NASHVILLE — WeMakeEvents North America is spearheading the #RedAlertRESTART Day of Action on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, with up to 1,500 buildings, including Nissan Stadium, lit in red in over 50 cities from coast-to-coast, from 9 pm – midnight (local time). The goal is to raise public awareness about the economic plight of the Live Events Industry and urge Congress to pass the RESTART Act, as well as extend and expand PUA for 1099 workers and FPUC to provide financial assistance to the unemployed.
Since all live events were shut down in March 2020, millions of people have been impacted in an industry estimated at generating $877-billion in revenue per year (US Bureau Of Economic Analysis — https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/arts-and-culture).
Due to public health concerns, live events will not return until sometime next year, making the RESTART Act an essential piece of legislation for the survival of our businesses. Additionally, support for #ExtendPUA and FPUC is necessary to help the people that are unable to return to work.
As noted in a PLSN survey: (https://plsn.com/featured/featured-slider/plsn-foh-mid-april-survey-liveevent-blackout-pushes-entertainment-technology-industry-into-financialfree-fall/)
- 77% of people in the live events industry have lost 100% of their Income
- 96% of companies have cut staff
- 97% of 1099 workers have lost their jobs
“The entire live events industry is on the brink of collapse. Without financial relief, many businesses stand to permanently close, and families risk bankruptcy and homelessness,” says Brad Nelms, director of WeMakeEvents North America. “We want to take this opportunity to show the world the scale of what it takes to make live entertainment events happen and demonstrate how much this crisis has affected our community. This is a human issue, not a political issue, and it requires immediate action. While we realize there are a lot of issues going on right now, and other organizations will be staging events on other dates, we feel very strongly we must act now to save our industry.”
Over 60 cities in North America are participating, including: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, Tuscaloosa, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tempe, Fayetteville, Anaheim, Berkeley, San Jose, San Diego, Boulder, Denver, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy, Raleigh, Durham, Reno, Cleveland, Akron, Sandusky, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Nashville, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Charleston, Madison, Milwaukee, Honolulu, Chicago, Indianapolis, Ft Wayne, Boston, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Omaha, Santa Fe, Albany, Buffalo, Birmingham, Mobile, Muscle Shoals, Mesa, Long Beach, Oakland, Jacksonville, and others from coast to coast. There is also a partner in Trinidad & Tobago.
Watch RED ALERT LIVE, 9pm-1am Eastern time on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WeMakeEventsNorthAmerica; and on YouTube at https://bit.ly/2YLqhre.
About The Legislation:
The RESTART Act (S. 3814/H.R. 7481), led by senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) in the Senate and representatives Jared Golden (D-ME) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) in the House, fills in the gaps left by the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) in order to provide much needed relief for industries whose expenses far exceed the payroll restrictions put in place by PPP.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) was one of the federal CARES Act provisions to provide additional funding for those on Unemployment Insurance (UI) in the form of $600/week. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), also from the federal CARES Act,expands UI coverage to include those who are not usually eligible for regular UI benefits such as self-employed workers and independent contractors.
Supporting organizations and associations include:
ESTA (Entertainment Services & Technology Association); ExtendPUA.org; IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees,); IAVM (International Association of Venue Managers), Live Events Coalition; NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants), PLASA (Professional Lighting and Sound Association); TSDCA (Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association), USITT (United States Institute of Theatre Technology)
For more information, please visit: WeMakeEvents.org
#WeMakeEvents #RedAlertRESTART #ExtendPUA
