In a statement Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said the Covid-19 crisis is “devastating for many industries, including the creative community. Almost all television and film production has now ceased globally - leaving hundreds of thousands of crew and cast without jobs. These include electricians, carpenters, drivers, hair and makeup artists and more, many of whom are paid hourly wages and work on a project-to-project basis.”

Sarandos continues: “This community has supported Netflix through the good times, and we want to help them through these hard times, especially while governments are still figuring out what economic support they will provide. So we’ve created a $100 million fund to help with hardship in the creative community.”

According to him, most of the fund relief will go towards supporting “the hardest hit workers“ on Netflix’s own productions around the world. “We’re in the process of working out exactly what this means, production by production,” he stated.

The extra cash comes on top of a two week-pay promised to cast & crew working on productions interrupted mid-March.

Out of the $100m emergency fund, $15m will be given out to third parties and non-profit emergency industry relief bodies helping out-of-work cast & crew where the US giant has a large production base such as the Motion Picture & Television Fund in the US or the AFC in Canada.

In Europe Netflix is discussing with local industry bodies the creation of similar community relief efforts.

TV series in the Nordics affected by Covid-19 include season 2 of the Norwegian show Home for Christmas produced by Norway’s Oslo Pictures.

Kaia Foss, producer of the show told nordicfilmandtvnews.com that about 35 crew members and a big ensemble cast had shot 6 out of 36 days when the production had to stop due to coronavirus. "We’re working now on all possible scenarios for a restart, but obviously can’t go back into production before it’s safe to do so,” she noted.