LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The creative
community turned out in force today at the top of Oscar weekend to
stand together to express support for freedom of speech and
artistic expression and to speak out against policies of exclusion
and division.
"As the Oscars draw the world's attention to our country and our
community, we must raise our voices loud and clear: The politics of
fear and division do not reflect who we are as a nation, and united
we can do better," said Jeremy
Zimmer, CEO of United Talent Agency, which organized the
gathering outside its Los Angeles
headquarters after scrapping plans for a traditional Oscar
party.
Featured speakers at the event included California Lt. Gov.
Gavin Newsom, Jodie Foster, Michael J. Fox, Reza Aslan, Keegan-Michael Key and Wilmer Valderrama. The gathering also
featured live performances by DJ Cassidy, painter
David Garibaldi, singer
Ben Harper, Sam and Casey Harris of X Ambassadors, who
debuted an original song—Hoping—which will benefit the American
Civil Liberties Union.
Also addressing the crowd were International Rescue Committee
President and CEO David
Miliband and American Civil Liberties Union executive
Hector Villagra. The
two organizations are the recipients of a $250,000 donation from UTA, as well as an
additional $70,000 raised through the
agency's online CrowdRise campaign.
A surprise highlight of the rally was taped remarks from Iranian
filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, a
UTA client. Nominated for his film "The Salesman," Farhadi
made headlines around the world after announcing he would not
travel to Los Angeles for the
Oscars ceremony in protest of the proposed U.S. ban on travel from
seven predominantly Muslim countries. "I am grateful to the
civility of my fellow filmmakers and the UTA family who have
reacted responsibly to discrimination and injustice," said Farhadi,
in his first public appearance since his travel announcement.
"Filmmakers can break stereotypes around the world
by turning their cameras
to capture shared human qualities."
Other artists turning out to show their support, included
Ike Barinholtz, John Cho, Jai
Courtney, Jamie Dornan,
Megan Mullally, Bill Nye, Nick
Offerman, Aaron Paul,
Josh Radnor, Emily Ratajkowski,
Retta, Timothy Simons and
Kristen Wiig.
ABOUT UNITED TALENT AGENCY
United Talent Agency is a
premier global talent and literary agency representing many of the
world's most acclaimed figures in every current and emerging area
of entertainment and media, including motion pictures, television,
digital, broadcast news, legit theater, video games, books, music,
and live entertainment. The agency is also globally recognized
in the areas of film finance, film packaging, branding, licensing,
endorsements and representation of production talent. UTA
additionally provides corporate consulting, venture funding and
strategic advisory services to companies ranging from start-ups to
Fortune 500 companies. UTA operates the brand strategy agency
UTA Brand Studio and owns market-leading broadcast news agency
Bienstock.
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SOURCE United Talent Agency