Skip to main content

Entertainment Community Fund Has Distributed More Than $4.7 Million In Financial Aid To Industry Workers Since Start Of WGA Strike


The Entertainment Community Fund has raised more than $7 million and distributed $4.7 million-plus to more than 2,300 film and TV workers as of Friday during the strikes by the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA. The WGA's strike began May 2 and SAG-AFTRA's started July 14.

"Given the heightened rate of requests for emergency financial assistance due to the work stoppage, the Fund is distributing about $400,000-$500,000 per week, compared to an average of $75,000 per week in the first half of 2023," the ECF said in an update today. The greatest number of applications for financial assistance are from California, followed by Atlanta and New York.

More from Deadline

The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly known as The Actors Fund, is helping film and television workers in need with emergency financial assistance to cover basic living expenses such as rent, groceries, health insurance, and medical bills, as well as mental health support.

Industry workers in need of assistance can apply here.

The need for assistance, ECF says, has been compounded by loss of work associated with the Covid pandemic. "Due to the pandemic entertainment industry shutdown, people's savings were depleted when they couldn't work then, and they haven't yet had the time or work to recover/rebuild savings. Many are in extremely fragile situations and were less prepared/able to plan for the work stoppage associated with the strikes."

For now, the Entertainment Community Fund is able to provide one grant to those applying for financial assistance due to the strikes. "If we are able to offer second grants, we will update our website accordingly," the Fund said. "We expect a significant increase of inquiries in the coming months, especially if the work stoppage continues. We saw this in the last '07-'08 Writers Strike as well."

Since May 1, the Fund has raised more than $7 million from more than 8,400 donors.

"The Entertainment Community Fund is overcome with gratitude to the prominent leaders in our community who have donated in support of film and television workers in need," said Annette Bening, Chair of the Board of the Entertainment Community Fund. "Each day, the calls for help increase; these gifts will immediately assist so many in our industry who are still struggling to recover after the pandemic. We also hope that these impactful gifts will inspire others, if they can, to donate to support our crucial work."

Prominent donors include:

  • The Katie McGrath & JJ Abrams Family Foundation

  • Stacey Abrams

  • Annette Bening

  • Tom Bergeron

  • Greg Berlanti

  • Rachel Bloom

  • Rosanne Cash in memory of Johnny Cash

  • Suzanne Collins & Cap Pryor

  • Minnie Driver

  • Vince Gilligan

  • Seth MacFarlane

  • Lynn Nottage

  • Michelle Pfeiffer & David E. Kelley

  • Daniel Radcliffe

  • Shonda Rhimes

  • Steven Spielberg & Kate Capshaw

  • Union Support includes: IATSE's donation of $4 million total across MPTF and Actors Fund of Canada

  • "Countless" third party fundraisers to benefit the Fund.

  • "Grassroots outpouring of support; donors inspiring others in their networks."

  • Best of Deadline

    Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    Click here to read the full article.

    View comments

    Comments

    Popular posts from this blog

    Katie Holmes enrolls Suri Cruise at pricey Manhattan private school Avenues ... - New York Daily News

    James Devaney/WireImage Suri Cruise leaves Chelsea Piers. Katie Holmes reportedly enrolled her in a pricey private school near their Chelsea apartment. Suri Cruise is set to start first grade in style at a pricey new Manhattan private school this year. Katie Holmes enrolled 6-year-old Suri at Avenues, a nearly $40,000-a-year school set to open this fall, Life & Style reported. “Katie has eagerly been telling Suri all about the lunchrooms, basketball courts and different activities Avenues offers. Suri’s really excited about it,” a source told the magazine. The Chelsea school, which overlooks the High Line and isn’t far from Holmes’ apartment in the same neighborhood, boasts a rooftop playground and a fitness center, plus a gym with full-sized basketball and volleyball courts. The for-profit Tenth Ave. school stresses bilingual education, so Suri will learn in Mandarin or Spanish in addition to English. The so-called “world school” plans to open bran...

    Review: 'The Raven' is a feeble fictional story - CNN

    John Cusack stars as Edgar Allan Poe in "The Raven." John Cusack plays Edgar Allan Poe in "The Raven" Peter Travers: Cusack, who plays Poe with just the right blend of romantic longing and tortuous doubt Travers: Cusack captures that desperation vividly enough ( Rolling Stone ) -- There's a promising premise on the boil here. What if Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) spent the last days of his life trying to nab a serial killer who's been using macabre ideas from Poe's short stories to off his victims? "The Pit and the Pendulum," anyone? OK, "The Raven" sounds like a TV series that gets canceled soon after its debut. But it has compensations, chief of which is John Cusack , who plays Poe with just the right blend of romantic longing and tortuous doubt. Director James McTeigue (" V for Vendetta "), an assistant to the Wachowski brothers on " The Matrix ," pulls us i...

    Celebrity sightings 2024

    Updated June 6, 2024, 1:37 p.m. ET June 6/6 Kendall Jenner at the upstairs café at SARTIANO's dining with a group of pals in the afternoon.  6/4 Influencers including Alix Earle and boyfriend Braxton Berrios, Lisa Hochstein and Jody Glidden and Xandra Pohl at E11even and models Brooks Nader, Camille Kostek, Lexi Williams, Christen Harper, Ellie Thumann, Katie Austin, Penny Lane, Lauren Chan, Jena Sims, Hunter McGrady, Achieng Agutu, Kamie Crawford, and Nicole Williams English celebrating Swim Week at E11even in Miami. Jude Law and wife Phillipa Coan enjoying an early dinner at The Noortwyck on Bleeker Street.  6/3 Doja Cat dining at Italian restaurant SARTIANO's at The Mercer Hotel. The SoHo hotspot has become a staple for Doja Cat's NYC trips, having been seen dining with friends at SARTIANO's during Met Gala week last month. May 5/30 Les Couleurs Art Gallery in Miami celebrating its one-year anniversary with owner Aura Copela...