Netflix establishes $100 million fund for entertainment industry workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic

Netflix has announced an emergency relief fund for the "hardest hit in our industry" amid the "devastating" COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The company said Friday it's setting up a $100 million relief fund to "help with hardship in the creative community," noting that "hundreds of thousands of crew and cast" have been left without jobs as film and television productions are forced to shut down around the world, per Deadline.

"These include electricians, carpenters and drivers, many of whom are paid hourly wages and work on a project-to-project basis," Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos noted.

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An estimated 120,000 below-the-line entertainment industry jobs have already been lost as a result of the pandemic, according to numbers from the International Cinematographers Guild earlier this week. "Although some of our members are being paid for up to two weeks after their shows shut down, based upon the reality of the health care crisis we now face, it is highly unlikely that productions will resume after so short a period of time," the guild said.

Netflix said most of its fund will go toward workers on its own productions, which is "in addition to the two weeks pay we've already committed to the crew and cast on productions we were forced to suspend," but $15 million will also go toward third parties and non-profits helping film and TV professionals who have lost work, including $1 million for the SAG-AFTRA COVID-19 Disaster Fund.

Mike Flanagan, the creator of Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House, praised the streamer for its announcement on Friday, tweeting, "WOW ... thank you @netflix, on behalf of my crew, and all the others."