Netflix Creates $100 Million Coronavirus Relief Fund

By Brent Lang

By Jill Goldsmith

By Jem Aswad

Apple Music has launched a $50 million advance royalty fund to ensure that artists will get paid and label operations can continue during the coronavirus pandemic, Rolling Stone reports. The streaming giant confirmed the news in a letter to labels (obtained by Rolling Stone). Eligible labels must have a direct Apple Music distribution deal and earn $10,000 minimum on a quarterly basis.

By Jake Kanter

Elton John has launched a $1 million Coronavirus Emergency Fund for HIV sufferers.

By Anita Bennett

Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurene Powell Jobs and Oprah Winfrey on Thursday donated millions of dollars to help launch America's Food Fund, to help the most at-risk people during the COVID-19 crisis. DiCaprio and Powell Jobs donated a joint $5 million and Apple gave another $5 million to a GoFundMeweb page; Winfrey donated another $1 million; and the Ford Foundation also put in $1 million.

Sony Corp. said Thursday that it will launch a $100 million fund to support those around the world affected by the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Japan’s entertainment and technology giant Sony has unveiled a $100 million fund to support people around the world affected by the coronavirus.

WarnerMedia will commit “more than $100 million” to help crew members on its shows and movies that have had to pause production during the coronavirus pandemic, CEO John Stankey told employees in a memo Friday afternoon. Stankey also outlined some of the strategic pivots the company has made in recent weeks in order to respond to the crisis, including experimenting with accelerate home viewing, disrupting traditional theatrical windows, with all theaters closed.

Warner Music Group has made a donation to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund launched last week, CEO Steve Cooper said in a memo to the company’s staff.

Grammy Awards are great, but the Recording Academy’s greatest contribution to the music industry is arguably MusiCares — its charitable foundation to support music industry workers in need.

Sometimes laughter is the best way to get people through a difficult time. A number of comedians will join forces to participate in Laugh Aid, a four-hour live stream that benefits Comedy Gives Back's COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund.

The Producers Guild of America is joining the ranks of organizations hustling to provide financial assistance to industry members who are out of work amid the coronavirus outbreak. The guild is launching Producers Guild of America Relief Fund with a starting gift of $100,000 from Grey's Anatomy producer and former PGA president Mark Gordon, the organization announced Tuesday.

Two leaders of the American fashion industry — Anna Wintour and Tom Ford — are creating a fund to help young designers impacted by the coronavirus. A Common Thread, as it's called, repurposes the annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund at least for this year.

Amid ongoing calls for the U.K. government to offer financial support to the country's self-employed and freelance workers, Netflix has donated 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) to help establish a new fund set up by the British Film Institute and the Film and TV Charity.

Netflix has launched a $100 million relief fund for members of the creative community put out of work by the spread of coronavirus. “Almost all television and film production has now ceased globally—leaving hundreds of thousands of crew and cast without jobs,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in a statement.

German performing rights organization GEMA has launched an emergency relief fund worth up to $43 million for its songwriter and composer members, according to Music Business Worldwide.

With a continued lack of clarity about how the government plans to aid those workers hit hardest by coronavirus-related work stoppages, several institutions are pledging money to help those most affected in Hollywood.