“Pickford realized that they were all one mishap away from needing some support,” says Beitcher.
Aguilar, 45, went months without work during the 2007 writers' strike.
Today it offers assisted living, a hospital, retirement cottages, and even a TV station and theater.
MPTF founder Mary Pickford (far right) holds a fundraiser auction in 1934.Motion Picture & Television Fund
Kay Weissman, a retired flamenco dancer and actress, has lived on the campus for seven years.
“It saved my life,” she says.
“I came here when my husband passed away.
Original MPTF architect William Pereira and MPTF president Jean Hersholt appear on Screen Guild Theater, an all-star radio program benefiting MPTF from 1939 to 1952, featuring Hollywood stars re-creating some of their biggest films (e.g. Humphrey Bogart in ‘High Sierra,’ James Cagney in ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’).Motion Picture & Television Fund
I was at loose ends and very lonesome and didn’t know what to do with myself.
Now I have a new life, new friends.”
One of Weissman’s main outlets is partnering with MPTF Studios and its TV station, Channel 22.
Volunteers from media company Legendary Entertainment paint with campus residents.Motion Picture & Television Fund
“Creativity doesn’t end when you turn 65,” says Beitcher.
“People ‘aging out’ of the industry still have a lot of creative juices left.”
Weissman is currently preparing to portray Eve Harrington in a radio play ofAll About Eve.
(“I get to play the ingenue at 86,” she says with a laugh.)
“Conchita is an ex-star who thinks very highly of herself,” she says.
“I decided to make her the weather girl, because she still thinks she’s cute.”
Fittingly, the studio was constructed by Aguilar and a crew he organized.
“It’s like an extended family,” he says of the pay-it-forward mentality at MPTF.
“They help so many members.
I’ve lived it, I’ve seen it.
And now I’m just doing my part to keep it going for another hundred years.”
“To put it bluntly, the MPTF legacy and mission our ability to exist are in real jeopardy.
“Then it’s telling our story so people know that we exist.
Then it’s to get involved and volunteering is a great way to do that.”
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