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CNN Live Sunday

SAG Awards Take Place Tonight

Aired March 10, 2002 - 17:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the best known faces from the big and small screens are gathering for the last big ceremony before the Academy Awards in two weeks. The eighth annual Screen Actors Guild Awards take place tonight, and CNN's Andy Culpepper is in Los Angeles and has a preview of what we can expect. Hi there, Andy.

ANDY CULPEPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka.

Those big names and faces are not out here right now under the sweltering sun, but we are, to kind of fill you guys in on what's coming up a little bit later.

You can see down behind me the red carpet. A lot of folks will recognize this as the site for many years of the Oscars -- of course, the Oscars have shifted to Hollywood this year, to the new Kodak Theater.

Several of the people who will be here tonight will also be at the Oscars. Many of them are nominated in both arenas. One of those is in the film "Training Day," and people are saying that Denzel Washington has a very good shot here tonight, and also has a very good shot to take the Oscar as well.

The film is also -- he's also -- Ethan Hawke -- that's a little loud in my ear, if you can turn that down. He's also joined by Ethan Hawke, who's also nominated in that category, and one of the other films up in both arenas is "In the Bedroom" and also "A Beautiful Mind."

One of the unusual things about this category here -- or rather, this event, is that there are ensemble awards being handed out to various casts as well as individuals.

Now, outside from that, there are a lot of, let's say, gift baskets that are handed out to people as payment, and I've got Karen -- come over here. Karen Wood is with Backstage Creations. Karen, you have been putting together a lot of goodies for the people who are coming tonight as kind of a thank you for showing up (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Can you tell me a little about what is going on here?

KAREN WOOD, BACKSTAGE CREATIONS: Sure. Well, we have -- we actually have two gifting opportunities for the celebrities, and this is a thank you from the producers of this show for supporting this particular event. We have the items on this side, here are actually in our gift room. We have a room backstage where the companies come, and they meet the celebrities directly, and they give them opportunities to choose from among shoes...

CULPEPPER: That's the retreat.

WOOD: That's the retreat, yes. The talent retreat. So we have Johnston & Murphy shoes for men and Charles David shoes for women. We have Danier leather bags that they put all of their items in. We have some really fun items, like the La Perla lingerie.

CULPEPPER: Yeah, well, I am not so much interested in that as I am in this watch over here.

WOOD: That is actually -- that's Maurice Lacroix, and I'm wearing Maurice Lacroix, as well as Scott Kay, which is the jewelry designer in the room. We have this beautiful item there from Scott Kay. And the room, you know, it's different from a gift basket, obviously, because this is very lavish haven. So we have -- this is actually a pillow from Dragon 88 Designs, and they designed the room. So it's this exotic looking Manhattan penthouse look.

CULPEPPER: I know that you put one of these together to have it auctioned on eBay.

WOOD: We do.

CULPEPPER: How much would one of these go for if you had to pay a top dollar for it?

WOOD: Well, we're hoping to raise a lot of money on eBay for that. So we're hoping to raise -- hopefully like $10,000 or more from it.

CULPEPPER: All right.

WOOD: Yeah.

CULPEPPER: Sounds like fun. I want to talk to you about that watch.

WOOD: All right. You got it.

CULPEPPER: All right. What you are seeing now is just a prelude to what's coming up a little bit later. You can tune in for the show at 8:00 tonight Eastern time on TNT. That's a look now. Back to you in Atlanta, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Andy. Appreciate it. And we'll be watching, of course.

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