NYC’s ‘booming’ film and TV industry grinds to halt amid coronavirus, workers ‘worried’

[Right_in_Virginia]

NYC’s ‘booming’ film and TV industry grinds to halt amid coronavirus, workers ‘worried’
NY Daily News, Apr 3, 2020

Harlem resident Mark Evans had a great job as a Teamster driver on the CBS drama “Bull” when the coronavirus crisis abruptly closed the curtain on all film and TV production across New York.

The self-proclaimed “doomsday prepper” said he wasn’t surprised to get his pink slip March 13. But now the magnitude of the shutdown is starting to hit home.

“The first couple days didn’t buzz me much. Then my friend’s mom just died [from COVID-19]. The reality really crashed in. This is going to be here for a while,” the longtime member of Theatrical Teamsters Local 817 said.

“I’m concerned. I’ve got my wife, son, daughter and three young grandkids to support. I’m pretty much the sole provider,” he told the Daily News.

[...]

Overall, New York City’s film and television sector employed 76,552 people in 2017 – a nearly 37% increase since 2008, according to a report released last October by city Comptroller Scott Stringer.

The industry paid an estimated $9.2 billion in wages that year, with the average annual salary being $120,521, the report said.


More:  http://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-causes-shutdown-nyc-film-and-tv-industry-20200403-c5qouw2nlbbnfjkoocybiln7ym-story.html

[Right_in_Virginia]

FTA

Evans said he’s grateful for his union amid the standstill – and the 2-week severance paid by his show’s studio. He was adamant New York will survive, especially after witnessing its resilience serving as a Navy Reservist after 9/11.

But he’s also a realist. He said even with the extra $600 weekly unemployment benefit included in the federal relief package through July, his family will take a hit.

“I make $600 in a day. So, that’s a lot of adjustment,” he said.