“Almost all television and film production has now ceased globally,” said Ted Sarandos. “Leaving hundreds of thousands of crew and cast without jobs.”
Sarandos is the chief content officer for Netflix, in charge of the creative arm of the production and streaming company. In a statement on March 20, 2020, he announced that Netflix would be creating a $100 million fund to help those thousands of creatives.
Most of the fund, allocated production by production, will go to those workers suspended from Netflix’s own works. All filming and much post-production work was suspended in mid-March. Netflix committed to paying two weeks of pay for all suspended crew, but that’s about to run out. This new fund will help to ensure those workers will be able to endure the crisis and stay safe.
“This community has supported Netflix through the good times,” said Sarandos. “And we want to help them through these hard times, especially while governments are still figuring out what economic support they will provide. So we’ve created a $100 million fund to help with hardship in the creative community.”
$15 million of the fund will also go to third parties, such as catering and transport companies which have been equally as hard hit, and to nonprofits that support the laid-off crew and cast in other countries where Netflix has set up large production bases. Another $2 million will be split specifically between the SAG-AFTRA Covid-19 Disaster Fund, the Actors Fund Emergency Assistance, the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the Association Française des directeurs de la photographie Cinématographique, and the Fondation des Artistes.
“In other regions, including Europe, Latin America and Asia… we are working with existing industry organizations to create similar creative community emergency relief efforts.
“What’s happening is unprecedented,” added Sarandos. “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.”
Photo: Netflix company headquarters in Los Gatos, California. Credit: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com
