More Stars Stand Up To Cancer This Friday, September 5th - 8:00 PM ET and PT / 7:00 PM CT

Robert Downey Jr., Melissa McCarthy, Steve Carell, Sofia Vergara, Ben Falcone, Kevin Bacon, Anna Kendrick, Tony Goldwyn, Dave Grohl, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Gad, Giada De Laurentiis, Jaime King, Mira Sorvino, Joe Manganiello, Jordana Brewster, Alison Sweeney, Amanda de Cadenet, Charlie Wilson, & Diem Brown
Join the One-hour Telecast

Event Airing Simultaneously on CBC, City, CTV, Global and Other Canadian Services; Streaming on Yahoo Canada
8:00 PM ET AND PT / 7:00 PM CT

http://www.standup2cancer.ca | http://facebook.com/su2c.ca | Instagram: @SU2C_CA | Twitter: @SU2C_CA

TORONTO, Sept. 3, 2014 /CNW/ - This Friday, September 5^th (8:00 – 9:00 PM ET/PT) the Hollywood community will come together to support Stand Up To Cancer Canada (SU2C Canada), a program of EIF Canada, a Canadian registered charity, by participating in the Stand Up To Cancer "roadblock" fundraising telecast. The telecast will feature cutaways to a live event in Toronto attended by film and television stars; executives and on-air talent from the Canadian broadcasters; and leaders from health charities, government-funded organizations and corporations.  Actors Robert Downey Jr., Melissa McCarthy, Steve Carell, Sofia Vergara, Ben Falcone, Kevin Bacon, Anna Kendrick, Tony Goldwyn, Dave Grohl, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Gad, Giada De Laurentiis, Jaime King, Mira Sorvino, Joe Manganiello, Jordana Brewster, Alison Sweeney, Amanda De Cadenet, Charlie Wilson, and Diem Brown, will be part of the star-studded appeal to help build public support for SU2C's groundbreaking translational research that can provide patients with new therapies to save lives now. They join previously announced participants including Gwyneth Paltrow, Katie Couric, Reese Witherspoon, Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Jon Hamm, Kiefer Sutherland, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Mark Harmon, Rob Lowe, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Tony Hale, Dane Cook, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Marg Helgenberger, Matt Passmore, Rob Riggle, Italia Ricci, Ethan Zohn and Bree Turner. Special musical performances include: The Who, Jennifer Hudson, Lupe Fiasco & Common, Ariana Grande, and Dave Matthews Band.    

Gwyneth Paltrow and Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions will executive produce the September 5 broadcast, live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. For the first time, there will be a Canada-inclusive co-broadcast of the Stand Up To Cancer special, which will air simultaneously on all four major English-language Canadian networks: CBC, City, CTV and Global, along with Canadian services AMI, CHCH, CHEK, Fight Network, Gusto TV, Hollywood Suite, and TLN.  In addition, the show will stream live on Yahoo Canada. All funds received from the Canadian general public during the broadcast will be directed towards the creation of collaborative research teams, as well as education and awareness programs conducted in Canada.

Instead of the traditional phone bank staffed by celebrities, the September 5^th telecast will feature a "digital lounge" on the set, hosted by Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric. Stars in the digital lounge will reach out to viewers via phone, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms through an exciting new campaign called "We're Calling You" that  SU2C's supporters can sign up for at werecallingyou.org.

There have been three previous Stand Up To Cancer roadblock fundraising specials, which aired on dozens of U.S. broadcast and cable networks. Facebook has collaborated with the U.S.-based Stand Up To Cancer program since the first telecast in 2008 and is now SU2C's primary social media partner. With the "We're Calling You" activation, Facebook and Instagram will enable supporters and fans in Canada as well as the U.S. to engage directly with their favorite stars.

In the on-stage digital lounge, Katie Couric will tap into the Facebook Mentions Box, which allows supporters to share their connection to cancer and receive real-time responses from celebrities. Other celebrities in the digital lounge will participate in Facebook Q&As, using their own pages to respond live to fan questions.  Facebook and Instagram will also have a presence on the star-studded red carpet on Sept. 5 with a photo experience that will capture the stars as they make their way into the Dolby Theatre, sharing those images and videos with fans. All of this, and much more, can be followed on Stand Up To Cancer Canada's social media feeds (Facebook: Stand Up To Cancer Canada | Instagram: @SU2C_CA | Twitter: @SU2C_CA).

In addition to Facebook, an array of digital and social media platforms and influencers -- ranging from Shazam, reddit, Nerdist, Tumblr, Yahoo, AOL, and Huffington Post are supporting the SU2C telecast this year. 

This star-studded appeal will help build public support for SU2C Canada, which will bring together scientists from different disciplines and across institutions to collaborate on finding new treatments for a wide range of cancer types.  All funds received from the Canadian general public during the broadcast will be directed towards the creation of collaborative research teams, as well as education and awareness programs conducted in Canada.

Organizations collaborating with the SU2C Canada initiative include the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, with support from CIBC; the Canadian Cancer Society; the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium, with funding from Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). MasterCard and AstraZeneca are the first Canadian corporate supporters of SU2C Canada.

The first three SU2C telecasts took place in 2008, 2010 and 2012 under the aegis of the U.S.-based SU2C program, part of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a U.S. 501(c)(3) charitable organization, which utilizes the industry's resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about progress being made in the fight against the disease.  To date, more than $260 million has been pledged to the U.S.-based SU2C program.

In the U.S., ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, along with ABC Family, American Forces Network, AXS TV, Bravo, Cooking Channel, Discovery Fit & Health, E!, Encore, Encore Espanol, EPIX, ESPNEWS, FOX Sports 2, FXM, HBO, HBO Latino, ION Television, LMN, Logo TV, MLB Network, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, Palladia, Pivot, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, Starz, TNT and VH1 are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime for the nationally televised fundraising special on Friday, September 5.

About EIF Canada / Stand Up To Cancer Canada

EIF Canada, a Canadian registered charity (Reg. # 80550 6730 RR0001), founded by the U.S.-based Entertainment Industry Foundation, was established to conduct charitable programs in Canada addressing health and other issues. Stand Up To Cancer Canada (SU2C Canada) is a program of EIF Canada that raises funds to support collaborative research teams, as well as education and awareness programs conducted in Canada.

About the U.S.-Based Stand Up To Cancer Initiative

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. The U.S.-based SU2C program, part of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by film and media leaders who utilize the industry's resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about progress being made in the fight against the disease.

About the Entertainment Industry Foundation

Stand Up To Cancer is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that serves as the collective philanthropy for the television and film businesses. EIF has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support programs addressing critical health, education and social issues. For more information, visit www.eifoundation.org.

Image with caption: "Stand Up To Cancer Canada (CNW Group/Global Television)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140903_C1184_PHOTO_EN_5289.jpg

SOURCE: Global Television

Media Contact: Pennant Media Group, Amira de Vera, 416-596-2978, [email protected]