Why the SAG Awards are Unique

Lauded by critics for its style, simplicity and genuine warmth, the Screen Actors Guild Awards®, which made its debut in 1995, has become one of the industry’s most prized honors. The only televised awards shows to exclusively honor performers, it presents thirteen awards for acting in film and television in a fast moving two hour show which airs live on TNT and TBS. The awards focus on both individual performances as well as on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture. These honors are fundamental to the spirit of the Screen Actors Guild Awards because they recognize what all actors know – that acting is a collaborative art.

In that same spirit, the SAG Awards® also commends the outstanding performances by film and television stunt ensembles. These accolades are announced from the SAG Awards red carpet during TNT and TBS’ pre-show webcasts.

Other highlights of the Screen Actors Guild Awards include the Life Achievement Award, presented to an established performer for fostering the highest ideals of the acting profession and tributes to the varied talents within the Guild’s membership. SAG’s 48th Life Achievement Award recipient was Mary Tyler Moore. 

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are also unique in the size of its voting body. Two randomly selected panels of 2,100 SAG members each from across the United States choose the nominees for television and motion pictures. The final ballot then goes out to the full guild membership -- approximately 100,000 members -- who select the outstanding performances of the year.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards is the only national network television show to acknowledge the work of union members. SAG-AFTRA is affiliated with the AFL-CIO through the Associated Actors and Artistes of America (the Four A's).

The Screen Actors Guild Awards also benefits the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, which provides a meaningful way for SAG members to contribute to the literacy of children in their communities through BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools), its online component, Storyline and the We The Children family-heritage book-writing project. SAG Foundation programs provide emergency relief to members in economic distress, video and audio preservation of the creative legacy of SAG members, scholarships for performers and their children and emergency funds for members with catastrophic illnesses.

PEOPLE magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) will host the Screen Actors Guild Post-Awards Gala for the 16th consecutive year.  This exclusive event honors the philanthropic causes and good works of the members of the Screen Actors Guild.  The gala, benefiting the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, will immediately follow the SAG Awards on the backlot of the Shrine Exposition Center.

SAG Awards Facts

The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013.  Nominations will be announced Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012.  For our other key dates, please see our full calendar.

The 19^th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC. Jeff Margolis is the executive producer and director. Kathy Connell is the producer. JoBeth Williams, Daryl Anderson, Scott Bakula, Shelley Fabares and Paul Napier are producers for SAG. Gloria Fujita O’Brien and Mick McCullough are supervising producers. Benn Fleishman is executive in charge of production.  Rosalind Jarrett is executive in charge of publicity.  Jon Brockett is awards coordinating producer.

SAG-AFTRA represents more than 150,000 represents actors, announcers, broadcasters journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. With national offices in Los Angeles and New York, and local offices nationwide, SAG-AFTRA members work together to secure the strongest protections for media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.

TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama. Seen in 99 million households, the network is home to such original series as The Closer, starring Emmy® winner Kyra Sedgwick; Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle; Franklin & Bash, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Southland, from Emmy-winning producer John Wells, as well as the upcoming series Major Crimes, Dallas, Perception and The Great Escape. TNT also is the cable home to powerful dramas like The Mentalist, Bones, Supernatural, Las Vegas, Law & Order, CSI: NY, Cold Case and, starting this year, Castle; primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; blockbuster movies; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR, the NBA and the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. TNT is available in high-definition.

TBS, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is television’s top-rated comedy network and is available in 100 million households. It serves as home to the Emmy®-nominated late-night series CONAN, starring Conan O’Brien; and original primetime comedy series like Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse and the upcoming Men at Work, Sullivan & Son and Wedding Band. TBS also features an outstanding slate of contemporary comedies, such as The Big Bang Theory, Family Guy and The Office, as well as blockbuster movies and championship sports. In addition, TBS produces special live comedy events, including the star-studded comedy festival held each year in Chicago.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.