Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire to Honor Top Entertainment Industry Talent at Rising Stars 2006 Ga
29 Novembre 2006 - 9:26PM
PR Newswire (US)
* Pixar and Disney Animation Studios' John Lasseter * Television
Anchor, Legal Analyst, Trial Attorney, Actor and Author Rikki
Klieman Bratton * Actors Andrea Bowen and Tyler James Williams
Among Honorees LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire (BBBSLAIE) will
honor top talent from the entertainment industry at its Rising
Stars Gala, November 30, 2006 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel. The
awards recognize outstanding members of the entertainment community
who are inspiring and positive role models for young people.
Academy Award(R)-winner John Lasseter, chief creative officer of
Pixar and Disney Animation Studios and principal creative advisor
of Walt Disney Imagineering, will receive the "Walt Disney Man of
the Year Award." Television anchor, legal analyst, trial attorney,
actor and best-selling author Rikki Klieman Bratton will receive
the "Sherry Lansing Award" for her support of many philanthropic
causes and passion for mentoring young people. Actors Andrea Bowen
of Desperate Housewives and Tyler James Williams of Everybody Hates
Chris are set to receive this year's "Rising Star Awards." The
evening will feature entertainment by Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Award-
winner Randy Newman and an opportunity drawing for a 2007 Dodge
Charger SRT8 donated by Chrysler Financial. Honorary gala dinner
co-chairs are former honorees Roy E. Disney, Sherry Lansing and
Melanie Cook; along with last year's honorary co-chair, Steve
Soboroff. "Our organization is incredibly fortunate to have such
extraordinary role models and supporters," said John Kobara, Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire
President and CEO. "We are grateful to John Lasseter, Rikki Klieman
Bratton, Andrea Bowen and Tyler James Williams for their
dedication, support and efforts toward positively impacting the
lives of the children in our community." John Lasseter, chief
creative officer of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios and
principal creative advisor of Walt Disney Imagineering, will
receive the "Walt Disney Man of the Year Award." Mr. Lasseter is a
two-time Academy Award(R)-winning writer, director and animator. He
directed Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and Cars and
executive produced Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The
Incredibles. Television anchor, legal analyst, trial attorney,
actor and best-selling author Rikki Klieman Bratton will receive
the "Sherry Lansing Award." An anchor at the Courtroom Television
Network since 1994 and now a legal analyst with CBS, she has also
worked for NBC's Today Show and the E! Network. In 2003, Rikki
relocated from New York to California to join her husband, Los
Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, where she pursues her
passions of mentoring young people and joining in the fight against
domestic violence. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the
Rape Treatment Center of UCLA-Santa Monica and the Board of
Directors of LA's Best, an after school enrichment program for
disadvantaged elementary school children. She continues to inspire
the lives of others with her autobiography, Fairy Tales Can Come
True -- How a Driven Woman Changed Her Destiny. The "Rising Star
Awards" will be presented to two members of the entertainment
community who serve as positive role models to young people, Andrea
Bowen and Tyler James Williams. Andrea just began her third season
of the ABC hit series Desperate Housewives, in which she portrays
Julie Mayer, daughter of Susan Mayer played by Teri Hatcher. Tyler
stars as Chris, in Chris Rock's comedy hit Everybody Hates Chris,
now on the CW Network. Previous Big Brothers Big Sisters honorees
include: Sherry Lansing, Richard Cook, Jodie Foster, Robin
Williams, Pam Dawber, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Garry Marshall,
Dawn Ostroff, Zach Braff, Amber Tamblyn, Hilary Duff, Andy Garcia,
Serena Williams, Amy Pascal, Gil Cates, Wayne Gretzky, Renee
Zellweger, Neil Simon, Marcy Carsey, Mandy Moore, *NSYNC, Chevy
Chase, Gale Anne Hurd, Melanie Cook, Dakota Fanning, Renee Olstead
and Nick Cannon. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles and the
Inland Empire is dedicated to empowering children who face
economic, emotional and social challenges through a variety of
programs, which provide a professionally supported, one- to-one
mentoring relationship with a positive role model. Big Brothers Big
Sisters of America is the nation's preeminent youth- service
organization. For more than 100 years, the national organization
has assisted boys and girls in achieving their highest potential as
they grow to become confident, competent and caring individuals
through professionally supported one-to-one relationships with
caring men and women. Their work is as elementary as putting an
adult friend in a child's life, and as essential as putting hope
into a child's future. Big Brothers Big Sisters have proven
successful in creating and nurturing relationships between adults
and children. Mentoring works one young person at a time. Today,
Big Brothers Big Sisters serves hundreds of thousands of children
in 5,000 communities across the country. As an organization, they
are continually growing: Their goal is to provide Bigs to one
million children by 2010. For more information, please visit
http://www.bbbslaie.org/ . Ticket and table packages begin at $350.
For event tickets and table package information, please call (323)
904-4400. DATASOURCE: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles;
Chrysler Financial CONTACT: Katy Sweet, , or Pam Giangregorio of
Katy Sweet & Associates, +1-323-852-0772; or Amber Gowen of
Chrysler Financial, +1-248-427-3126, Web site:
http://www.daimlerchryslerfinancialservices.com/na
http://www.bbbslaie.org/
Copyright