To our audiences: We know we echo our colleagues when we say, we are thrilled to have spent our career bringing joy and entertainment to you. We love our jobs. But now we need your help. All forms of live entertainment are cancelled well into 2021.  Not only is that devastating for our spirits, it also means millions of us who create these experiences are currently completely unemployed.  We want to go back to work, but, with our entire industry shut down, we are relying on the FPUC $600/wk to survive.  We are performers, crew, management, venue staff, the list goes on and on for over 12 million jobs. 

We are an industry that contributes over $1 trillion into the economy. At 4.5% of the GDP, Arts and Entertainment is second only to retail. A collapse of our industry would ripple into restaurants, travel and transportation, hospitality, vendors, suppliers, landlords… that list goes on and on too.  For every $1 spent on a ticket at a small music venue, $12 are spent in the local economy on related services.

Venues are closing their doors, many permanently. Broadway is closed until 2021, setting a grim standard for many cultural institutions, and concerts are not expected back until possibly 2022.  Most live entertainment is yet to be seen in any states' phased reopening plans.  We were the first to close and it is undeniable that we will be the last to return.

We are mostly middle class workers who are typically ineligible for regular unemployment benefits because we qualify as self-employed freelancers. The rent, inexplicably, remains due. Bills need to be paid. Even those of us that are eligible for regular benefits cannot survive on the base unemployment rate in our state. The FPUC is critical to maintaining an Arts and Entertainment sector when this is all over.

To the industry: While millions of us are panicking, and while that fear is founded, we must recognize the tremendous privilege and opportunity we've been gifted in the microphone laid at our feet. We must pick it up and get loud, for our industry AND for those that don't have the access to begin with.  Over 30 million people are unemployed and suffering. Most of them are relying on the FPUC and many aren’t even eligible for UI at all under the current system. As the people with the mic, it’s important we speak up for everyone.