Netflix Launches $100 Million Fund to Support Creative Community Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Netflix is donating a ton of money to help the creative community amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The streaming company has announced that it is creating a $100 million fund that will help people who were in the creative industries and are now unemployed because of the crisis. Most of the money will go to people who are out of work because of productions being shut down.

$15 million of the fund will “go to third parties and non-profits that offer emergency relief to out-of-work crew and cast in countries where there’s a large production base,” according to Variety.

It has been estimated that 120,000 crew members have lost jobs because of the shut down.

“The COVID-19 crisis is devastating for many industries, including the creative community. Almost all television and film production has now ceased globally — leaving hundreds of thousands of crew and cast without jobs,” Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement. “These include electricians, carpenters and drivers, many of whom are paid hourly wages and work on a project-to-project basis. 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.”

“What’s happening is unprecedented,” he added. “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.”