Stage 32 to Give Away $100,000 in Entertainment Industry Education to Support Striking Workers (EXCLUSIVE)

Angelique Jackson “Abbott Elementary” creator/star Quinta Brunson and fellow exec producers Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker and Randall Einhorn, as well as producer Scott Sites, have launched a strike fund to help support the Emmy-winning comedy show’s crew. The producers and some of the cast of “Abbott” created the fund to supplement the Entertainment Community Fund, which has been working to provide financial assistance for industry workers amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While Brunson and the producers have individually donated to the ECF, they also wanted to find a way to specifically aid their show’s 152-person crew, so they pooled their resources as an additional safeguard.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The California Senate voted on Thursday to grant unemployment benefits to workers who are on strike. The bill passed with a 27-12 vote. The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA have each expressed support for the bill.

A bill that would make striking workers in California eligible to receive up to $450 a week in unemployment insurance benefits passed in the state Senate on Thursday by a vote of 27-12. Senate Bill 799, which passed in the state Assembly last month, now heads to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who can either sign it into law or veto it.

A bill that wouldmake striking workers in California eligible to receive unemployment benefits was approved on Wednesday by a 4-1 vote of the state Senate’sLabor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee. Senate Bill 799, which has already been passed by the state Assembly, now goes to a vote of the full Senate. If approved there, it will be up to Governor Gavin Newsom to either sign it into law or veto it. Last year, he vetoed 169 bills while signing nearly 1,000.

Michael Keaton has been acting in movies long enough to know that if you’re making one, as he does for the second time with the proficient neo-noir “Knox Goes Away,” your opening shot needs to say something. His says it all: a tight close-up inventories the personal affects of an unseen figure taking them one by one, heading out the door, then doubling back to grab the watch, filling the audio track with its relentless ticking.

A bill that would provide unemployment insurance to striking workers in California passed the state Assembly on Monday and now is headed to the Senate Labor Committee and then to the Senate floor. If passed there, Senate Bill 799 would go to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America urged members Friday to stay strong, and argued that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will have to soften its hard-line stance in order to end the four-month strike. The WGA suggested that legacy studios that want a “fair deal” with writers will have to either assert their interests within the studio alliance, or break away from the “broken AMPTP model.” The union also revealed that in private conversations with legacy studio executives, some have expressed openness to accommodating the guild’s positions on various issues. But, the guild argued that the AMPTP as a group is trapped in a system that “favors inflexibility over compromise,” forcing all members to take a hard line.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA are pushing California lawmakers to grant unemployment benefits to striking workers. In California, workers currently do not receive unemployment pay when they are on strike. But state lawmakers are working on a bill, SB 799, that would extend benefits to workers who have been on strike for at least two weeks.

This is Day 129 of the WGA strike and Day 56 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman, actors Paul McCrane (ER) and Paul Scheer (The League), among others, will partner with The Union Solidarity Coalition for a live fundraising event next month to benefit TV and film crew members financially affected by the current work stoppage.

WGA West President Meredith Stiehm and SAG-AFTRA Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher were in Sacramento last week lobbying California legislators for passage of Senate Bill 799, which would make striking workers eligible to collect unemployment benefits. The bill passed through the Assembly Insurance Committee on Thursday and the Legislature has until September 14 to send the bill to the Governor’s desk.

Despite Lewis Capaldi taking a break from his musical career to focus on his health, the Scottish hitmaker has managed to still leave a huge impact on his beloved fans and scooped a win at the National Television Awards on Tuesday night.

Loch Ken Trust is celebrating a double funding boost worth more than £100,000.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The international trailer for “A Whole Life,” which will have its world premiere in the Gala section of the Zürich Film Festival (Sept. 28 to Oct. 8), has debuted with Variety (below).

Brent Lang Executive Editor Vertical is shifting the theatrical release of Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy “She Came To” by a week. The film, which stars Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei, will open on Oct. 6 instead of Sept.

A new Gallup Poll released Wednesday finds an overwhelming majority of Americans support writers and actors over studios in the ongoing dual Hollywood strikes.

The Directors Guild Foundation is contributing $100,000 in new financial assistance to the Motion Picture & Television Fund for industry workers affected by the ongoing strikes. The Writers Guild has been on strike since May 2 and SAG-AFTRA since July 14.

Sophia Scorziello editor Amid Hollywood’s summer of strikes, the Directors Guild Foundation is pledging $100,000 in financial assistance to the Motion Picture & Television Fund for crew members affected by strike-related production halts. “Our film crews are our work family.

The SNP and Labour have clashed over the "scandal" of Scots workers stuck on zero hours contracts.

A pair who stole £100,000 worth of stock from Footasylum in a sophisticated plot have been jailed.