presidential bid, according to her campaign’s first finance report, filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission. Much of the haul came from Hollywood, with Barbra Streisand, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Reese Witherspoon, Tobey Maguire, HBO’s Michael Lombardo and husband Sonny Ward, Comcast executive VP David L. Cohen and wife Rhonda, Newsweb Corp. chairman Fred Eychaner, Creative Artists Agency’s (CAA) Michael Kives and Haim and Cheryl Saban all donating. Others included Magic Johnson, Dakota Fanning, Ari Emanuel, Marcy Carsey, Chris Meledandri, Adam Shankman, Gail Berman, Amy Ziering and Larry Flynt.

By the time she finishes her fundraising visit to Los Angles later on Thursday night, Hillary Clinton will have amassed an astonishing $3 million for her presidential campaign from just three stops. The day's richest haul came from an evening event at the Beverly Hills home of Haim and Cheryl Saban, where a $2,700-per-head crowd of 700 contributed $1.9 million. A fundraising lunch in the Pacific Palisades raised more than $810,000 for the Democratic frontrunner and a morning event topped $270,000. As expected, the Saban event, which was co-hosted by Casey Wasserman and

read more...

For an incumbent seeking re-election in Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel attracts a lot of Hollywood campaign dollars. Maybe he’s unusually fetching to top entertainment industry players and it has nothing whatsoever to do with brother Ari’s Hollywood ties, but Emanuel has received $50,000 from David Geffen, $25,000 from Steven Spielberg, $10,000 from Jeffrey Katzenberg; $5,000 from Jeff Shell and $100,000 from Cheryl Saban (the wife of Haim Saban) for a race he could win outright next Tuesday, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Ari Emanuel is co-ceo of Beverly Hills-based William Morris Endeavor, one of the world’s largest talent agencies.

An army of entertainment and tech luminaries banded together on Thursday night to air-drop a staggering amount of money on a non-profit that benefits soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces. Steve Tisch ($2 million pitched in), Susan and Michael Dell ($1.8 million for scholarships given in the room), Haim and Cheryl Saban ($3.6 million), Vegas moguls Sheldon and Miriam Adelson ($5.2 million) and Guess Jeans founding brothers Maurice and Paul Marciano ($5.2 million, donated on the spot) were amongst the leadership donors. Larry Ellison joined in and did what Larry Ellison does. Previously: Larry Ellison Drops $4.5 Million at Paramount USC Cancer...

President Barack Obama will make the rounds in Los Angeles early this week on a trip that includes a reception at Magic Johnson’s house, a visit to Haim and Cheryl Saban and a Tuesday stop at DreamWorks Animation’s lot for an economic address. The West Coast jaunt comes as the president’s approval ratings have sunk to new lows as the website for his new health care plan remains mired in technical glitches. On Monday, President Obama will arrive via Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport at roughly 4:35 p.m. Pt. Also read: President Obama...

Hillary Clinton headlined a Terry McAuliffe fundraiser at Haim and Cheryl Saban's Beverly Hills compound on Wednesday that looked a lot like a low-key run-through for presidential fundraisers to come. While the event was ostensibly for McAuliffe's Virginia gubernatorial campaign, attendees said the afternoon luncheon felt like a Clintonite reunion -- with an undercurrent of anticipation that the former secretary of state could make another run for the White House in 2016. Story: Jeffrey Katzenberg's Secret Call to Hillary Clinton Among those at the fundraiser (with tickets starting at $15,000 per person) were longtime Clinton loyalist Casey Wasserman

read more...

Hollywood heavy-weights have entered Los Angeles' mayoral race in a big way, helping propel both City Controller Wendy Greuel and former Council President Eric Garcetti past the $1 million fundraising mark. Photos: 10 Hollywood Players That Will Make a Difference in the 2012 Election Greuel, a former DreamWorks executive, raised more than $1.1 million for her mayoral bid in 2011, according to campaign finance reports. Greuel received donations from Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mariska Hargitay, J.J. Abrams, Zach Horowitz, Leonard Nimoy, Sherri Disney, Haim and Cheryl Saban, Candy Spelling and Wendy James, a campaign spokesman

read more...

Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of the Motion Picture & Television Fund Foundation, flashed a broad smile Wednesday in recalling when "Woodland Hills was just that -- wood, land and hills."

Then the casually inclined DreamWorks Animation chief, who wore a suit and tie for the special occasion, turned a bit more serious in introducing entertainment producer Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl Saban, benefactors behind the new $20 million Saban Center for Health and Wellness.

"There is a very approachable and human spirit about them," Katzenberg said. He thanked the "amazingly humble" Sabans for their generosity.

The new Saban Center is part of a major new outreach initiative by the MPTF.

For decades, the fund has operated a renowned retirement community on 44 acres known as the Wasserman Campus in now-quite-suburban Woodland Hills, Calif. Today, the MPTF is additionally focusing on what it calls "healthy aging," offering a range of home-based health and living services for Hollywood retirees throughout the region.

Jodie Foster, whose sizable grant funded the Saban Center's large pool and other facilities for aquatic-based therapy and recreation, noted her mother has lived near the campus for years.

Hal Riddle, a Kentucky boy made good in Hollywood film and TV, moved into the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home at age 75.

"I was a youngster then", the ham-boned character actor deadpanned. He turns 87 in December.

"The first day I moved in, I just knew I was home," Riddle added in a voice gone suddenly soft. "Where else can you retire and everybody else is of your ilk?"

Indeed, a stroll around the landscaped grounds of the Wasserman Campus, as the 44-acre MPTF home and hospital is known, makes it plain that this is a place full of industry folk.

Residents regale visitors with career anecdotes, and campus facilities are dotted with plaques acknowledging gifts from famous MPTF benefactors. Film star photos line corridor walls, interspersed in one space with snapshots of a campus acting troupe. A 250-seat cinema, programd weekly by a residents committee, shows a discernible skew toward serious movie fare, often of the art house variety.

But the 85-year-old Fund finds itself at a significant crossroads, fraught with challenges despite continuing signs of vitality, like the $19 million Saban Center for Health and Wellness set to open in late spring. Part of the challenge is generational.

"Hollywood used to be connected to the Fund, and we are trying to re-create that," said Frank Mancuso, former chairman of MGM and longtime head of Paramount Pictures who was tapped as chairman of the MPTF corporate board about four years ago. "We have to pass this off at some point to a younger group, who hopefully will be as engaged and want to do everything they can do to make this work and continue."

To that end, the MPTF on Saturday will stage its second annual black-tie gala, "A Fine Romance". The Hollywood-meets-Broadway fundraiser is aimed in part at getting showbiz's younger set in touch with the MPTF.

Mancuso threw the first edition of the glitzy, entertainment-laden bash last year in his football field of a Holmby Hills backyard. This year's setting will be Sunset + Gower Studios in Hollywood.

"The entire evening is devoted to celebrating the love affair between Broadway and the movies," said Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairman Jim Gianopulos, who is chairing "A Fine Romance" this year after co-chairing the first event. "The MPTF mission is taking care of our own, and I think it is particularly important in our industry. Fame, work and popularity can be fleeting, but many people give their talent and their life's work to entertaining others, and it's only fitting that we look after them in a time of need."

The Hollywood Reporter again will serve as a primary sponsor of the event, and Catherine Zeta-Jones again will reprise her role as performing host, joined this year by Harry Connick Jr. Other performers will include Christina Applegate, Shirley MacLaine, Bernadette Peters, Rita Wilson, Andrea McArdle, Kristen Bell and Jennifer Hudson. Dan Jinks ("American Beauty") and Laurence Mark ("Dreamgirls") are producing the event, with John Mauceri of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra again on board as musical director.

Created by Mary Pickford and colleagues in the 1920s, moved into its Woodland Hills headquarters in the '40s and expanded into new service areas in the '90s, the Fund faces an ambitious new mission in the new millennium.

