Community Services/Non-Profits in Woodland Hills, CA

“The MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND's Wasserman Campus provides a place to thrive for retired industry professionals.

The campus is entered at Stephen Spielberg Drive. The 22 acre site is beautifully maintained with walking paths through manicured gardens, Koi ponds, topiary, statuary, cottages, apartments, a state of the art movie theater, there's even a small production studio, exercise facilities, pool complex, library, medical facilities, dining rooms, and much, much more.

Eligibility requires years of activity in the motion picture and/or television Industries. You must be 70 years or older to register; to be able to share "war" stories with your funny, warm, and brilliant colleagues. (Certain medical conditions allow for earlier entry.)

I registered at MPTF at 70 years. Thirteen years later, I updated my application from inactive to active.

Then the process got serious.
Admission required supplying years of medical and financial records. Even our dog's vaccination records were required. (Pets are allowed.)

After analysing our records, we were invited to 3 hours of meetings with a social worker, nurse, recreational therapist, and the move-in coordinator. Each listened to our personal experiences and painted a picture of what to expect at MPTF. Several hours later, a telephone call notified my wife and myself, that we were invited to join the community.

We hired a downsizing expert to help with the move. Seems that living for years in the same home leads to collections of many, many things.

After days of packing and donating, Precision Moving, led by a team headed by Jose, moved us in a couple of days. (Not a single item was broken.)

It is common knowledge that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. Well, I’ve reevaluated. Here, everyone is welcoming. Quite honestly, it feels as though we had joined a production on the first day of a shoot. We are greeted by welcoming, warm people, both colleagues and MPTF's staff.

The campus is beautifully manicured. We have moved into a modern, comfortable cottage.

The dining room is comfortable. The menu changes daily. The meals are delicious and well presented. I'm doing a bit of vegan cooking in our cottage's tiny kitchen, although the Chef's encompassing menu includes several vegan dishes.

Today, at a community meeting with Chef Dan and members of MPTF staff, the residents discussed additions and changes to the current menu. I'm told, after these meetings, many of the suggestions are followed. An electric cart carried us to the event across campus.

I'm writing this review after our second week as residents. I'll update.

If you're wondering how MPTF came to life, the story.

The glare of electric current arcing between carbon rods produced choking smoke. Movie making required unwieldy, dangerous equipment. Production hours are impossibly long. Stunts are often too real. The "below-the-line" workers, the "little people" lived and died in poverty.

Something needed to be done.

Relief began with coin boxes on production stages and commissaries where employed industry workers could drop spare change to help support their unemployed colleagues.

Over a hundred years ago "The Motion Picture Relief Fund" came to life by the actions of "above-the-line" actors, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and director, D.W. Griffith. They realized the need to reach out to those, in the business, who fell upon hard times.

Today, top industry professionals (i.e., director, Steven Spielberg and actors, George Clooney, Tom Cruise and Jodie Foster) support and help grow the renamed The Motion Picture & Television Fund.

“They are the best! Love to Elijah, Daisy and Kayla! Clean store, great selections, great customer service and great attitudes from opening til closing! Five outta five, hands down!”

“As a professional organizer in the west valley area I have been dropping off client's donations at this Goodwill location for many years. I adore Ernie and Frances who continue to be super friendly and helpful every time I bring in items to drop off. I am super grateful for this store and thankful especially to Ernie and Frances.”

“Donation super easy (parking in the back) and much bigger donation center than I originally thought. So happy decided to bring our items here. Boutique is on the small side but they're definitely trying to make it special and everything is organized and prices are fair.”