1/27/06: Actors, Directors Bottom Line

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS - today is the deadline for returning all feature film final ballots.

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS - final SAG ballots are due at the elections firm today by 12 Noon PT

More Rare Items Added to SAG Benefit Auctions!

A visit to the set of Desperate Housewives, Shannon's last shirt from Lost and autographed collectibles from the SAG Awards™ nominated casts of Boston Legal, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Everybody Loves Raymond, Good Night, And Good Luck, My Name Is Earl, Six Feet Under, The Closer and The West Wing have been added to the eBay auctions to benefit the Screen Actors Guild Foundation at sagawards.org/auction! Bidding on these and more rare items opens today and ends next Thursday, February 2.

SAG Awards Luxury Collections Now Open for Bidding!

The Screen Actors Guild Awards online benefit auctions have now kicked into high gear! The weekly auctions traditionally feature SAG Awards luxury gift collections, one-of-a-kind autographed show memorabilia and red-carpet bleacher seats for the ceremonies. The proceeds from these auctions benefit two great causes: the SAG Foundation and BookPALS.

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation 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) and its online component, Storyline. The SAG Foundation programs provide emergency relief to actors in economic distress, video and audio preservation of the creative legacy of industry members, scholarships for performers and their children and emergency funds for members with catastrophic illnesses.

The SAG Awards Celebrity Gift and Memorabilia auctions began Thursday, January 5, with the SAG Awards Nominee Gift Collection (presented to the actors nominated for this year's SAG Awards in the individual and ensemble categories) and red carpet bleacher seats at this year's SAG Awards.

The eBay bidding will culminate today, January 26 and run through February 2nd with the Presenter and Talent Retreat Gift Collections. These luxury gifts and services are given as a thank you to the presenters at the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®. Among them are resort getaways to the Adara Hotel in Whistler, B.C.; South Carolina's Inn at Palmetto Bluff and the Salish Lodge & Spa in Washington State. Also available is jewelry from AireHart by Sidney, Berchet, Tateossian and the Natural Color Diamond Association; a Swarovski crystal-coated electronic sudoku from Techno Source; an IOGEAR Bluetooth Wireless Headset; timepieces from Youngblood and EnterTrainer; menswear from Ike Behar; Fendi scarves; White + Warren sweaters; eyewear by Michael Kors; fragrances from Amouvage and 06130; gourmet dining and confections from davidburke & donatella, Debauve et Gallais and Sing Praises; a keepsake box from the Silver Gallery; and for the presenters' families, a children's teepee from Jen Klair Kids and a pet bed from Le Pettee Settee. You can go to sagawards.org/auction to place your bid on these fantastics items today!

The Talent Retreat Collection features the getaways and gifts that celebrities will personally select in the SAG Awards uniquely furnished backstage talent oasis. Karen Wood's Backstage Creations has obtained sponsor participation for the SAG Awards Gift Collections for the fifth year in a row and is creating the Talent Retreat for the sixth consecutive year.

The 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® will be simulcast live nationally from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center by TNT and TBS this Sunday, January 29, at 8 p.m. ET/ PT, 7 p.m. CT and 6 p.m. MT.