Streaming giant Netflix has come up with a $100 million relief fund that will be used to support members of the entertainment and creative community, who are struggling for employment in the wake of all television and film productions shut down due to the impact of the COVD-19.
Beyond helping workers on Netflix’s own productions, the company also wants to support the broader film and television industry, stated Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos.
“The COVID-19 crisis is devastating for many industries, including the creative community. Almost all television and film production has now ceased globally — leaving hundreds of thousands of crew and cast without jobs. These include electricians, carpenters and drivers, many of whom are paid hourly wages and work on a project-to-project basis. This community has supported Netflix through the good times, and we want to help them through these hard times, especially while governments are still figuring out what economic support they will provide,” he said, in a statement.
With the entertainment industry at a standstill across countries, jobs are hard to come by, especially for daily-wage earners. The Producers Guild of India had announced earlier in the week that it would be setting up a relief fund for daily-wage earners most affected by the shutdown of film, television and over-the-top productions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the fund will go towards support for the hardest-hit workers on Netflix’s own productions around the world. “We’re in the process of working out exactly what this means, production by production. This is in addition to the two weeks pay we’ve already committed to the crew and cast on productions we were forced to suspend last week,” continues Sarandos.
“$15 million of the fund will go to third parties and non-profits providing emergency relief to out-of-work crew and cast in the countries where we have a large production base,” he added.
Of that, the company will donate $1 million each to the SAG-AFTRA COVID-19 Disaster Fund, the Motion Picture & Television Fund, and the Actors Fund Emergency Assistance in the U.S., as well as $1 million between the AFC and Fondation des Artistes. Sarandos also said that Netflix was working closely with industry organisations to bolster relief efforts in Europe, Latin America and Asia, where they have a big production presence. The details of donations to groups in other countries will be announced next week.
“What’s happening is unprecedented. We are only as strong as the people we work with and Netflix is fortunate to be able to help those hardest hit in our industry through this challenging time,” Sarandos concluded.
