Over a month after fires raged through Los Angeles, longterm relief efforts are just starting to coalesce.
With over 16,249 structures burned between the Altadena and Palisades wildfires, and now mudslides from torrential rain further damaging burn areas, reconstruction has been slow to begin. As the city and state still scramble to initiate rebuilding, grassroots relief efforts founded in the entertainment industry have started to take shape.
Initially, the leading Hollywood studios and corporations made multimillion-dollar donations to fire relief, but it’s the smaller efforts that are beginning to produce on-the-ground benefits.
Organizations like The CoPilot Project are connecting fire survivors with practical resources to rebuild their lives; Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica provided personalized shopping experiences for affected residents; and one caterer started Hero Drops to feed first responders.
The entertainment industry hadn’t fully recovered from the one-two punch of the COVID pandemic and the writers and actors’ strikes that shut down the industry before the fires delivered another blow. With many struggling to find work, some unemployed entertainment professionals are using their free time to support colleagues trying to get back on their feet.
One organization, Bid for LA, is attempting to bring advertising production back to Hollywood. Because many gig workers live in Altadena, the two founders’ side hustle aims to provide longterm support to fire survivors by putting money back into their pockets.
Other high profile efforts, like the FireAid benefit concert, raised over $100 million for short- and longterm fire relief. Organized by music mogul Irving Azoff and his wife Shelli, FireAid announced their first set of grants Tuesday.
While the aid efforts take many forms, here’s a rundown on six organizations that are seeking to help the entertainment industry get back on its feet in the wake of the devastating fires.
The CoPilot Program
When the fires raged through Los Angeles, Mollie Knopf, like many Angelenos, had close family and friends impacted by the fires, and she could not sit idly by. In between production gigs, Knopf cobbled together a group of fellow unemployed entertainment industry workers who “were all sitting on some dusty skill sets” — a collection of strangers brought together on the basis of altruism, she told TheWrap.
Early volunteers ranged from COOs and executive producers to independent writers and production assistants. The volunteer effort was the brainchild of Knopf but now has up to 200 participants, many of whom were out of work like Knopf due to declining production in L.A.
“Everyone is eager to step in and be able to help in any capacity,” the production manager told TheWrap. “It’s been a really empowering opportunity, not only to be able to help find that light at the end of the tunnel for survivors, who are having trouble making sense of everything right now, but also to help sharpen those dusty skill sets for all the people who are unemployed and going through a different kind of suffering and trauma.”
The CoPilot Project provides hands-on operational assistance for L.A. fire survivors. Knopf and her fellow volunteers help survivors with a “recovery hub” to organize their belongings in a secure, accessible manner. They also provide task list templates, ranging from insurance reimbursement to a how-to for canceling utilities. She also created a detailed breakdown of every possession a survivor may have had or lost as a result of the fires.
“We want to remove all barriers to entry,” she said. “And we also want to make it as safe as possible.”
To do that, The CoPilot Program has an insurance consultancy partner, Tugboat Claims. They are offering to review survivors’ insurance policies for free and explain the coverage in layman’s terms. Knopf acknowledged that the team is made of all volunteers, so they could not provide this type of service themselves, making it important to coordinate support where the volunteer organization leaves off.
“Besides all the services that we have been able to offer, the one that’s immediately most helpful is just lending an ear to listen,” she added, saying this process could not be possible without building trust.
To volunteer or get access to The CoPilot Program’s resources, visit their site here.
Bid for LA
Veronica Lombardo has lived in L.A. her whole life. She grew up on the ABC streets in the Palisades. After watching her hometown burn to the ground, she felt she had no choice but to raise her hand. A manager and producer by trade, Lombardo has felt the brunt of production leaving Hollywood since the pandemic, specifically affecting the “gig economy,” including many workers who live in Altadena.
She and her colleague Jenn McConville decided to create a longterm effort to help already struggling fire survivors by streamlining the process to “Bid for L.A.”
“Our economy is suffering, and more and more people are being forced out of the craft which they love and they have wanted to do their entire lives. That hits me, and it sparked this idea to try to do something,” Lombardo told TheWrap. “I’m not in the business of waiting. I’m in the business of doing.”
“The fires have been the catalyst for this whole initiative with Bid for LA, but also acknowledging that the industry has been in decline here,” McConville told TheWrap. “How do we get people to at least bid here? Because the reality is that L.A. is often not even considered anymore as a location because of some of the challenges and logistics.”
California’s film and TV tax incentives lag behind competing states and countries, offering fewer financial benefits for productions. This competitive disadvantage has driven many advertising productions to relocate to find cheaper options in the U.S. or internationally, further weakening the city’s economy.
Lombardo and McConville wanted to create a long-lasting fire relief effort that could help boost an already struggling entertainment economy. On their website, they have specifically outlined all the resources needed to shoot locally in L.A., whether permits or lists of industry sources.
Bid for LA works with database partners to provide an in-depth list of sources for production companies, freelance creatives and local crews. In addition to funneling jobs directly to affected professionals, the site has links to active GoFundMe’s to further support entertainment industry fire survivors.
“You’re spending money regardless. Your bottom line we understand, because your business is important to you, but an extra $5,000, $10,000, $20,000 at the end of your year, I have a feeling you are not going to be thinking about,” Lombardo said of the billion-dollar businesses moving advertisement out of L.A.
“I’m not telling you to waste your money, but what we are saying to you is give back to the community and the people who deserve it. It’s a direct response. It’s not a donation. You’re spending the money to produce something anyhow, anyway.”
