The Motion Picture & Television Fund has sent out an urgent plea for donations to help below-the-line crew members effected by the ongoing Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes – workers whom MPTF President & CEO Bob Beitcher says, “Have become the forgotten casualties during these strikes.” Many of those seeking assistance, he says, “are at risk of losing their homes, their cars, and their ability to pay utility or medical bills.”
In an open letter to the entertainment community (read it in full below), Beitcher said that “these strikes are having an absolutely awful and devastating impact on the non-striking industry workforce, most especially our below-the-line crews.”
Donations can be made here.
As reported here Wednesday, MPTF has already granted nearly $1 million in financial assistance to industry workers since the Writers Guild went on strike on May 2, followed by SAG-AFTRA on July 14. And during the first seven months of 2023, requests to the MPTF for financial aid have been coming in six-times faster than they did during the same period last year. To help pay their bills, the MPTF provides grants of $1,500 to eligible industry members.
“We are now over three months into a work stoppage without – from where I sit – any end in sight,” Beitcher writes in his open letter. “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.”
Over the past week, the WGA and management’s Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been exchanging proposals for a new contract that could eventually lead to an end of the writers strike, but the companies have yet to invite SAG-AFTRA back to the bargaining table.
RELATED: WGA & AMPTP Meeting Ends With “Mixed Results”
Noting that below-the-line crews are “the backbone of our industry,” Beitcher writes that “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.”
Out-of-work crewmembers account for 81% of recent requests for financial assistance, and over the past 30 days, they made up 92% those who actually received financial assistance from the MPTF through the various funds it administers.
Here Beitcher’s open letter in full:
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