The Producers Guild of America is making the request to the industry.
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) reached out to the industry earlier this month to request funding for health insurance coverage for the working producers in Hollywood.
The PGA used its annual awards ceremony as its platform to reach the industry
The PGA was speaking to streamers, studios, and other content companies at a large scale for their assistance in providing funding for health insurance for “qualified producers” through the line items of production budgets for movies and TV.
The presidents of the PGA, Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line used their address to the audience to launch their health care initiative at the Hollywood & Highland’s Ray Dolby Ballroom. The effort was created to help reduce the gap between the other creative Hollywood guilds and that of producers by providing those producers meeting pre-determined eligibility criteria with easy coverage access.
Guaranteeing eligible producers with health insurance coverage
“Producers, unlike unionized creative professionals in the industry, lack guaranteed health insurance benefits,” said Allain and De Line in their address. “No one should go without these essential benefits. Producing is challenging enough without the added anxiety of wondering how you are going to obtain health coverage for you and your family.”
The PGA said that there have been a number of large production names that have committed to advocate for the coverage for producers in their budgets. These names included Berlanti Productions, Blumhouse, MACRO, and Legendary. The guild is aiming to ensure production companies will contribute to health insurance programs across the industry on behalf of producers with eligibility through PGA, or to provide a budget line-item direct payment to eligible producers make their coverage more affordable.
Supporting each other without a union
“Producers are the only group of creative professionals without a union on set, so we have to look out for each other,” said Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum. “Taking care of our own is good business, good for families and good for our industry, and I’m proud to be part of the group leading this initiative.”
