The Screen Actors Guild Foundation and BWW Announce New Partnership on Conversations Q&A Series & Expansion of 'Backstage with Richard Ridge'

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation and BroadwayWorld.com have partnered for a new filmed and live Conversations Q&A series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the union actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen.

The Conversations series co-hosted by the SAG Foundation and BroadwayWorld will be moderated by Richard Ridge of ”Backstage with Richard Ridge”, the leading online talk show that sits down with Broadway’s best and brightest. Events will be filmed in front of a live audience of SAG-AFTRA and AEA members. SAG Foundation programming is offered at no-cost to all union members (SAG-AFTRA & Equity).

“We’re excited to work with BroadwayWorld.com” said Jill Seltzer, Executive Director of the SAG Foundation, “because this new partnership will allow us to provide important events for our audience of union members, and BroadwayWorld.com’s filming of these events will allow us to host footage online and for distribution through our college and university outreach program.”

“‘Backstage with Richard Ridge’ has long been the largest and most popular outlet for Broadway stars and legends to talk about their careers” said Robert Diamond, Editor-in-Chief of BroadwayWorld.com,  “and now adding the live component will continue to help us grow the series. The work of the SAG Foundation is so important and their team is so enthusiastic, that we couldn’t have found a better partner for this new program.”

Past Legacy Conversations Guests Include:

Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Forest Whitaker, Julia Ormond, Andy Garcia, Laura Linney, Kirk Douglas, Sydney Pollack, Michael Caine, Paul Giamatti, Shirley MacLaine, Adrien Brody, and Robert Duvall, Roger Rees, Judith Light, Elijah Wood and more.

Past “Backstage with Richard Ridge” Guests Include:

Nick Jonas (Smash and How To Succeed), Jesse Eisenberg (Academy Award-nominee for The Social Network) and Justin Bartha (The Hangover and The New Normal), Kristin Chenoweth, Hugh Dancy and Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur), Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Producers-Chicago-Smash), Marlo Thomas (Actress-Producer), Elaine Paige (Follies), Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox (Jekyll and Hyde), Brian d'Arcy James (Smash), Ramin Karimloo (Phantom), John Kander (Cabaret).

For more information about the non-profit SAG Foundation please visit www.sagfoundation.org.

ABOUT SAG FOUNDATION

Founded in 1985, the Screen Actors Guild Foundation is an educational, humanitarian and philanthropic national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The mission of the SAG Foundation is to assist, educate and inspire actors toward their fullest potential in career, life and community. Our programs reflect the concerns and interests of ACTORS as well as their desire to "give back" to their communities. Programs include the Catastrophic Health Fund and assistance programs, Life Raft, Conversations, Casting Access Project, which offer career knowledge and inspiration, as well as the award winning children’s literacy programs, BookPALS and Storyline Online.  In addition, the SAG Foundation Actors Center and the Don LaFontaine Voice-Over Lab are unprecedented resource and educational facilities located in Los Angeles. The Foundation is independent from SAG and relies solely on the support from grants, corporate sponsorships, bequests and individual contributions to maintain our programs and create new ones.