Kathy Connell produced the Screen Actors Guild Awards® since its inception, serving the first two years as chair of the SAG Awards® Committee and as one of the producers for Screen Actors Guild. In 1996, she stepped down from her position on the SAG Board of Directors to become the first full-time producer of the Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2007...
In early 1976, I went to see "27 Wagons Full of Cotton" at the old Playhouse on West 48th. Out came a pretty young actress. It was a nice few minutes but nothing out of the ordinary, I thought. As I watched, I became aware of smoke starting to waft through the theater. The actress continued until the smoke was so distracting that the audience was murmuring. The actors left the stage and the audience vacated the theater until the smoke from an air conditioning malfunction had cleared. The play started over again a half hour later. The actress started again. Everything about her performance was exactly the same but at the same time it was fresh, all new. Wow. I immediately dived into my program to find out whom I was watching. The name was unfamiliar. Meryl Streep, I thought, I'll be seeing more of her.
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You have to acknowledge that Hollywood has been a major force in helping shape and reflect the country," says the show's producer, Kathy Connell. "We're going to give everyone a feel for where we started, what's gone on and where we're going." Connell also expects the unexpected. "This is live television. The actors are going to do what the actors want to do and that's what makes it exciting.
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Assistant National Executive Director of Awards and National Programming for SAG-AFTRA.
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Served as an international jurist for the Irish Film and Television Awards 2011.
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Served 14 years on the National Board of Directors of Screen Actors Guild. Served as National Recording Secretary of Screen Actors Guild.
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Executive Producer of National Programming for Screen Actors Guild.
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Producer of the Screen Actors Guild Awards since its inception; devised the ensemble award.
$18 Million
