Netflix said on Friday that it is setting up a $100 million relief fund for workers in the global creative community affected by coronavirus, which has caused most film and television production to stop, according to AP.
“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 bulk of the fund will support hard-hit crews on Netflix’s own films around the world, Sarandos said, and will supplement the two weeks of pay the company has already agreed to pay the casting and crew on suspended films.
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.
In an effort to support the broader film and television industry, $15 million of the Netflix fund will be distributed to “third parties and nonprofits providing emergency relief to out-of-work crew and cast in the countries where we have a large production base,” according to Sarandos’ statement.
“What’s happening is unprecedented,” he said. “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.”
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