Netflix and the Netherlands Film Fund have launched a new film and TV production fund to help workers who have been hit hardest by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Streaming giant Netflix, which has its EMEA headquarters in Amsterdam, will make €1m ($1.08m) available in the Netherlands to launch the fund.
Production of films and TV series in the country have come to a standstill due to ongoing lockdown measures to curb the spread of the virus.
The fund, which will be administered by producers of the affected productions, will be allocated to the most vulnerable freelancers, filmmakers, cast, crew and other professionals.
The exact criteria will be drafted next week and published on the website of the Film Fund: www.filmfonds.nl.
Netherlands Film Fund director Bero Beyer said: “Our goal is to continue the productivity of the Dutch film world and to ensure that the entire chain is maintained in such a way that beautiful Dutch productions can be seen this autumn and later.”
Bero also noted fresh support from the Dutch government’s Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, which made €300m ($325m) available this week to support institutions in the cultural sector.
Lina Brouneus, director of co-production and acquisition at Netflix, said: “The creative talent in the Netherlands and our local partners with whom we create content together are vital to the success of Netflix. We want to do our part to help those who most need our support in these unprecedented times.”
The creation of this fund is part of Netflix’s wider efforts to help TV and film workers around the world. The streaming giant – whose market value hit a record high of $196bn on Thursday (April 16) due to increased viewing during the crisis – previously announced it had established a fund of $100m for workers in the creative sector.
Most of that sum has been earmarked for professionals working on Netflix’s own productions around the world, but $15m has been set aside to help out-of-work crew from the broader film and TV industry.
The streamer, which has more than 160 million subscribers globally, has given a £1m donation to a UK relief fund, which the Film and TV Charity is administering with the support of the BFI, as well as €1m for a similar initiative in Italy run by the Italian Film Commission.
Netflix has also joined forces with French body Groupe Audiens and donated €1m to help launch an emergency relief fund for film and TV sector workers in France hit by the production shutdown.
On Wednesday (April 15), the streaming platform donated a further €1m to support film and TV professionals in Spain alongside the country’s Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), Academia de Cine and Spain’s national film body, the Instituto de Cinematografia y Artes Visuales (ICAA).
The Netherlands introduced lockdown measures on March 23, which will apply until April 28. Events that require a permit are banned until June 1. There have been more than 29,000 confirmed cases in the country and more than 3,300 deaths to date.
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