Actor® Statuettes Cast for the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 19, 2010) –  The Actor® statuettes, which this year’s 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® honorees will receive for outstanding performances in 2009 in five film and eight primetime television categories, have been cast in solid bronze at the American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, California.

The 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), 7 p.m. (CT) and 6 p.m. (MT). An encore presentation will air on TNT at 11 p.m. (ET/PT). (Viewers watching via satellite or in HD should check local listings.)

Preceding the SAG Awards® ceremony will be the premiere of “TNT and PEOPLE Magazine Present the SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® RED CARPET SHOW” at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT), 6:30 p.m. (CT) and 5:30 p.m. (MT) and the annual tnt.tv and tbs.com Red Carpet Webcast at 6:15 p.m. (ET), 5:15 p.m. (CT), 4:15 p.m. (MT) and 3:15 p.m. (PT).

Each statuette carries a serial number engraved at its base. Numbering began with No. 1. The first statuette cast is on display at Screen Actors Guild headquarters in Los Angeles. 597 statuettes have been awarded since the first Actors were presented in 1995. The Actor weighs 12 pounds and stands 16 inches tall.  Each Actor is cast in solid bronze, using the lost wax process. The statuette has a green-black patina finish and stands on a base of polished black granite. The Actor is the work of a team of fine arts professionals. The Actor was sculpted by Edward Saenz and designed by Jim Heimann and Jim Barrett. The statuette is produced at the American Fine Arts Foundry under the supervision of Brett Barney.

Screen Actors Guild will not know how many of The Actor statuettes it will need until the awards presenters open the envelopes on Jan. 23.  Ballots for the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were mailed on Dec. 29, 2009 to the entire active membership of Screen Actors Guild, who will vote on all categories. Ballots will be returned by Jan. 21 directly to Integrity Voting Systems, the Guild’s official teller, where results will be sealed until the SAG Awards ceremony.

Though the number of categories and special awards is known ahead of time, the possibility of multiple recipients sharing awards in the Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series categories makes the total number of statuettes that will be awarded unpredictable. Any surplus Actor statuettes will find a home in the guild’s vault until next year.

Five 10-foot, 200-pound likenesses of The Actor statuette, that were introduced at the 9th and 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, will grace the red carpet, the stage, the media rooms and Post-Awards Gala at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.  Scenario Design in Los Angeles constructed the painted fiberglass statues under the supervision of Scenario Design President Paul Buckley and Scenic and Sculpting Department Head Daniel Lucas.

“The 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards” will be produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC. Jeff Margolis is the executive producer and director. Kathy Connell is the producer. JoBeth Williams, Daryl Anderson, Scott Bakula, Shelley Fabares and Paul Napier are producers for SAG. Gloria Fujita O’Brien and Mick McCullough are supervising producers. Benn Fleishman is executive in charge of production.  More information is available online atwww.sagawards.org.

Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists’ rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents more than 120,000 actors who work in film and digital theatrical motion pictures and television programs, commercials, video games, industrials, Internet and all new media formats.  The Guild exists to enhance actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists’ rights. Headquartered in Los Angeles, SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO. More information is available online at www.sag.org.

TBS, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is television's top-rated comedy network.  It serves as home to such original comedy series as "My Boys," Tyler Perry's “House of Payne" and “Meet the Browns,” as well as the upcoming “Neighbors from Hell”; late-night series like “Lopez Tonight,” starring George Lopez, and “The Very Funny Show,” hosted by Tim Meadows; hot contemporary comedies like "The Office," "My Name is Earl," "Family Guy” and "Seinfeld"; specials like "Funniest Commercials of the Year"; special events, including star-studded comedy festivals in Chicago and Las Vegas; blockbuster movies; and hosted movie showcases.

Turner Network Television (TNT), one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama and home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama "The Closer," starring Kyra Sedgwick; "Men of a Certain Age," starring Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula; "Saving Grace," starring Holly Hunter; "Leverage," starring Timothy Hutton; "HawthoRNe," with Jada Pinkett Smith; and "Dark Blue" starring Dylan McDermott, as well as the newly acquired "Southland."  TNT also presents such powerful dramas, such as "Bones," "CSI: NY" and "Numb3rs"; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the "Screen Actors Guild Awards(r)"; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA.  TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.