GERALD McRANEY TO BE HONORED WITH THE LARRY STEWART LEADERSHIP AWARD AT THE 9TH ANNUAL PRISM AWARDS

The Chris Farley Foundation To Receive The President’s Award

LOS ANGELES – The Entertainment Industries Council, Inc., (EIC) will present actor Gerald McRaney with the Larry Stewart Leadership & Inspiration Award at the 9th Annual PRISM Awards on April 28 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, it was announced today by Brian Dyak, President and CEO, EIC. The Chris Farley Foundation has been selected to receive the organization’s President’s Award. The awards ceremony will air on the FX Network at a later date.

"Gerald McRaney is a founding EIC board member and active trustee,” said Dyak. "He has been a tireless member of the team which helped mold our efforts to deal responsibly with issues relating to keep depiction of substance abuse in entertainment products. He helped set the example for other performers to follow to help get life-saving messages across to the viewing public and represented our industry’s best efforts in testimony before Congress. We are very pleased to present this prestigious honor to him."

The Larry Stewart Leadership and Inspiration Award, which is presented for leadership and inspiration by example, is named in memory of veteran writer/producer/director Larry Stewart, a founding Board Director of EIC. Past recipients include TV executive Mindy Herman; actor Martin Sheen; documentary producer Arnold Shapiro; TV show host Leeza Gibbons; talk show host Montel Williams; entertainer Suzanne Somers; actress Michele Lee; Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee; producer Dick Wolf and Tribune Entertainment Company President and CEO Dick Askin.

"The Chris Farley Foundation has shown great leadership in bringing substance abuse to the forefront of the public’s consciousness, especially outreach to school age children and teens," said Dyak. "The Foundation's THINK, LAUGH, LIVE is an effective social marketing mantra designed to reach young people. Coupled with the integration of humor, they have a program that grabs audience attention." This marks the second year the award has been presented. Last year's recipient was SHARE, a country music industry drug prevention campaign.

The 9th Annual PRISM Awards, which is presented by EIC in partnership with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse/National Institutes of Health, is the entertainment industry's only annual awards honoring the accurate depiction of drug, alcohol and tobacco use and addiction in movies, television, video, music, interactive and comic book entertainment.

EIC, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1983 by leaders of the entertainment industry to bring the power of the industry to bear on health and social issues. Among the issues EIC addresses are: drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and addiction; firearm safety and injury prevention; sun safety; human trafficking; terrorism and homeland security; mental health; and HIV/AIDS prevention. EIC’s website is located at www.eiconline.org.

NIDA, a component of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, supports 85% of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute also carries out a variety of programs to ensure the rapid dissemination and implementation of researching findings. NIDA’s website is located at http://www.drugabuse.gov/.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving health and health care for all Americans. The Foundation invests in initiatives that create meaningful and timely change and that help us lead healthier lives. One of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's four goals is to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse--tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs.

FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network of the Fox Entertainment Group. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 79 million homes. The diverse schedule includes a growing roster of distinctive original series and movies, an impressive roster of acquired hit series, an established film library with box-office hits from 20th Century Fox and other major studios, and marquee sports such as NASCAR