On Monday, July 6, the British government announced a £1.5 billion effort to help hard-hit arts organizations in the UK through the pandemic. Art institutions like the National Gallery have only just begun reopening, but performance venues still probably have months to go before they can resume operating at their normal occupancy levels. Several major venues have already announced they’re overrun, and won’t be able to re-open at all. Art lobbyists have stated that they don’t expect things to return to normal until April 2021, at best.
While the government package is encouraging news, the process of dissemination its funds has not yet even begun, and many businesses, and the people they’ve already had to lay off, are in dire straits now. It has been nearly four months since all theaters, venues, and cultural sites were closed.
In light of this, film director Sam Mendes, and the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, has established the Theatre Artists Fund. The new initiative is meant to directly help British arts workers whose livelihoods have been cut off by the pandemic.
Money for the fund has come from Netflix, who announced a £500,000 ($625,000) donation to initiative the fund.
“Playwrights and directors, theatre artits and performers, composers and comedians, are the lifeblood of our industry too and, while Netflix has been more fortunate than many, in the end we are only as strong as the people we work with,” said Anne Mensah in a statement about the donation. Mensah is the vice president of original content at Netflix.
The fund will deliver £1000 grants directly to freelance and laid-off theatre workers who suffer under the ongoing effect of the pandemic.
The money is specifically intended for “theatre workers who find themselves at breaking point, for those unable to put food on the table or to pay bills, or for those considering leaving the profession altogether,” said Mendes in a statement. He hopes that further donations will be forthcoming.
Source: Forbes
Editorial credit: Piotr Zajac / Shutterstock.com