Rose Cordio
Alone: The Unity Support Fund, established by the Draiter’s Guild and several of its prominent members to help non-members during the ongoing strike, has now grown to more than $2.2 million and has helped more than 400 industry members. The interest-based fund is managed by the ex-actors fund.
Recognizing that writers affected by the strike are not the only entertainment industry professionals, the fund was launched May 10 with a $1.7 million donation from Guild and WGA members JJ Abrams, Greg Berlanti, Adam McKay, Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes. Mike Schur and John Wells.
“The Fund has received more than $2.2 million in donations in support of film and television professionals,” said Joe Benincasa, president and CEO of the Entertainment Community Fund. “And, we’ve helped more than 400 people with emergency funding and directed more of our programs and services to help areas of need, including health and safety, work and life, housing and more.
WGA West, meanwhile, has a $20 million strike fund to help its members during the walkout. WGA East offers strike loans to its members.
The WGA strike, now in its 25th day, began May 2 after negotiations with the Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach an acceptable agreement. The group’s main concerns include significant increases in compensation, understaffing, hiring time, establishing audience-based streaming credits and banning the use of artificial intelligence to create scripts.
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