A new relief fund will pro­vide aid to the UK’s film and TV industries

While everyone’s atten­tions remain focused on the most urgent mat­ters right now – cur­tail­ing the spread of the coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic, pro­tect­ing those most sus­cep­ti­ble to it – the eco­nom­ic dimen­sion of this glob­al cri­sis has not gone unno­ticed. Every indus­try has been plunged into jeop­ardy, and the enter­tain­ment sec­tor hasn’t been an exception.

As many work­ers fret over their own fis­cal future with­out steady full-time jobs pro­vid­ing them with paid leave, the British Film Insti­tute along with The Film and TV Char­i­ty have tak­en action. A press release this morn­ing announced the estab­lish­ment of a COVID-19 Film and TV Emer­gency Relief Fund to pro­vide the unem­ployed with the assis­tance they require, and a lead­off dona­tion from Net­flix in the amount of £1 million.

Some of the specifics have yet to be ham­mered out, as the release states that cri­te­ria for eli­gi­bil­i­ty and the mon­e­tary sums indi­vid­u­als would receive are in the process of being deter­mined. The Film and TV Char­i­ty makes clear, how­ev­er, that those with immi­nent need can get ​“stop-gap sup­port” with grants up to £500 from an exist­ing hard­ship fund.

The ini­tia­tive also includes mea­sures for psy­cho­log­i­cal well­ness, includ­ing a chat forum and pro­fes­sion-spe­cif­ic advice about remain­ing well while cooped up in the house. ​“We’re enter­ing a peri­od of unprece­dent­ed iso­la­tion and wor­ry for a work­force that we know from our research already suf­fers from poor men­tal health,” said Alex Pum­frey, CEO of The Film and TV Char­i­ty, as part of a pre­pared statement.

BFI Chief Exec­u­tive Ben Roberts also gave a quote aim­ing for reas­sur­ance in tur­bu­lent times. ​“Free­lance pro­fes­sion­als are the back­bone of our film and tele­vi­sion indus­tries, and we hope that every­one will work togeth­er to sup­port those who have been hard­est hit at this extra­or­di­nary time of need. Netflix’s ear­ly com­mit­ment to this fund is huge­ly wel­comed and we are ask­ing oth­er com­mer­cial indus­try part­ners to con­tribute, if they are able, and play their part in help­ing those most in need get through this crisis.”

In the world of free­lanc­ing, a cat­e­go­ry under which much of the enter­tain­ment world must nec­es­sar­i­ly fall, even the more active careers are sub­ject to a fright­en­ing month-to-month pre­car­i­ty. This fund takes a pre­cious step towards a sore­ly need­ed sense of secu­ri­ty, and while the end­point has yet to appear on the hori­zon, if this makes the ordeal of weath­er­ing this storm any eas­i­er, it will have been worth it.