“I remember my days as a waitress, a cleaner, a typist and even the unemployed. In this strike I feel lucky to be able to support those who will fight in a long action to stand against Goliath,” said Meryl Streep in a statement released by the non-profit organization on Wednesday of this week.
The organization’s president, Courtney B. Vance, announced that so far they had managed to raise $15 million in three weeks since the actors’ hiatus began on July 13. For this reason it has been revealed that Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney are on the list of Hollywood actors who have made a financial contribution to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Associated with the Screen Actors Guild of the USA, in support of the interpreters on strike.
“The entertainment industry is in crisis and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation it is currently processing more than 30 times our usual number of emergency aid requests,” said the president and assured that only in the last week they had received 400 aid applications.
It’s been almost a month since SAG-AFTRA members joined the strike that the writers’ union started in early May, after neither union reached an agreement with the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) to renew their collective agreements.
In a fundraising effort, SAG-AFTRA Foundation leaders sent a letter to 2,700 of the union’s top earners outlining the financial hardship some of their colleagues would experience during the strike.
The first artist to contribute to the cause was Dwayne Johnson, who on July 25 gave what the organization claimed was “a historic donation.” and he has been joined by other stars such as George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Nicole Kidman, Oprah or Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Contributions to the Emergency Financial Assistance program seek to help artists in need not lose their homes and have the opportunity to cover their needs and that of their families. “It is a huge challenge but we are determined to meet it,” Vance added. EFE
Keep reading more about the SAG here:
· “The Nanny”: The world remembers Fran Drescher for this famous series, but now she is the unionist who fights against Hollywood
· The Screen Actors Guild goes on strike and Hollywood trembles
SAG-AFTRA shields members against ‘couch castings’
