SUBMISSIONS OPEN TODAY FOR 17th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® NOMINATIONS

SAG Awards® Nominees will be Announced on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010 and SAG Awards® Ceremonies will be Simulcast on TNT and TBS on Sunday Jan. 30, 2011

Los Angeles (July 12, 2010) – Submissions of performances for consideration for the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® nominations opened today and will close on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 5 p.m. (PST), it was announced today by SAG Awards® Committee Chair JoBeth Williams.

The Screen Actors Guild Award—The Actor®—is presented for outstanding performances in motion pictures and primetime television.  Actors may submit their own performances from 2010 for consideration in categories of the actor’s choosing. With the actor’s permission, producers, studios/networks, agents, managers, or publicists may also submit performances for consideration in the category designated by the actor. Nominations for the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.

Submissions can be made online at www.sagawards.org. In keeping with the SAG Awards commitment to the environment, online submissions are encouraged. The accompanying high-resolution jpg photos of potential nominees may be emailed to awardsphotos@sagawards.org or mailed to the SAG Awards office on CD or DVD.

For those for whom submitting online is impossible, submission forms can be obtained by calling the Screen Actors Guild Awards office at (323) 549-6707. Early submission is recommended.

Of the top industry honors presented to performers, only the Screen Actors Guild Awards are selected entirely by actors’ peers. The nominees for performances in 2010, including the distinctive ensemble awards and SAG stunt ensemble honors, will be chosen by two separate film and television nominating panels, each comprised of 2,100 SAG members from across the United States, who were randomly selected in April. Nomination ballots will be mailed on Wednesday, Nov. 24 and voting closes on Monday, Dec. 13.

After nominations are announced, final SAG Awards ballot information will be mailed Tuesday, Dec. 30 to all active members of Screen Actors Guild, to be returned by Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 to the Guild’s election firm, where results will be sealed until they are opened onstage at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011. The ceremony will be simulcast from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7 p.m. CT and 6 p.m. MT.

Complete rules and regulations for the 17th Annual SAG Awards are posted at www.sagawards.org/rules.

Categories for submission are as follows:

Theatrical Motion Pictures  
                                                                                           
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture

Primetime Broadcast and Cable Television Programs

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Stunt Ensemble Honors (recipients to be announced from the SAG Awards® red carpet on Sunday, Jan. 30)

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

Upcoming key deadlines and events leading to the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards are:

Monday, July 12, 2010
Submissions for Nomination Consideration Open

Tuesday, Sep. 14, 2010
Deadline for Nominating Committee Members to Make Address Changes

Friday, Oct. 1, 2010
Media Nomination and Ceremony Credential Applications Open
Publicists Nomination Announcement Credential Applications Open

Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010
Submissions for Nomination Consideration Close (Due at SAG by 5 p.m. PT)

Friday, Oct. 29, 2010
Media Nomination and Ceremony Credential Applications Close

Friday, Nov. 5, 2010
Publicists Nomination Announcement Credential Applications Close

Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2010
Nominations Ballots Mailed

Monday Dec. 13, 2010
Nomination Ballots Due at the Elections Firm by 5 p.m. PT

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010
Deadline for Paying November 2010 Dues and/or Changing Address with SAG to be Eligible for Final Balloting

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010
Nominations Announced

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010
Publicists Ceremony Credential Applications Open

Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010
Records Pulled for Final Balloting

Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010
Final Ballot Information Mailed to Members

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011
Publicists Ceremony Credential Applications Close

Friday, Jan. 28, 2011
Final Ballots Due at the Elections Firm by 12 Noon PT

Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011
17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®

The "17th 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 at www.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 125,000 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.

TNT, one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama. Seen in 99.6 million households, the network is home to such original series as "The Closer," starring Kyra Sedgwick; "Leverage," starring Timothy Hutton; “Memphis Beat,” with Jason Lee; “Rizzoli & Isles,” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; “Men of a Certain Age,” with Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula; “Dark Blue,” starring Dylan McDermott; and “Southland,” from Emmy®-winning producer John Wells (“ER”). TNT also presents such powerful dramas as "Bones," “Supernatural,” “Las Vegas,” "Law & Order," “CSI: NY” "Cold Case" and “Numb3rs;” broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the “Screen Actors Guild Awards®”; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament will appear on TNT beginning in 2011. TNT is available in high-definition.

TBS, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is television's top-rated comedy network and is available in 100.1 million households.  It serves as home to such original comedy series as "My Boys," “Neighbors from Hell,” "Are We There Yet?” and Tyler Perry's “House of Payne" and “Meet the Browns;” the late-night hit “Lopez Tonight,” starring George Lopez, and the upcoming late-night series starring Conan O’Brien; hot contemporary comedies like "Family Guy” and "The Office;" " specials like "Funniest Commercials of the Year"; special events, including star-studded comedy festivals in Chicago; blockbuster movies; hosted movie showcases and championship sports.

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.