Posted on October 17, 2012

DreamWorks Founders to Donate $90 Million to Motion Picture and Television Fund

DreamWorks SKG founders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen have pledged $30 million to the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The gifts will be made to the MPTF Campaign, which was launched in February to help meet the needs of entertainment industry workers and current and future retirees through charitable programs and services ranging from financial assistance for rent, mortgage, and food to counseling and healthcare support. According to the Times, the campaign was launched following a decision by the MPTF board to re-admit patients to its nursing home, which had been slated for closure in 2009 due to financial losses.

MPTF executives told the Times that cost-cutting and fundraising efforts have made it possible for the charity to operate a smaller nursing home with about forty patients instead of the more than one hundred and thirty it was caring for in 2009. In addition, MPTF has partnered with UCLA Health System to operate a geriatric psychiatric unit at the facility.

"Steven Spielgberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen are each legendary for their philanthropy and individually have made immeasurable impact on charities and organizations ranging from arts and culture, health care, education, film preservation, and social services in our Hollywood community and around the nation," said George Clooney, a member of the MPTF board of directors and co-chair of the campaign. "And now for them to make this unified commitment to MPTF only adds to that incredible record of generosity."