16:38 PST 2/19/2021
by
Katie Kilkenny
Film, television and sports groups, including SAG-AFTRA, the DGA and Producers Guild, also called on the Senators on Friday for “direct direct intervention” in the form of federal funds.
A coalition of industry guilds and organizations is once again calling on U.S. lawmakers to implement accessible insurance coverage for pandemic risks, as COVID-19 continues to disrupt Hollywood production.
As you develop the agenda for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs for this year, the film, TV and sports industries respectfully ask you to address the broad economic impact that the withdrawal of pandemic risk cover for us businesses, “a group of film, television and sports groups (including The Motion Picture Association, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, the Directors Guild of America, the National Association of Broadcasters, IATSE, the Producers Guild of America, American Coalition for Independent Content Production and SAG-AFTRA) stated in a letter addressed to Senate leaders on Friday. “
The letter is addressed to Senator Charles Schumer, Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Senator Sherrod Brown, and Rank Senator Patrick J. Toomey. The same coalition of organizations sent a letter to members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee in November requesting pandemic risk insurance, ahead of a hearing on the law on Carolyn Maloney’s Pandemic Risk Insurance Act report of 2020.
Without mentioning Maloney’s bill, this latest letter states ‘a long-term public-private partnership on pandemic risk insurance is needed to stabilize financing and employment’, reflecting the language of the 2020 Pandemic Risk Insurance Act, and refers to Maloney’s Terrorism Risk Insurance. Act of 2002 as an example for such a partnership.
“We urge you to hold a hearing to examine the need for pandemic risk coverage in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs,” the signatories said.
In addition to this long-term solution, the signatories are also calling for ‘immediate’ intervention ‘through’ temporary, targeted federal funds that provide the necessary guarantees for loss coverage so that productions can continue ‘to get the industry up and running. At another point in the letter, the organizations call for the next COVID relief package to include a shorter-term solution of this nature to alleviate the pandemic.
Since COVID-19 spread across the country in 2020, most productions have failed to obtain insurance that protects them from business disruptions due to the pandemic. Without this insurance, productions can lose the risk of getting started.