Netflix, Acción Cultural Española, the Spanish Film Academy and Icaa (Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport) Join Forces to Establish an Emergency Line for Audiovisual Workers Hit by COVID-19

Netflix, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), Academia de Cine and Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA) have joined forces to announce the establishment of an assistance line for  audiovisual professionals hardest hit by COVID-19 in Spain.

The grants will be intended for artistic and/or technical workers who are in a precarious economic situation and are unable to work due to the shut down of audiovisual productions. Netflix will donate 1 million euro to this emergency line.

“From the Ministry of Culture and Sports we are pleased that in a short time it has been possible to articulate a collaboration between public and private organizations, in order to seek solutions to support the film and audiovisual sector, as required by this situation. One of the objectives of this initiative was the agility of its implementation, guaranteeing rigour and transparency, something that is only possible thanks to the consensus between the parties involved, each contributing with knowledge, time and technical resources and, in the case of Netflix, also financial  resources. We would like to thank the service for its generosity, commitment and solidarity with the audiovisual industry in Spain”, stressed José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, Minister of Culture and Sport of the Spanish Government. 

“From the Spanish Film Academy we welcome initiatives like this one, aimed at alleviating the damage the pandemic is causing to film workers. We encourage other private and public initiatives for the reactivation of the cultural industries. We are convinced that exceptional measures are needed at this exceptional time. We trust that the public authorities will promote and channel whatever measures are necessary to guarantee the survival of our industry,” said Mariano Barroso, president of the Spanish Film Academy. 

“The exceptional circumstances (and the pandemic produced by COVID-19 is one) demand exceptional responses. Now is the time to join forces to alleviate the damage the virus is causing in people’s lives, in the economy and in society. Netflix wanted to provide solidarity to the audiovisual sector, which from AC/E thank, support and accompany, with the hope that more companies, organizations and institutions will join”, added José Andrés Torres Mora, president of Acción Cultural Española.

“We’re grateful to be able to work with ICAA, Acción Cultural Española y Academia de Cine  to support the hardest hit workers in TV and film production. We want to do our part to help those who most need our support in these unprecedented times”, Diego Avalos, Vice President of Original Series at Netflix, has explained.

The details of the emergency line, including the eligibility criteria and the level of individual funding, will be further determined  with the relevant social partners in the sector. This initiative is open to receiving contributions from any entity that wishes to help workers in artistic and/or technical fields most affected by COVID-19 in Spain.

The creation of this emergency assistance line in Spain is part of a global Netflix initiative (announced on March 20th) that allocates $100 million to support film and television workers. A large part of this amount is aimed at helping Netflix productions in Spain and around the world. The rest ($15 million) goes to emergency funds for audiovisual professionals in different countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy and France, among others.