Bafta and BBC Studios are among the backers of a £2m fund to help British film, TV and cinema workers hit hardest by Covid-19.
The Film and TV Charity has put the £1m donated by Amazon Prime Video this summer into the Recovery Fund, which has been topped up from several other industry partners including Sky Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment and ViacomCBS.
The charity said the fund will support those at greatest personal and professional risk as a result of the pandemic, which research has identified as groups already challenged by structural inequalities in the industry, such as BAME workers, women, people with disabilities and those living outside of London.
The scheme aims to deliver a financial and wellbeing package that will enable people to support themselves for up to six months.
To date the charity has raised more than £5.8m of ringfenced funding, launched a range of mental wellbeing services and provided critical ancillary services including financial guidance.
It is now inviting further donations to help it raise a further £900,000 to help the fund meet the costs of the Covid-19 response.
Film and TV charity chief executive Alex Pumfrey said: “We know that diverse talent are now being disproportionately impacted by the crisis due to a range of factors. So we have a real concern that without urgent support we will lose these people from our industry.
“We have a real opportunity to take action to support workers in greatest need now in order to protect the diversity of our industry for the future and I hope that others will seize this moment to donate to our Covid-19 response.”
