The Elton John AIDS Foundation– the best of all these celebrity charities, I think– gets a huge boost this Sunday at their annual Oscar party. They’re the first beneficiaries of late billionaire Kirk Kerkorian’s proceeds from the Terry George directed “The Promise.”
Kerkorian put aside over $100 million for George to make this romance set against the Armenian genocide. Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac vy for the same woman in a film that Open Road will open later this year– and was shown for the first time last fall in Toronto. Indeed, all proceeds from “The Promise” will go to charity. EJAF is just the first non profit organization to participate. More will be announced soon.
This is unprecedented and very cool, and only possible because Kerkorian never planned on making the money back. It’s just a drop in the bucket for his estate. The idea was to tell the story of the tragedy of the Armenian genocide in a pedigreed film. Terry George et al have done that.
Donations to EJAF are also going to be matched the film’s production company, Survivor Films, via text and online pledging during the EJAF Oscar party. And there will be LOTS of celebrities there– David Furnish and Elton John manage to pull this event off every year and it gets better and better.
Also, unlike other charities EJAF is very pro-active and very transparent in their work. They are also not about having parties and wasting sponsors’ money shlepping celebs etc around the world. Their money goes to the real work of stopping AIDS worldwide and aiding those with the illness.
