28th March 2024

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#RedAlertRESTART and #WeMakeEvents

#RedAlertRESTART and #WeMakeEvents

What is the #RedAlertRESTART campaign and #WeMakeEvents coalition and why are they important?

Many of you know that the impact of COVID-19 has been catastrophic for many businesses and industries, but what you may not realize is the magnitude that the entertainment industry has suffered. In the US alone 77% of everyone in the entertainment industry has lost 100% of their income.¹ The data from the rest of the world is very similar, in Germany 1.8 million people have been affected by the industry shutdown,² in the UK the events industry is a £70 billion, all of which have been shut down for the last 5 months.³

The #WeMakeEvents coalition and #RedAlertRESTART campaigns are global movements to bring awareness to the dire situation that the employees of the entertainment industry are facing.

Most of these people across the globe have been working as freelance workers, with no full-time employer to offer support in times of need. This means that Paycheck Protection does not apply to 12 million people in the US.¹ These movements are calling for help from their respective governments to extend protections to the members of the entertainment industries as well as provide restart support and funding for businesses.

How does this affect you?

Well, I’m sure that at some point since the beginning of the COVID pandemic you have watched a movie, streamed television, or listened to music. None of that would have been possible without the millions of people in the entertainment industry across the globe. And sadly that is just the tip of the iceberg, there are so many other industries that are directly related to the health of the event industry. Security Staff, Hospitality Workers, Truck Drivers, Local Fairs, even School Events are all suffering due to the overall shutdown of the industry. The trouble is, it is very easy to take the events industry for granted. If some kind of support isn’t found soon, there may not be events to go to after the pandemic is over. All of us will need to change our means of livelihood to survive and there will be no one left to put on the concerts, theater, or other events.

What can I do you ask?

Well, first of all, you can support your local artists and technicians by contacting your representatives, senators, MPs, or whoever will listen. You can also support local art initiatives, we are all struggling at the moment so any support is helpful, support a blog or podcast, buy some street art, give some coins to the guy singing on the street. If you have the financial means you can donate! There are many people that are counting on financial help from global relief funds, Cris and I are raising money for CrewNation, if you are interested to donate to that cause click here. Otherwise, do some research locally to see what you can do to help. I truly believe that the Events industry will return but we need to start supporting it on a grassroots level. So get out there, find a socially distanced concert or movie, or go to a local art market and support us.

https://wemakeevents.org

https://wemakeevents.com/

  1. Wemakeevents.org. 2020. #Wemakeevents – Now At Red Alert!. [online] Available at: <https://wemakeevents.org/> [Accessed 18 September 2020].
  2. Alarmstuferot.org. 2020. Downloads. [online] Available at: <https://www.alarmstuferot.org/downloads> [Accessed 18 September 2020].
  3. Campos, G., 2020. UK Live Events Industry Stages Day Of Action. [online] AV Magazine. Available at: <https://www.avinteractive.com/markets/live-events/throw-us-line-tuesday-11-august-10-08-2020/> [Accessed 18 September 2020].

Published in Collaboration with Next Stop Awesome

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