Famed trumpet player and A&M Records co-founder Herb Alpert has donated $250,000 to the through the Herb Alpert Foundation and amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes.
The donation — plus a matching gift bringing it to a total of $500,000 — was announced by the organization, formerly known as The Actors Fund, on Wednesday. “When artists are in need, it is important for society to offer support,” Alpert said in a statement. “The reason is simple: Our society is poorer when artists aren’t able to share their work with us. My hope is that our matching grant to the Entertainment Community Fund will keep inspiring others to support our artists in need.”
The donation comes as major giving continues to roll in during the historic double-strike, which has seen the WGA picketing AMPTP studios since May and SAG-AFTRA outside studios since July. Among recent donors to the Community Fund were Seth MacFarlane, who gifted $1 million directly to the Fund, and Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw’s $1.5 million donation, which was dispersed between the Fund and SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Emergency Financial Assistance Program.
The Katie McGrath and JJ Abrams Family Foundation, Stacey Abrams, Tom Bergeron, Rachel Bloom, Rosanne Cash, Suzanne Collins and Cap Pryor, Minnie Driver, Vince Gilligan, Lynn Nottage, Michelle Pfeiffer and David E. Kelley, Daniel Radcliffe, Shonda Rhimes, and Chandra Wilson are among the other Hollywood names that have donated to the Fund since May.
With counters from the AMPTP slow moving since their return to the table with the WGA in August, and negotiations with SAG-AFTRA not yet restarted since their work stoppage began on July 14, the two unions’ combined 175,000 membership has seen increased food insecurity and threats to housing. Donations to the Entertainment Community Fund have helped address the impacts of the stalled AMPTP negotiations and unions’ work stoppage for both guild members and other Hollywood workers, including the TV and film crews, impacted by paused productions.
“The Herb Alpert Foundation is thrilled to provide essential funding to support the talented writers, actors and dedicated industry professionals during this challenging work stoppage period,” Rona Sebastian, president of the Herb Alpert Foundation, said in her own statement. “Now more than ever, it is crucial to stand together and uplift those whose creative contributions shape our world. Together, we can ensure that industry professionals, including those in the Los Angeles community, have the resources they need during this pivotal time.”
Since May 1, the Community Fund has raised more than $9.1 million from over 10,500 donors in support of film and TV workers. As of Sept. 8, the Fund distributed more than $6.5 million to over 3,100 film and television workers.
“The Entertainment Community Fund is so thankful for the Herb Alpert Foundation’s generous donation and for inspiring others to continue to give to the Fund during such an important time,” said Chair of the Board Annette Bening. “These gifts will immediately assist film and television workers, and so many in our industry who are still struggling to recover after the pandemic.”
This month, mega-producers Greg Berlanti and Ryan Murphy both announced commitments of $500,000 towards those who have worked on their companies’ projects, with Berlanti also donating another $150,000 each to the Entertainment Community Fund and the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Fellow producer Paul Feig also donated $100,000 to the MPTF Community Care Fund in September.
