Seth MacFarlane donates $1 million to support industry workers during the joint strikes of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA.
Seth MacFarlane, creator of The Orville, could easily say he has to straddle the line between the Screen Actors’ Guild and the the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. He’s a member of both, an actor and a producer. Those two sides of himself are hopefully less at war than the two organizations. SAG-AFTRA and the Writer’s Guild are both involved in a strike against the AMPTP, one which is expected to be long.
With his $1 million donation to support the actors who will not be able to work in the industry until this strike is resolved, MacFarlane has taken sides. On Wednesday, he posted a picture of picketing actors and crew to his twitter.
“EVERYONE here deserves to make a comfortable living in the industry to which they give so much of themselves. Very proud to walk the picket line with this group today. None of them should have to wait any longer for a fair and equitable deal,” he wrote in his tweet.
The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly known as the Actors’ Fund, is faced with supporting the hundreds of actors facing a long period of under-employment. When not striking, they provide some support to actors unable to find enough work to remain insured.
“The Entertainment Community Fund is overcome with gratitude to the prominent leaders in our community who have donated in support of film and television workers in need,” Entertainment Community Fund chair Annette Bening said in a statement Tuesday morning. “Each day, the calls for help increase; these gifts will immediately assist so many in our industry who are still struggling to recover after the pandemic. We also hope that these impactful gifts will inspire others, if they can, to donate to support our crucial work.”
Since the first rumors of strike in May, the fund has raised over $6.3 million, but that does not go far against the requests adding to $500,000 weekly.