The more than 100-year-old Motion Picture & Television Fund, hit by a “perfect storm” of rising costs and falling revenues, is facing “imminent ruin” and the very real prospect of closing its doors and going out of business. Unless he gets an amazing cash donation by the end of 2022.
“Our mission has never faced more serious challenges,” MPFF President and CEO Bob Beecher said in an urgent appeal to nearly 600 industry leaders. To put it bluntly, MPTF’s legacy and mission – our ability to survive – are truly at stake. Our ability to continue to support the thousands of industry members on our campuses and in the community who rely on MPTF for food, shelter, charitable assistance, medical care and socialization literally hangs in the balance. We can’t afford to take care of ourselves most of the time if we don’t make some incredible financial contributions.
After more than a decade as CEO of the MPTF, I am writing the letter I hoped I would never have to write: A In desperation And urgently They want you,” he wrote. “During the pandemic, every member of the MPTF team has been forced to take a hard look at our financial situation. And now things don’t look good.
Since the beginning of the epidemic As of March 2020, MPTF has experienced significant operational shortages as a result of Covid-related costs, nursing shortages and low occupancy rates and revenue losses for residents and staff at its campus in Woodland Hills. All of the major events during the outbreak cost us more than $20 million. Check out our latest investment portfolio! Never undersupplied, the MPTF has always been flawed and flawed year after year. We are currently operating in dangerous territory, rapidly depleting our cash reserves.
See his full letter to industry leaders here.
The impact of the pandemic on MPTF finances has been significant. According to the MPTF, the 101-year-old charity lost an estimated $22 million from 2020 to the end of this year due to the pandemic, including more than $9 million in direct Covid-19 costs. There is more than $7 million in lost revenue and a nearly $7 million shortfall in Covid-impacted fundraising events. The damage would have been greater if not for the $1,296,108 in federal supplier-relief funds.
Beecher told Deadline that over the past three years, over $20 million in Covid costs, a decline in our investment portfolio and low fundraising have all combined to create a perfect storm for the MPTF’s ability to meet the wall. Compliance with the bank line and continuation of operations. So we want to get this out now and give the industry a chance to stand up and be counted before it’s too late.
“If we don’t collect $10-12 million in cash by the end of the year, we risk breaking our bank covenants. What the bank will do after that is not exactly clear. The bank has many options, but in theory it could push us to bankruptcy.
“We borrowed $20 million — this was before my time — in the early 2000s. Part of it was completing the Stark Villas and doing other construction on the campus. We’ve paid it off regularly since then, but we have about $13 million left on that loan. We have the ability to continue, but the bank line requires us to maintain a certain amount of money in excess of the disbursed loan and that is the reason we are vulnerable to failure.
Asked if the MPTF could be out of business soon, he said, “That’s certainly one possibility.”
Regarding the 250 retirees who live at the MPTF campus in Woodland Hills, Beecher said, “It’s unthinkable to me that our industry would fail to find the generosity to sustain the MPTF, but you can imagine that’s over 250 residents, many of whom are the most vulnerable and vulnerable in our community.” They were forced to live their last years in very poor conditions because we could not find charity work to sustain this organization.
“We know how our industry reacted when we considered closing our skilled nursing facility 13 years ago. It was ugly, and rightly so. People say, ‘Why didn’t you tell us he was in trouble?’ We’re here now, and we’re giving everyone the opportunity to support us through sustainable gifts. The bottom line is that in some fashion — don’t ask me how or when — we’re not going to pay our employees and we’re going to have to work with our residents to find another place. And we have to tell the people in the community that we’re helping with their rent, our help with their caregivers, everything we’ve done to take care of them, that our help is going to go away. . It is unthinkable, but we are seeing it. “
In a letter to 600 industry leaders, Beecher said many had left the MPTF voluntarily, but warned that it would do little good if the charity went out of business before they died. “In recent years, we have received a number of generous pledges to be paid forward upon the death of donors; But frankly, at this point, it’s pointless to hedge our future if we can’t live in the present. We need your help now! As an industry leader, you can match my personal pledge of at least $20,000 a year for five years to make a difference in the lives of those who work to keep our industry going. And you can help us even more by introducing us to new donors.
“Your pledge and the pledge of others will make the difference between MPTF’s survival and imminent demise,” he wrote. “I know we can solve this, because the MPTF needs to get through this financial crisis and continue to serve our community.”
“I don’t ask people to do more than I do,” Beecher, who made such a promise himself, told Deadline.
MPTF says it will personally find 50 or more industry leaders who can make “very large gifts.” “It’s all hands. There are giants in our industry – companies and individuals – who have done well for themselves financially in the entertainment industry over the years. But I don’t think we should be blind to the fact that every day thousands of industry workers on film and television are working so hard for these people and companies to make their fortunes and the people MPFF is serving. So it’s time for some of these giants to step up and do the right thing.
“Let’s be clear,” he told Deadline, “there are a lot of individuals and companies in the industry who have been generous over the years — some in the past but not recently — so we’re going to talk to those people and a lot of people who have given recently, and make it clear that we’re very grateful to them.” I want. But there are many people who have done well in this industry and don’t see the need to support the fund, and I think it’s time for everyone to put aside the idea that the MPTF will last forever; It’s about funding and dispelling the notion that others support and don’t deserve it and make it happen. Because at the end of the year, we will either collect a lot of money or the bank line will be damaged and we will have to close the door,” he said.
It’s also asking rank-and-file industry members to dig a little deeper. “It’s the same message, but obviously we can’t ask them for $20,000 a year for five years. It will be at the level where they can give, because it is there for them. Most of our residents are not moguls – they are industrial workforce people and if those people want the campus and the community to fund charity for them or their colleagues and co-workers, they should give us a recurring monthly gift – maybe $10 a month, but they should get on the list and support this organization. .
In the year Founded by Mary Pickford in 1921, MPTF, Beecher said, “has been around for 101 years. What makes the entertainment industry unique in terms of self-care is charity. Thank you to our industry members for their philanthropy and generosity. This is how we go from one year to the next. With all this covid costs and all the other things where the need is so high, if that charity dries up or shrinks, we won’t be sustainable. That’s a whopping 60,000 plus covid tests, lab setup, PPE, when we have infected residents, increasing costs everywhere, unfilled beds because we can’t get enough nursing staff to fill the beds, that’s lost revenue. for us. And three years of virtual fundraising events or live events where people are concerned about coming or sponsors are concerned about supporting business has gone down – that alone – the events segment – has cost us $9 million over the last three years. We didn’t have a large bank account going into this crisis to come out of it as a viable organization.
But Beecher said he’s confident the MPTF will manage the “perfect storm” once the industry realizes the seriousness of the problem. “What keeps me awake at night and ready for a new day is my belief that our industry does not allow this wonderful charity – a safety net for workers. For more than a hundred years; During the pandemic, which served 10,000 industry workers with more than $7 million in charitable assistance and made 30,000 walk-in calls — just go. I get that this is a difficult time in the industry; As adverse economic conditions affect investment portfolios. But I also know that there are hundreds of industry leaders who could stand up to more than solid funding for the MPTF. I’m working day and night like I am, and I’m sure we’ll pull this off.”
Even so, he said, “I don’t want to scare our residents, and I don’t want to lose workers who start running to the doors looking for new jobs. That’s the balance I’m trying to find.”