Hero Drops
Caterer Lindy Lu has been feeding first responders with the donation-funded Hero Drops since 2019, so she and her husband, Bon Jovi guitarist Theofilos Xenidi, and their two kids sprang into action when the fires broke out.
“We just kicked it into gear as soon as the fires hit. We started a GoFundMe and we’ve raised more than $25,000 to feed these guys,” she told TheWrap.
“We’ve been cooking nonstop,” she said of creating and delivering fresh hot meals to multiple stations per night. Besides firefighters, she and her all-volunteer team dropped off food for police, hospitals and the National Guard during the height of the L.A. wildfires. She hopes to expand the meal program to people displaced by the fires.
“We’re not trying to promote the business,” she said of Lindy Lu’s Kitchen. “I want people to know about Hero Drops, because when stuff like this happens, we’ve established trust with people, and people aren’t afraid to donate.”
The Collaboration’s GoFundMe Round Up
Sam Schoen first started her GoFundMe spreadsheet as a way to organize her own thoughts around the fire. Overwhelmed by the devastation, she wasn’t sure how to help or the best ways to utilize her money or time.
Currently between jobs, Schoen became dedicated to the list, personalizing it for each fire victim and providing a detailed glimpse into their stories. Before she knew it, friends and family were asking how to help and adding on to the list she created. Eventually The Collaboration, a collective for women who work in film and television of which she is a member, came on board to the project.
“Getting laid off, the biggest gift has perhaps been time, and I have the time to do this,” she told TheWrap. “And I had the amazing women who are around me in The Collaboration to help me do it.
Schoen was joined by several members of the women’s group to make this initiative operate smoothly. Molly Hurwitz founded the women’s organization, and Alyssa Diaz, Christine Avery, Michaela Qvale, Stephanie Newman-Smith, Valerie Stadler, Laura Johnson and Camille Bernier-Green have all contributed to administrative work on the project.
“I realized that my community here is the entertainment community,” Schoen added. “Here are my weirdo artists, and the executives that work with weirdo artists, and I just feel like we’ve come together through so much. Why not support each other again?”
The list specifically highlights members of the entertainment community who were directly affected by the fires in Altadena and the Palisades, noting how close they are to their goal. Schoen said an impactful way to donate to fire relief is to decide how much money you are willing to spend and disperse and diversify your funds as much as possible.
Actor-producer Mark Duplass echoed this sentiment on his social media and shared the resources page to his Instagram, bringing heightened attention to the comprehensive GoFundMe list.
“Every single person on this list has a story, every single person on this list has a contribution to our business. Every single person on this list is loved by their family, their friends, their people,” Schoen said.
Click here to visit The Collaboration’s GoFundMe hub.
Zibby’s Pop-Up Clothing Drive, Library Initiative
Zibby Owens watched firemen save her Palisades home on her Nest camera. The author’s home was one of the first to be affected in the devastating fires, and she has since been able to thank the firefighters in person.
Owens knew right away that she wanted to help. Her bookstore, Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica, hosted a pop-up shop for families affected by the fires.
“I want people to wear stuff that makes them feel good when their lives are out of control,” Owens said. “And not necessarily someone’s recycled socks. We want people to put on a nice pair of jammies and feel taken care of.”
In addition to collaborating with brands to give fire victims new, fashionable clothes, she gave away free books from her shop next door. Owens also had grief counselors on site to help guide people through the shopping experience. Her pop-up was by appointment only, hoping to give residents a private, shame-free shopping experience.
Following the successful pop-up clothing drive that provided new, high quality items to more than 800 displaced families with donations from over 60 brands, Owens is now focused on ensuring that children regain access to books. This initiative will fund the replacement of entire school library collections, offering students and educators the resources to rebuild their learning environments.
“Think about the books that shaped your childhood. The librarians who introduced you to your favorite stories. The magic of a school library. Now imagine losing all of it overnight,” Owens added. “Together, we can bring these libraries back.”
Toward that end, Zibby Media has launched a campaign to help rebuild school libraries destroyed by the recent fires in the Palisades. Owens is leading the effort to restore the libraries of St. Matthew’s Parish School, Seven Arrows Elementary School, The Village School and Marquez Charter Elementary School.
To donate to the library rebuilding efforts, visit the site here.
The Soul Points Fund Gift Card Drive
TheWrap spoke with Mark Duplass just two weeks after fires raged L.A. as he used his social media platform to amplify fundraising efforts. The actor-producer has since teamed up with The Soul Points Fund to officially launch his gift card drive.
With the help of The Soul Points Fund nonprofit, he and his team are collecting unused gift cards to disperse to fire survivors. Donors can give physical gift cards, electronic ones or even give loyalty points that can be exchanged for e-gift cards.
Duplass kicked off the initiative with his daughter on Instagram last week.
“Someone had an idea of what these people who are displaced really need are gift cards because they need to be able to shop in small quantities before they have a big place to stay,” Duplass told TheWrap. “They want the dignity and the autonomy to be able to buy for themselves. These donation centers are full, and they’re wonderful, but a lot of people don’t have places to put these things.”
“The Morning Show” actor has extended his reach to larger corporations as well. He called out to Google on his Instagram, asking for Chromebooks to be donated to Los Angeles school districts forced to return to remote learning. He asked Nintendo to donate Switches to kids who lost theirs to the fires. He even called out Airbnb for making the process to seek temporary housing increasingly difficult for displaced residents. Duplass has also directly asked Walmart, Target and Costco to provide gift card donations through his nonprofit, so they land in the hands of “those who need them most.”
To donate gift cards to The Soul Points Fund, visit their site here.
Sharon Knolle contributed to this report.
