I’ll get by with a little help from my friends…—The Beatles

Jhemer Cauigan is a 30-year-old father of three children living in Montalban. He hops from one film set to another either as utility man serving coffee and drinks to the crew, staff and actors, or a crowd control staff, the one assigned to make sure oglers get out of the way of the camera.

He earns between a thousand pesos to P1,500 per shooting day. If a shoot is canceled for the day, he doesn’t get paid.

Thousands of other workers in the entertainment industry share the same story. A thousand or P2,000 a day…no work, no pay. For an 18-hour work day at the minimum.

Since the lockdown was imposed on March 15, about 200 concerts have been canceled, so did theater productions, including those being produced by university-based companies. Likewise, tapings of teleseryes and live shows of the different networks have ceased production, different film festivals have canceled their scheduled events resulting in various film projects put on hold. As a result, thousands of industry freelance workers have been rendered jobless.

Considering that freelancers are not covered by state protection in terms of labor laws and no employer-employee relationship exists between them and whoever is producing the projects they are involved in, freelance workers can only rely on the support of friends, relatives and allies in times of distress.

Such as today’s pandemic that prompted a national lockdown.

It could be a good thing that the entertainment world is a small community. About a week after the lockdown was declared, the bigger names in the different subsections of the industry stood up to help take care of the small workers.

Lockdown Cinema Club (LCC) was initiated by independent film leaders to provide assistance to the low-income crew and staff of the film industry. LCC partnered with the Lupon ng Pilipinong Sinematograpo, Directors’ Guild of the Philippines, Ricky Lee Scriptwriting Workshop, UP Cineastes’ Studio, UP Cinema and UP Cinema Arts Society.  To raise funds, LCC and its partners initiated projects like free download of films to watch at home, the Ricky Lee Scriptwriting Workshop (now three batches, for three online sessions each), and a weekly online forum with cinematographers.

As of April 5, Lockdown Cinema Club posted in its Facebook page that LCC has been able to raise P2,278,681.50 and was able to provide assistance reach-out to almost 1,000 families. It is short of P800,000 to reach the target 1,500 beneficiaries.

Jhemer is one of those who has received his P2,000 from the LCC. “Malaking tulong na po ito sa pamilya ko lalo na walang dumarating na relief dito sa amin,” said Jhemer, whose family has (as of this writing) yet to receive any relief package from his barangay.

Steering the LCC program are Mackie Galvez (representing cinematographers), Xeph Suarez and Camille Aragona (assistant directors), Pat Sumaguil (line producers), Ilsa Malsi (editors), Mau Fadul (production designers), Alemberg Ang and Carl Chavez (producers) and Pam Miras and Dod Dayao (writer-directors). Those who wish donate may send a message to LCC’s Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) launched its Disaster/Emergency Assistance and Relief Program (DEAR) “to help freelance audio visual content workers who have suddenly lost work or became out of work because of a major natural disaster or public health emergency such as the Covid-19 pandemic.” It prioritizes low-income earners who have a talent fee of P3,000 or less per day. The DEAR program aims to reach 2,500 beneficiaries with a P20 million budget.  As of April 3, more than 500 applications were approved and granted the one-time P8,000 tax-free benefit payment, the FDCP said.

On the live entertainment front, movers of theater and concerts organized Open House for those under contract to work between March 12 to April 12, with the cumulative amount of contracts not exceeding P15,000, not employed by any company and have completed work on at least two performing arts projects within the last six months.

Open House raised funds by offering online performances, lectures and workshops in exchange of donations. Classes included barre sessions with prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde; Audie Gemora on song interpretation; Rony Fortich on how to audition, while Philippine Educational Theater Association’s Jack Yabut is doing a series on Filipino martial arts.

Other features were a Theater Quiz Night with Reb Atadero and Tanya Manalang. After Party fun talks are offered by different companies, among them Ateneo Blue Repertory and Sandbox Collective. There was also open mic performances by the Ampalaya Collective.

A roundtable discussion featuring female theater directors was held with Jenny Jamora, Jose Estrella, Maribel Legarda, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Missy Maramara. And what would a gathering of theater people be without a reading of scripts, both new and previously staged. In the line-up for reading are Ang Goldfish ni Prof. Dimaandal, while National Artist Ryan Cayabyab shared his experience in creating  his original musicals Katy!, Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo and Ang Larawan.

Open House is a collaboration of the Artists’ Welfare Project, Philstage, Theater Actors’ Guild, SPIT and Third World Improv. As of April 5, Open House has been able to disburse P180,000 reaching 80 low-income workers in its roster. To donate, visit bit.ly/DonateOpenHouse.

These initiatives are for workers in the entertainment field. Other artist initiatives focused on supporting frontliners and the less-privileged are ongoing.  Musika Publiko has partnered with the Citizens Disaster Response Center for a series of online concerts to support to 50 health workers at the East Avenue Medical Center, 1,433 at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and 20 at the Philippine Orthopedic Center. The biggest fundraiser has been Ryan Cayabyab, who started the Bayanihan Musikahan, where singers perform for an hour for free to raise donations. Bayanihan Musikahan has raised P37,435,540 as of April 6.

With the lockdown possibly getting extended, more will be in need. Hopefully, more will continue supporting the arts and its creators in saving the community.

Source:  Business Mirror