The $1 million Film and TV Emergency Relief Fund launched by Netflix and music industry charity Support Act will start dispensing money within a couple of weeks.
Netflix donated the money – cash payments of $1,000 – to help below-the-line workers who lost their jobs when productions were shut down or postponed.
Support Act CEO Clive Miller tells IF that “as close to 1,000 people as possible” will start to receive the money as soon as the charity has validated the applications.
Each person was asked to specify the relevant production, provide referees such as production manager or line producer and a link to his or her IMDB credits.
Of the beneficiaries, 44 per cent are from NSW, 31 per cent from Victoria and 21 per cent from Queensland.
Miller said they represent a cross-section of the industry including the art, camera, costume, construction, sound and lighting departments and post production, including some who had been working on the Netflix-commissioned Clickbait.
There may well have been far more appeals than the fund could accommodate but Support Act’s website did not accept applications after the target was reached.
Recipients will get the money by electronic transfer.