To help our community manage during this public health crisis The Actors Fund has partnered with several industry organizations to provide emergency financial assistance to those who have immediate financial needs. Please note, while some of the funds are for members of entertainment unions, you do not need to be a union member to receive help from The Actors Fund. Please know that we are experiencing an extremely high volume of requests and ask for your patience during this time.

Emergency financial assistance is available for people who are unable to pay their basic living expenses (food/housing/health care) over the next two months. We ask that if you have the resources to cover that period, please wait to apply. These are unprecedented times and we all must steward our resources very carefully.

Before starting to fill out our online application, you must review the eligibility criteria and be prepared to digitize and upload all required documentation. Applications without proper documentation will not be processed and you will not be notified.

INFORMATION ON UNION/GUILD/EMPLOYER RELIEF FUNDS BEING ADMINISTERED BY THE ACTORS FUND

Checklist of required documents for AEA Curtain Up Fund, AGMA Relief Fund, Local 600 Hardship Fund, IATSE Local 798, Musician Union Local 802, Producers Guild of America Members Relief Fund and SAG-AFTRA:

• Copy of your current membership card or confirmation by union or guild membership department—including end date. You must be a paid up member to be eligible.
• Most recent bank statement (not printout from ATM)
• Current lease, rent statement or mortgage/maintenance statement
• Local 802 members must provide proof of work cancellation

Please note: Suspended Payment, Terminated, and Fee-Paying-Non-Member (Ficore) are NOT ELIGIBLE to receive assistance from SAG-AFTRA.

IATSE has generously contributed to both The Actors Fund and Motion Picture Television Fund (MPTF), asking the two charities to divide up the responsibilities for distributing its funds to its members. IATSE members in Southern California please apply to MPTF, and the rest of the country to The Actors Fund. The exceptions in Southern California are Local 600 and Local 33 who should apply to The Actors Fund. Eligibility for IATSE members is based on Actors Fund eligibility and completion of required documents below.

PGA members must confirm their eligibility by obtaining a letter from the Guild verifying your membership ID number prior to completing this application.

Checklist of required documents for Jujamcyn Theatre Assistance Funds:

• Proof that you are current employee of the Jujamcyn Theatre and have been an employee for six months
• Most recent bank statement (not printout from ATM)
• Current lease, rent statement or mortgage/maintenance

INFORMATION ON ASSISTANCE FROM THE ACTORS FUND

Eligibility requirements for Actors Fund Emergency Financial Assistance:

• Current financial need (inability to pay next two month’s bills)
• A minimum of five years of recent entertainment industry employment with earnings of at least $6,500 for three out of the last five years OR a minimum of 20 years of industry employment with a minimum of 10 years of earnings of at least $5,000 (please note that income from teaching does not qualify)
• Eligibility requirements for dancers—three years of recent dance earnings of at least $2,000 a year

Checklist of required documents for Actors Fund Emergency Financial Assistance:

• You must provide a minimum of five years of recent entertainment industry earnings documentation that meets the qualifications stated above. You can do that by providing Union earning printouts from Pension and Welfare Departments, Contracts, pay stubs or W-2, 1099 forms (for professional work only)
• Most recent checking/savings bank statement (not printout from ATM)
• Current lease, rent statement or mortgage/maintenance

TIPS ON MAKING YOUR APPLICATION PROCESS EASIER

You should prepare your documents prior to filling out the online application. You will be required to upload your documents at the end of the online application.

If your documents are not already available electronically, here are some suggested steps to create an electronic file for your paper documents.

1. Search your app store for Evernote Scannable. This is a free app. There are numerous apps that are available to create electronic files for your paper documents; please use what works for you.
2. Download Evernote Scannable to your phone.
3. When you are ready, open the app and scan documents.
4. This will create a PDF of your files.
5. You will need to create one PDF file for each of these categories:
   1. 1 file for five years of documentation of industry earnings (if applying for Actors Fund assistance)
   2. 1 file for last month’s bank statement
   3. 1 file for current lease, rent statement, mortgage/maintenance. (If unavailable, can be substituted with utility/phone bill listing your current address)
   4. 1 file for union card(s) or proof of membership status, if applicable

Please know it is taking up to two weeks to process an application.

Apply for assistance