Motion Picture & Television Fund president and CEO Bob Beitcher wrote an open letter to the industry on Thursday, calling for greater support of below-the-line crewmembers amid the writers and actors strikes.
The MPTF — which supports working and retired members of the entertainment community via health and social services including temporary financial assistance, case management and residential living — has gone from 100 calls a week to 500 to 1,000 a week, Beitcher said, "90 percent of them about financial assistance and 80 percent of them from our crew community.
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"Members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have been very generous in stepping up to support their own members, but as a community we are not doing enough to support the tens of thousands of crew members and others who live paycheck to paycheck and depend on this industry for their livelihood," Beitcher continued in his letter. "They have become the forgotten casualties during these strikes, overlooked by the media. Let's face it, actors and writers make better subjects for strike stories; and now crew members are not getting the philanthropic support they've earned and deserve."
Many productions have been shut since the writers went on strike on May 2, and even more were suspended once the actors joined the picket line on July 13, leaving most crew members out of work until agreements are made.
Read the full letter below:
We are now over three months into a work stoppage without – from where I sit – any end in sight. Like everybody else, I hope all parties can come together and resolve their differences soon. And let's face it, even after the collective bargaining agreements are ratified, it will be months before production volumes ramp up and until then pervasive unemployment or under-employment will continue.
I'm writing about a related matter, one that doesn't get much attention but which I hope you will consider: these strikes are having an absolutely awful and devastating impact on the non-striking industry workforce, most especially our below-the-line crews. They are the hardest-working and lowest-paid members of our community; they travel the farthest, arrive the earliest, leave the latest; they design, build, light, photograph, and strike the sets; they provide the transportation and the locations and the labor that are fundamental to production; they make sure everyone looks and sounds good; and in many cases, they are most vulnerable to physical hardships over their careers. They are, quite simply, the backbone of our industry, the folks who make it all come together and get it done.
Members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have been very generous in stepping up to support their own members, but as a community we are not doing enough to support the tens of thousands of crew members and others who live paycheck to paycheck and depend on this industry for their livelihood. They have become the forgotten casualties during these strikes, overlooked by the media. Let's face it, actors and writers make better subjects for strike stories; and now crew members are not getting the philanthropic support they've earned and deserve.
At MPTF, we are in touch with this group every day, if not every hour. Prior to the May 1 work stoppage, we received on average 100 calls a week from working and retired industry members seeking assistance in connection with one or more MPTF programs including financial assistance. Since July 1, we have been receiving over 500-1,000 calls a week (!!), 90 percent of them about financial assistance and 80 percent of them from our crew community. Our crews are at risk of losing their homes, their cars, their ability to pay utility or medical bills, to pay the caregivers for parents or disabled children, and they more than any other group need the financial support from successful community members who know and appreciate what they mean to the film and television production enterprise.
MPTF is here, as we have been for over 100 years, to do the work, to screen members for financial assistance, to send checks to landlords, banks, and medical providers, and to provide much-needed mental health checks. We were there for the industry during the pandemic, and we're still here and ready now. But we need your financial support to make it happen.
This is a moment when we can all show our crew community just how much we respect and care about them. They are the group that gets celebrated at every wrap party; their commitment to the creative work on the set needs to be recognized at this very dire moment with funding for financial assistance.
For over 100 years, the belief in "taking care of our own" has been the north star for MPTF. Now, more than ever, we hope you can continue to open your hearts and remember that we mean taking care of all of our own.
If you want to help, please donate to MPTF's emergency relief funding at www.mptf.com/donate. We are providing grants of $1,500 to eligible industry members, so help 1, help 10, help 100, help many more – just help. It will mean a lot to our crews, and to you as well.
Warmly,
Bob Beitcher, MPTF President and CEO
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