A letter I sent out to a bunch of people in my network this morning:
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Hi friends,
So the world is weird right now.
Like most of you, I’m in self-isolation, watching Great British Bake Off reruns while cuddling up to my beloved stacks of toilet paper. I’m checking social media and Reddit obsessively, attempting to satisfy my desire for human interaction. I miss taking my dog to the Grove and making the other dogs feel insecure that they’re not as cute. I’m wondering when everything gets to go back to “normal”.
However, for many others that work in entertainment, life will not go back to “normal” for a long time, even after the bell curve has flattened and production resumes en mass.
Over the last week, hundreds (and potentially thousands) of Hollywood crews and workers had their hours drastically reduced or cut all together. These are the people who work tirelessly year round making movies and TV shows the world loves to watch. Many have families or dependents. While unemployment benefits are being expedited, those benefits cap out at $450/week — not nearly enough for a single person to survive on, much less a family. It’s been incredible watching showrunners, execs and others step up and lend a helping hand to those in need; however, the number of people who need financial assistance is increasing every day.
Most of you know I created a grassroots movement called #PayUpHollywood that aimed to shine a light on assistant issues in the entertainment industry. The most prominent of those issues has been financial insecurity — commonly known as “crappy pay”. Right now, many of these support staffers have been laid off or seen their hours reduced, resulting in either partial- or total- loss of pay. Many were 1099 employees who will not qualify for unemployment benefits and will be unable to get federal relief. But there is still rent to pay, medication to buy, and children or parents (or both) to care for— and no income for the foreseeable future.
The work stoppage we’re facing will hit the support staff community hardest; there’s a strong chance many staffers in this community will be unable to take on more debt and will be forced to leave the industry altogether. They see the financial hole they’re being forced to dig, but there’s nothing they can do to stop it.
So I’m asking for your help.
#PayUpHollywood, along with Scriptnotes Podcast, YEA! and Junior Hollywood Radio & Television Society (JHRTS) have come together to create what we’re calling the Hollywood Support Staff COVID-19 Relief Fund, aimed to assist LA-based support staffers affected by the COVID-19 shut downs. In short — we made a GoFundMe to help support staff.
We’re urging the studios and employers in the entertainment industry to continue compensating ALL their employees during this time of uncertainty. That’s the only way to ensure everyone, not only support staffers, are taken care of during this crazy time. Unless and until Hollywood studios commit to compensating their support staff during production shut-downs, this fundraiser will provide a modest one-time stipend to as many Los Angeles-based support staffers in need as we can support. We will be asking support staffers to fill out an application for aid, then we will verify and fulfill requests based on the order they are received and the urgency of the applicant’s personal situation.
The stipends to support staffers facing partial- or total-wage loss will be in the amounts of either $450 or $900. Our goal is to raise a minimum of $100,000, which will let us provide stipends for 111–222 support staffers.
Today is our first official fundraising day. Here’s what I’m asking of you:
- Please tweet/email/DM/chatroulette everyone about our campaign. If promoting on social media, please use the hashtag #SupportOurSupportStaffs. What’s just as important as getting donations is making other people aware that this is something they can donate to. The GoFundMe link is below.
- If you can, please consider making a donation. The incredible Scriptnotes hosts, John August and Craig Mazin, are offering an opening day challenge — they will match dollar-for-dollar everything raised for today, March 17th, up to $50k! That’s so many people who will receive desperately-needed financial relief!
- Lastly, if you know support staffers in need, they can apply for aid from this fundraiser here.
We may be stuck in our homes with no new episodes of Love Is Blind to binge, but we HAVE homes and, for better or worse, we can afford our Netflix accounts for Love Is Blind reruns. The fundraiser can’t and won’t solve all the financial issues the shutdowns have caused — but it can offer many a lifeline right now when they need it most. Together, we can make sure everyone has access to Love is Blind (and also some money that will ease their immediate financial burdens and provide some financial relief.
#SupportOurSupportStaffs here — https://www.gofundme.com/f/44ndst-relief-fund-for-hollywood-support-staff
In self-isolation,
Liz
