Netflix increases relief fund for production workers

LOS ANGELES: Netflix has increased the amount of money in its coronavirus emergency relief fund by $50 million, bringing the total for displaced production workers to $150 million.

Film and TV production has been shut down around the world as people shelter at home to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The abrupt closures put hundreds of thousands of cast and crew members out of work.

In March, Netflix announced it had established a $100 million fund to assist the hardest-hit workers on its own productions and others in areas where Netflix has a large production base. Some of the money is being allocated through nonprofit groups that are helping the industry through the coronavirus crisis.

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

The majority of the fund will support hard-hit crews on Netflix’s own productions around the world, Sarandos said, and will supplement the two weeks of pay the company already agreed to pay the cast and crew on suspended productions.

Electricians, carpenters and drivers, who largely are paid hourly wages and work on a project-to-project basis, are among the hundreds of thousands in the entertainment industry without jobs, he said.

More than 120,000 jobs have been lost by members of IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees that represents cinematographers, editors, production designers and others. The company so far has provided assistance in the United States, Canada, Britain, Italy, India, France, Mexico, Spain, Brazil and the Netherlands.