The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is kicking off its Back To Work campaign, which raises additional funds for emergency relief to assist crew members impacted by work stoppage. Such industry figures as Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, John Wells, Karen Rosenfelt, John Goldwyn, Denis Villeneuve, Betsy Beers, Susan and Gary Martin and the list goes on have kindly contributed funds.
“While the agreement between the WGA and AMPTP and the tentative agreement between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP are certainly encouraging, our crews will continue to struggle for many months to come,” said Bob Beitcher, MPTF President & CEO. “The financial and emotional pain will not be flipped off like a light switch, but will require months or longer to heal.”
Presently, MPTF is providing financial assistance at a rate of $500,000 a week to crew members. “We must come together to invest in the future of our entertainment
community and workforce,” said John Wells. “We’ve been working with the many talented members of our long-time crew to help us get through this difficult period and wanted to extend a hand to the entire crew community.”
As Beitcher noted, the organization was born out of both a need and want to take care of Hollywood’s own during times in need. As producer Emma Thomas noted, just because of the strikes are over, the healing is nowhere near complete. “We are thrilled that SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP have tentatively agreed to a new contract, but it will be a while before most of our industry colleagues are back at work, and the MPTF is going to play a vital part
in supporting crews as they return to set,” said Thomas.
For any crew members in need, call (323) 634-3888. Donations can be made here.
