On the 100th day of the writers’ strike, Shawn Batey was sweltering in the August sun holding her “IATSE Solidarity” banner on the picket line outside Netflix’s New York offices, but she was happy to be there. Batey, a props assistant and documentary filmmaker, is a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, a union that represents many entertainment workers, not just in Hollywood and New York, but across the country. She recently worked on Pose and Russian Doll, but she’s had difficulties covering her expenses since the writers’ strike began in May and the actors joined them on July 14. So she requested assistance from the Entertainment Community Fund’s emergency fund.
“They say apply when you’re at a critical point,” said Batey, adding that she needed to show her union card, her wages, and, in her case, that she’d worked as a member of the union for a certain number of years. The application is lengthy, but she said, “It is definitely worth it for people to apply. Just be patient.”
The Actors Fund, as it was previously known, is one of several NGOs that have long supported workers
Batey, who used her award to cover her rent, phone bill, power bill, and other expenditures, is one of 2,600 film or television professionals who have received assistance from the Entertainment Community Fund, which has granted $5.4 million as of Aug. 25. The Actors Fund, as it was previously known, is one of several NGOs that have long supported workers who make the entertainment industry run but were effectively gig workers long before the phrase was invented. This includes both unionized and non-unionized workers, as well as those on strike and those who have lost their jobs as a result of it.
People in California have made the most requests for assistance to the fund, followed by Atlanta and New York. It has so far raised $7.6 million and is granting approximately $500,000 per week. For the time being, it is only making one-time awards of up to $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for families. “It’s a lot of the craftspeople, the wardrobe people, the makeup people, the carpenters that build the sets, the painters, and the electricians,” said Tom Exton, chief advancement officer for the Entertainment Community Fund. He said the fund has supported industry members through many previous crises, including the AIDS epidemic and financial crisis, and would continue to fundraise to provide help as needed.
Striking actors and writers have accused the studios of purposefully prolonging the strike so that they lose their homes
The Motion Picture & Television Fund, another charity founded more than a century ago to aid entertainment workers in difficult times, helps administer donations from some unions to give emergency support exclusively to their members. It refused to reveal the amount of financial assistance it received from those unions. The fund also offers unaffiliated workers financial and counseling assistance, as well as housing to industry veterans over the age of 70. According to its president and CEO, Bob Beitcher, many of the lowest-paid entertainment workers have minimal savings or reserves as a result of the pandemic. The federal subsidies and protections, such as eviction moratoriums, that helped keep entertainment employees and others afloat during the COVID-19 shutdowns are likewise no longer available.
“They are losing their homes. They’re losing their cars and trucks. They’re losing their health insurance,” Beitcher said. “And it’s pretty awful.” Striking actors and writers have accused the studios of purposefully prolonging the strike so that they lose their homes. MPTF has been getting 200 calls a day, as opposed to 20 a day before the strike. Over 80% of callers are “below-the-line” workers, meaning not actors, writers, directors, or producers. They’ve processed 1,000 requests for financial assistance through the end of July, the fund said, with applicants waiting an average of two weeks for the money to be dispersed.
Beitcher called for greater support from industry members, in an open letter on Aug. 17, saying, “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.”
Since the letter was released, MPTF has raised $1.5 million. In the first three weeks of the actor’s strike, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, a nonprofit with the purpose of supporting union members, quickly garnered $15 million, with initial gifts of $1 million or more from Dwayne Johnson, Meryl Streep, and George and Amal Clooney. Luciana and Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Deborra-lee Furness, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, and Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Julia Roberts, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Oprah Winfrey also gave $1 million.
“Those are the people that we’re going to be helping the most because those are the people that are going to be hurting the most”
Cyd Wilson, the foundation’s executive director, said her pitch to the top talent is that even the biggest stars need an army of smaller actors, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, to make their movies and television shows. “Those are the people that we’re going to be helping the most because those are the people that are going to be hurting the most,” she said. The foundation exclusively supports the 160,000 members of the union, and 86% of those performers don’t make enough work in a year to qualify for health insurance, Wilson said. “They waitress, they bartend, they work catering, they drive Uber, they babysit, they dog walk, and they housesit. They have all these secondary jobs in order to be able to survive,” she said.
The funds anticipate that as the strike continues, more union members will lose their health insurance since they will not have worked enough hours to stay eligible. A small group of large showrunners agreed to set up a fund with the MPTF to specifically fundraise for crew members’ health care. “It’s one thing for us to be sacrificing our own day-to-day for our greater good, but to watch our brother and sister union stand beside us?” said actor and writer Andrea Savage. “We just got together and said, ‘How can we show that we’re there for them? And also, can we really put our money where our mouth is and actually do something concrete?”
Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver launched the Strike Force Five podcast on Wednesday, with proceeds benefiting the writers and staff on their TV shows. As presenting sponsors, Mint Mobile and luxury booze giant Diageo have joined. Savage and other actors, including Girls founder Lena Dunham and Black Monday star Paul Scheer, began chatting in WhatsApp groups, then met on Zoom, and eventually formed The Union Solidarity Coalition. So far, they’ve raised $315,000, thanks in part to a benefit event in Los Angeles on July 15 that earned money for the MPTF fund (Savage said she and Scheer covered the cost of the portable toilets).
An original auction, which included a ceramic vase handcrafted by Seth Rogen and a blue outfit worn by Abbi Jacobson in the comedy Broad City, raised more than $8,600. A second eBay auction will begin in mid-September. Batey says she’s still figuring out how to make ends meet in September and throughout the strike. She’s considering where else her skills might be useful and whether she should take on a temporary job outside her profession. Meanwhile, she is a fan of the talented writers and actresses. “It’s dignity and standing up for yourself,” she said. “So if it means we have to take a hit right now for the bigger cause, it’s worth it.”
