MPTF to organize a food drive; Nearly $1 million in financial aid payments during strikes
You will be redirected to your article in seconds
August 16, 2023 9:03 p.m.
The Motion Picture & Television Fund will be hosting a food drive on August 24 to help members of the industry affected by ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Volunteers are provided by IATSE and Teamsters Local 399, with donations from Matthew 25 Ministries.
MPTF President and CEO Bob Beitcher said the charity had been "inundated with calls" since the Writers Guild disappeared on May 2 and SAG-AFTRA on July 14. “The MPTF is approaching full financial relief during the $1 million work stoppage,” he said. “In the past 30 days alone, we have received over 4,500 calls for financial assistance. To put that into perspective, in a typical month, before the strike, we would receive 200 calls for help.
"Many also contact us with other psychosocial issues or identify these issues on intake/ case management conversations with our social workers A big shout out here to the social workers at the MPTF who have been absolutely inundated with these cries for help and have continued, some of them seven days a week, to manage the cases of their current high acuity clients as well as the difficult admissions process to help industry members with the required documents and interact with their own high acuity needs.As they have done with the pandemic, they have responded to the urgency of the moment with composure, dignity and professionalism and demonstrated the mission of "taking care of ourselves" that MPTF embraces."
Unemployed crew members account for 81% of these requests for financial assistance, Beitcher said , noting that requests for financial aid for the first seven months of 2023 are six times higher than they were for the same period last year.
"There are two factors to point out here," he said. "One, of course, is the impact of work stoppages on the financial well-being of our crews; and the second, less publicized, is that the overall volume of production in the last quarter of 2022 and the first four month of 2023 was significantly lower than the same period the previous year, and as a result, our crew community was working and earning less, and therefore entered the work stoppage with reduced financial flexibility.
"And distinguishing between the 4,500 calls in the last 30 days and those actually receiving a MPTF financial assistance through the various funds we administer, 92% are crew members. These include IATSE, Teamsters and Basic Crafts, and some DGA members. Assistance is in most cases $1500. We also administer a fund for The Union Solidarity Coalition, a group of writer-directors, specifically to help crew members who are no longer eligible for health insurance. provided by the union, with their health insurance premiums. We also provide health insurance advice through the Entertainment Health Insurance Solutions program.
You will be redirected to your article in seconds
August 16, 2023 9:03 p.m.
The Motion Picture & Television Fund will be hosting a food drive on August 24 to help members of the industry affected by ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Volunteers are provided by IATSE and Teamsters Local 399, with donations from Matthew 25 Ministries.
MPTF President and CEO Bob Beitcher said the charity had been "inundated with calls" since the Writers Guild disappeared on May 2 and SAG-AFTRA on July 14. “The MPTF is approaching full financial relief during the $1 million work stoppage,” he said. “In the past 30 days alone, we have received over 4,500 calls for financial assistance. To put that into perspective, in a typical month, before the strike, we would receive 200 calls for help.
"Many also contact us with other psychosocial issues or identify these issues on intake/ case management conversations with our social workers A big shout out here to the social workers at the MPTF who have been absolutely inundated with these cries for help and have continued, some of them seven days a week, to manage the cases of their current high acuity clients as well as the difficult admissions process to help industry members with the required documents and interact with their own high acuity needs.As they have done with the pandemic, they have responded to the urgency of the moment with composure, dignity and professionalism and demonstrated the mission of "taking care of ourselves" that MPTF embraces."
Unemployed crew members account for 81% of these requests for financial assistance, Beitcher said , noting that requests for financial aid for the first seven months of 2023 are six times higher than they were for the same period last year.
"There are two factors to point out here," he said. "One, of course, is the impact of work stoppages on the financial well-being of our crews; and the second, less publicized, is that the overall volume of production in the last quarter of 2022 and the first four month of 2023 was significantly lower than the same period the previous year, and as a result, our crew community was working and earning less, and therefore entered the work stoppage with reduced financial flexibility.
"And distinguishing between the 4,500 calls in the last 30 days and those actually receiving a MPTF financial assistance through the various funds we administer, 92% are crew members. These include IATSE, Teamsters and Basic Crafts, and some DGA members. Assistance is in most cases $1500. We also administer a fund for The Union Solidarity Coalition, a group of writer-directors, specifically to help crew members who are no longer eligible for health insurance. provided by the union, with their health insurance premiums. We also provide health insurance advice through the Entertainment Health Insurance Solutions program.
What's Your Reaction?
