As Coronavirus Shuts Movie Theaters, Fund Raises Money for Those Without Income

As movie theaters close throughout the city because of the coronavirus outbreak, a new source of help has emerged for these hourly workers.

The Cinema Worker Solidarity Fund, created by the teams behind Greenpoint-based Light Industry and the movie website/newsletter Screen Slate, along with others, will make the money accessible to cinema workers whose hours have been stripped because of necessary precautions to shut down movie theaters.

As of this writing, they have raised $39,696, exceeding their initial goal of $38,000, and are now attempting to raise $50,000.

“We’re focusing specifically on New York City movie theater employees so that we can provide quick, if modest, relief to those in our community, but encourage others to consider the needs of their own networks,” they write on their GoFundMe page.

For every $3,000 donated, they say they will be able to support five people with the equivalent of 40 hours a week at $15 an hour.

A second page, targeted specifically to workers at Brooklyn’s Alamo Drafthouse, has also been created after employees, who were temporarily laid off, learned that the theater would be stopping their health insurance on March 31. Thankfully, Alamo has since said they are “committed to paying the administration cost and employer portion of the COBRA insurance in the month of April so that employees on furlough should pay the same for their health coverage that they’ve always paid.”

To donate to the Cinema Worker Solidarity Fund, click here. To donate to help employees at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn, click here.