SOURCE: Motion Picture & Television Fund

November 27, 2007 12:00 ET

The Motion Picture & Television Fund Officially Launches Center on Aging to Address Quality of Life of Seniors in Their Own Homes

MPTF Hires Renowned Expert on Financial Gerontology Neal E. Cutler, PhD as Executive Director of Center on Aging

WOODLAND HILLS, CA--(Marketwire - November 27, 2007) - The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF), the premier health and social services charity of the entertainment industry, today launched its Center on Aging, a best practice model that provides a comprehensive offering of services to seniors both at home and at the organization's residential and community facilities.

In response to the changing and growing needs of older adults, MPTF has created a variety of programs that are geared toward improving the lives of entertainment industry seniors throughout Southern California. A new and emerging need to address quality of life issues for older adults in their own homes has been identified and led to the creation of such MPTF programs and initiatives as Palliative Care, Elder Connection, Rebuilding Together, the MPTF Age Well Program and the Saban Center for Health and Wellness. With these resources now in place and more in development, MPTF will build upon the organization's longstanding relationship with the entertainment industry to confront the new health, financial, and demographic challenges.

To lead the overall vision, strategic development and implementation of MPTF's Center on Aging, the organization has hired Neal E. Cutler, PhD, as executive director. Cutler is a renowned expert in Financial Gerontology, a discipline he established two decades ago. Financial Gerontologists identify concepts, issues, data and research findings most relevant to aging and financial services, and communicate them to a broad range of professionals through teaching and applied research. Financial Gerontology is multidisciplinary, building on relevant teachings from biology, psychology, sociology, business, and demography to understand the lifelong wealth span issues and aspirations of aging individuals and their families.

Cutler will work to integrate all the various programs and initiatives that encompass the Center on Aging and ensure those efforts are meeting the needs of today's seniors as well as preparing for the future needs of the seniors of tomorrow.

"The combination of our Center on Aging becoming a reality and the hiring of Neal Cutler puts MPTF even more in the forefront of senior care in this country," said David Tillman, M.D., president and CEO of the Motion Picture & Television Fund. "Neal is a visionary in his field, and it is this leadership that will maximize our ability to impact methods of senior care and the attitudes towards aging on a national level."

Cutler will be a catalyst for the deployment of the latest advances in technology to launch a new era of care for older adults, their families and caregivers, and work as an advocate on behalf of the older population with legislative bodies, the public and industry. He will also assist in fundraising and grant development to support the programs and strategies.

"The Motion Picture & Television Fund is a model for senior care and services in the United States," said Cutler. "The organization has assembled an infrastructure, and a philosophy, that will enable me to become not only an advocate for seniors, but an activist as well. The senior population is rapidly growing in both size and complexity, and will continue to do so for multiple and challenging reasons. It is critical that as a society we create and implement responses to these changes in ways that enable older and middle-aged men and women to get the health and social services they need, and live a quality life."

Previously, Cutler was Associate Director of The UNCG Gerontology Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and spent 12 years as a professor at Widener University in Philadelphia where he held the Boettner/Gregg Chair in Financial Gerontology in the School of Business Administration and the School of Human Services. Prior to that, for 17 years he was Professor of Political Science and Gerontology at the University of Southern California and the USC Andrus Gerontology Center. While on leave from USC he spent two years as Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in Washington, D.C. Cutler is the author of four books on aging and Financial Gerontology, and was the 2006 recipient of the prestigious Cavanaugh Award for Excellence in Training and Education in Aging given by the American Society on Aging. Cutler was recently named one of the 70 Fellows of the TIAA-CREF Institute, the social and financial research institute of one of the largest pension funds for professionals in the academic, medical, cultural and research fields.

MPTF is committed to providing services that promote and enhance the quality of life for seniors and their families and caregivers. Whether through healthcare, social engagement, volunteer opportunity, chronic disease or end of life care, community referrals, emotional support and financial assistance, exercise instruction or retirement planning, MPTF continues to be a true partner to seniors in the entertainment industry and strives to remain a national model for senior services and the delivery of those services.

For more than 85 years, the Motion Picture & Television Fund has served California's entertainment community. It provides healthcare, retirement care, childcare and charitable social services with compassion and respect for the dignity of the whole person. MPTF is a leader in the development and implementation of services and programs for senior citizens. Charity has always remained at the heart of the Motion Picture & Television Fund. For more information about MPTF visit www.mptvfund.org.