We hand out this aid to BPI collaborating with Netflix as well as all BPI-related organizations, so the emergency aid for Indonesia’s film workers can be disbursed
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Online streaming platform Netflix has announced a cooperation with Indonesia’s Filming Board (BPI) to provide US$500 thousand, equivalent to Rp7.1 billion, in aid to pandemic-affected film and television workers in Indonesia.

The aid is a part of Netflix’s global hardship fund of US$150 million, equivalent to Rp2.1 trillion, which has been created to assist the creative community amid the pandemic, the company said. The funds have largely been disbursed to pandemic-affected film workers, it added.

The fund aims to financially support crew and freelancers in Indonesia’s film and television industries who have been hit hard by the pandemic, Netflix said.

“We hand out this aid to BPI collaborating with Netflix as well as all BPI-related organizations, so the emergency aid for Indonesia’s film workers can be disbursed,” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said in a press statement issued here on Thursday.

“We are optimistic that the synergy and support of all elements of Pentahelix—government, academicians, institutions, business players, public, and media—would create the innovation and creativity in boosting the economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

In a bid to accelerate the recovery of the creative economy sector, especially the film sub-sector in 2021, the ministry will also carry out the national economic recovery (PEN) program for the sub-sector under three schemes: the Indonesian film promotion scheme, Indonesian film production scheme, and Indonesian film license purchasing scheme, he informed.

Related news: Film workers, artists to receive government social assistance

Through such programs, Indonesia’s film industry is expected to contribute to economic recovery so that employment in the film industry and the film production cycle can be reinstated, he said.

Meanwhile, BPI chairman Chand Parwez said he respected Netflix’s support for Indonesia’s film workers.

“We will prioritize the most-affected workers who mostly need the assistance by considering the beneficiaries’ financial struggle,” he added.

Meanwhile, Netflix public policy SEA director Ruben Hattari noted that the prolonged pandemic is still affecting Indonesia.

Through aid fund disbursement and cooperation with BPT, Netflix hopes that it can help the affected-workers in the entertainment industry, he added.

“Hopefully, with the financial support disbursed in the midst of the pandemic, they will resume the creative projects soon,” Hattari said.

BPI will establish an independent committee by involving 18 professional filming associations to select the film workers who will receive the assistance, he added. The committee will start to function from September to November this year, he disclosed.
Related news: Ministry readies protocols for film industry amid COVID-19 pandemic
Related news: Government mandates film crew in Jakarta to undergo COVID-19 testing

Translator: Maria Cicilia, Juwita Trisna R
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021