Netflix Starts $100 Million Coronavirus Disaster Relief Fund to Help Actors and Crew Members

Netflix is giving back to creators and the TV and movie industry affected by the Coronavirus.

According to Variety, Netflix created a $100 million Coronavirus relief fund.

As the Coronavirus spreads throughout the world, Netflix’s fund will help members of the creative community are unemployed and have no way to make money during the COVID-19 outbreak. Netflix says the majority of the fund will go toward supporting unemployed crew members who were laid-off by the outbreak.

“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,” Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement. “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.”

The entertainment industry is struggling with hundreds of thousands of unemployed creators, filmmakers, writers, screenwriters, producers and actors. According to the IATSE, 120,000 crew members are unemployed since last week. Guilds and unions including SAG-AFTRA are pressing the U.S. government for assistance during these hard times.

$15 million of the Netflix Coronavirus Outbreak fund will go towards third parties and non-profits to provide emergency relief to unemployed cast and crew members around the world where there’s a huge production base. Netflix said they will also donate $1 million to the SAG-AFTRA COVID-19 Disaster Found,  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. 

Ted Sarandos said the company is also working with film industry organizations to support Europe, Latin America, and Asia, where many of their productions are filmed. Netflix is looking at productions to determine if crew members and actors need help.

“What’s happening is unprecedented,” Sarandos said. “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.”

In relevant news, On Friday, March 20, Lee Thomas, Deputy Commissioner of the Georgia Film Office, issued a statement about the Coronavirus and its impact on the number 1 filming capital of the world for blockbuster movies.

Thomas began by stating Georgia’s film industry is “stronger than ever” and listed several notable achievements including supporting 3,040 film industry businesses and delivering $9.2 billion in total wages.

Thomas continued by saying, “Film and television production activity has come to a virtual standstill not only in Georgia, but across the country, in a necessary response to halt the virus and save lives.”

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