Netflix Establishes $100 Million Emergency Fund For Entertainment Workers

Written By: @dawnnnyy_

The coronavirus outbreak has introduced an unexpected shutdown of the economy. Thousands of people are without jobs, including creatives in the entertainment industry. According to Vanity Fair, an estimated 120,000 crew members are without jobs due to film and television productions being paused. However, on Friday, Netflix announced it will donate $100 million in relief to assist hourly workers whose jobs have been affected.

In a blog post, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos wrote, “Most of the fund will go towards support for the hardest-hit workers on our own productions around the world,” he said.  “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.”

Netflix is also dedicated to helping crew workers in countries besides the U.S. $15 million will be distributed amongst “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,”  Sarandos wrote.

Netflix will also be donating $1 million each to SAG-AFTRA, the Motion Picture and Television Fund, and the Actors Fund Emergency Assistance. According to CBS Los Angeles, an additional $1 million will be divided between AFC and the Foundation des Artistes.

“We urge you to include protections for freelance and contract workers in the entertainment industry who have lost work,” U.S. Rep Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) wrote in a letter urging Nancy Pelosi to include entertainment workers in new relief legislation. “For every worker or performer on stage or in front of the camera, there are dozens more who make their living in this industry — an industry in crisis, with virtually every workplace in the country, shut down over the past week.”

Netflix is “fortunate enough to be able to help those hardest hit” in the industry during this challenging time.