MPTF execs hope to shift its focus to community- and home-based services even as the aging of the baby-boomer generation produces a swell of seniors in need of aging services. Such an adjustment should be cost-effective and popular, they believe, as seniors look to delay entering retirement communities ever longer.

In fact, even though the Fund is identified mostly with its residential retirement community, increasing numbers of clients put off moving onto the campus and instead seek other sorts of assistance, such as retrofitting of their personal residences with rampways, hallway and bathroom grab-bars, and closet adjustments. A trend toward home-based assisted care is expected to grow dramatically, so the MPTF also plans on subsidizing community-based counseling and health-care services for its clients.

Such a shift requires a ramping up of certain MPTF operations, but it also has eased a backlog of applicants for accommodations on the Wasserman campus.

"Five years ago, demand here exceeded capacity," MPTF CEO Dr. David Tillman said, noting a onetime waiting period of five years. "Now, there's a pretty good match."

There are 185 residents of the campus' Country House Cottages, Frances Goldwyn Lodge and Fran & Ray Stark Villa, and another 190 in a related nursing facility, with an average move-in age of 86 and an oldest resident who is 107. Anybody 70 or older with 20 years of employment in film, TV or other entertainment-related fields can apply for eligibility, and even parents of entertainment professionals are eligible for the nursing facility.

Costs, which are subsidized by the Fund, are billed to residents on a graduated scale tied to ability to pay.

Since the '90s, the MPTF also operates five health centers located throughout the Los Angeles area, supported by the health funds of several Hollywood guilds and unions. Other offerings include financial assistance for needy industry vets, counseling and other social and charitable services, and the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation child-care center in West Los Angeles.

With an annual budget of more than $100 million, the MPTF couldn't function without the regular flow of philanthropy.

"There is no other industry in the world that has accomplished what the movie and TV industry has accomplished, which is creating a health and social enterprise that is there for those who need it," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, who heads the MPTF Foundation board and chairs its Oscar-eve fundraiser, the Night Before. "I find our industry to be incredibly philanthropic and generous, lending their time and creativity and opening their pocketbooks so generously and so frequently. And for all those things that we do, I don't think anything is more important than first and foremost taking care of your own."

The DreamWorks Animation chief is working to raise the balance of funding for the new 30,000-square-foot Saban Center. The facility's mission is threefold: to add various health and wellness amenities, including a large pool and exercise room; to create a geriatric health evaluation and outreach headquarters offering counseling and other services; and to launch an aging-research unit and related experimental programs.

TV titan Haim Saban and his wife, Dr. Cheryl Saban, donated $10 million for construction of the center; Jodie Foster earmarked a $1 million gift for its aquatic facility; and $2 million in federal funds is tagged for various aging programs.

But Katzenberg said more involvement from younger Hollywood -- following the historic example of such tireless benefactors as Pickford, Lew and Edie Wasserman, Roddy McDowell and many others -- is necessary to the MPTF at an optimum operating level.

"The MPTF has had eight decades of this industry supporting it, which probably represents about four or five generations," he said. "So one of the challenges that we uniquely have is making sure, with each new generation that comes along, that we make it relevant for them."

The Fund's Next Generation Council -- chaired by Robert Osher, chief operating officer of Columbia Pictures Motion Picture Group -- regularly reaches out to Hollywood's younger set.

And staging A Fine Romance "opens us up to people we normally don't see," said Ken Scherer, CEO of the MPTF Foundation. Even event producers Jinks and Mark were relatively unfamiliar with the MPTF before their coming aboard, Scherer noted.

Of course, there's no shortage of celebs making the occasional stop to visit and entertain residents, a kindness that's always appreciated and which somehow seems to increase in frequency during Oscar season.

"This is a voting population, you know!" Mancuso noted with no little amusement.

Meanwhile, officials boasting of state-of-the-art senior care get no argument from Bill Martinez, former TV stage manager and five-year campus resident with his wife, Peggy.

"It's great, it's wonderful", the octogenarian observed with a small catch of emotion. " I worked 40 years in the business, and this was here waiting for us."...