The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and the County Film Office, in partnership with Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Chair Lindsey Horvath and Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, has unveiled a new $4.1 million grant program to provide relief to small and micro businesses affected by both COVID-19 and the 2023 Hollywood double strikes.
Los Angeles County is home to the highest percentage of actors, filmmakers, entertainment businesses and other creatives in not just the state, but the world. According to the latest Otis Report, the industry directly employed over one million workers and brought in over $208 billion in revenue prior to the strikes. In May 2023, most production drastically slowed or stopped completely when the WGA went on strike and then halted completely in July when SAG-AFTRA also went on strike. The double strikes lasted until November 2023 making it the longest entertainment strike in history.
Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, the Entertainment Business Interruption Fund (BIF) will provide grants of either $10k or $25k to qualified COVID-19 impacted small and micro businesses that support the entertainment industry in LA County. To qualify, businesses must be a for-profit business with $3 million or less in annual gross revenue, at least 70% of revenue must come from the entertainment industry and have experienced economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to present. To apply today, visit the website. Deadline to apply is May 24, 2024 at 5pm.
“Los Angeles County is investing in the diverse businesses that fuel our creative economy through the Entertainment Business Interruption Fund,” said Horvath. “This $4.1 million will be a lifeline to the prop houses, florists, caterers, and other small businesses that continue to face economic fallout after the recent strikes and slow return of local productions. LA County will continue to show up for the businesses that are the lifeblood of the entertainment industry, and incentivize film and TV production right here in LA County.”
Through the July 2023 motion and the creation of the BIF, the LA County Supervisors quickly responded to the need to create a fund to support these small businesses on their road to recovery from both the pandemic and the strikes. The County’s Film Office, housed within the DEO, has partnered with Lendistry to administer the grants and Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) to provide application assistance to applicants.
The BIF builds on the more than $50 billion already awarded to small businesses and nonprofits in 2023 through the Economic Opportunity Grant Program and DEO’s growing portfolio of capital access opportunities. Through BIF, DEO will award approximately 230+ grants in two levels based on revenue size and businesses that fall within the highest, high, and moderate tiers of the County’s COVID-19 Vulnerability and Recovery Index with ⅓ of total grant funds randomly awarded to businesses that fall within each tier. Awardees will be chosen via random selection. See breakdown below:
Revenue size: $1,000,000–3,000,000…grant size: $25,000
Revenue size: less than $1,000,000…grant size: $10,000
“Small businesses are the life blood for the Entertainment Industry and keep productions moving,” said Gary Smith, Head of the LA County Film Office. “The County Film Office is grateful to Supervisors Horvath and Barger for approving our request to provide grants to these businesses as they recover from the 2023 Strikes and the COVID Pandemic. Without these small businesses, Hollywood cannot exist.”
Research indicates that the double strikes cost the California economy between $3 to $4 billion and that LA County bore the brunt of this impact given it has the highest concentration of production facilities, studios, unions, guilds, and associations in the world — mirroring the economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic which many of the 40,000-plus small businesses are still recovering from.
“We understand the unique challenges faced by small businesses whose livelihoods rely on a bustling entertainment industry,” said Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, President and CEO of The Center by Lendistry. “This program is an opportunity to help these businesses to bounce back stronger and continue contributing to the community.”
“We applaud the LA County Film Office for supporting our local small businesses that are essential to America’s entertainment industry,” said Pat Nye, Executive Director of the LA SBDC Network. “We’re proud to be a partner in this one-of-kind resource.”
The BIF was launched on Thursday, April 25, at History for Hire, a family-owned prop house small business in North Hollywood that has been in operation since 1985. Thirty-five small businesses applied for BIF on-site and received technical or application support in person. Visit grants.lacounty.gov to learn more and apply.
Submitted by Lara Arsinian, Head of Marketing & Communications