Producers Launch ‘It Takes Our Village’ Relief Fund for Crews Impacted By Coronavirus

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – More than a dozen high-profile Hollywood producers have launched the It Takes Our Village fund for below-the-line film and television crew members impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Bruna Papandrea, whose credits include “Big Little Lies” and “Wild,” made the announcement Wednesday after witnessing first-hand how these crews were being affected.

“The below-the-line crews are the backbone of our industry,” she said, “They are our community – and our community is in need. This initiative is personal to me as I’m a working-class girl who grew up with unions protecting my family. I want to help provide that protection to those who are a vital part in creating stories; the stories that are providing escapism and comfort to people around the world.”

Papandrea and “Big Little Lies” executive producer Gregg Fienberg have brought in industry colleagues Molly Allen, Derek Cianfrance, Lynette Howell Taylor, Jon M. Chu, Pam Veasey, Kenya Barris, Leslie Linka Glatter, David E. Kelley, Jess Wu Calder, Mark Ruffalo, Stephanie Allain, Todd Black, Dana Fox, Ben Watkins, Steve Hutensky, and Liza Chasin.

“This initiative is intended to help support production assistants, coordinators, supervisors, office staff, location teams, AD teams, costume teams, hair stylists, make-up artists, art departments, prop masters, set decorators, set builders, camera and sound teams, electric and grip teams, script supervisors, SFX and post-production, caterers, craft services and transportation teams, among many others,” the announcement said.

Donations are being raised via a GoFundMe for distribution to two organizations supporting the industry’s crew members, the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) and The Actors Fund. The announcement noted that the MPTF and The Actors Fund are working in tandem applying the same eligibility requirements and dispensing the same amount of money – generally $1,000 for an individual and potentially higher for families – and coordinating to ensure people only apply to one of the funds.

Fienberg noted that he had been working on a similar initiative recently, adding, “In reaching out to my network to see if this idea would fly, it became apparent that Bruna and I had the exact same idea, so we decided it made perfect sense to come together to do this important work. We’re all in this together, and it’s in that spirit that we are combining our forces to get the word out on behalf of our crews.”