- 5 minutes ago
Motion Picture & Television Fund CEO Bob Beitcher, Women in Film CEO Kirsten Schaffer, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles president and CEO Victor Dominguez and Emmakate Young, managing director of brand marketing and global sponsorships, Delta Air Lines, sat down for a conversation centered on "The L.A. Safety Net: Legacy Philanthropy & The Industry’s Essential Infrastructure" at the THR x Social Impact Fund's Social Impact Summit. Alisann Blood, co-head of global brand and music partnerships at UTA, moderated the panel, which largely focused on how L.A. can bounce back after blows from the pandemic, strikes, fires and entertainment industry struggles.
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for being here today. And it's really exciting to be here with
00:04such an inspiring group of people and executives. So, welcome. Emma-Kate, I'm going to start with
00:10you. Getting right to it. Going right into it. With Delta actively building the largest cultural
00:17commitment in its history as the inaugural founding partner of the LA28 Games, how do you
00:23see the city's civic infrastructure tying back to the entertainment industry safety net? Okay,
00:28I'm going to sort of break that down. So, it was a long question. So, it started with as the
00:34inaugural founding partner of the LA28 Games. And we were the first partner to step up to support
00:41and make that investment. We have been investing in... Thank you. We've been investing in LA for a
00:49long time. And this is our largest investment ever. And it's really a testament to how important the LA
00:55market is to us. So, that's... First and foremost, that's a recent thing. As I said, we've been
01:01investing for a long time really in corporate giving and in the philanthropic spaces within LA. So,
01:07that's why we're up here with these three excellent partners of ours from Los Angeles. It's really
01:12important for businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations to partner together to help cities
01:18thrive. We've seen that in every city that we work in, and especially here in LA. Corporate giving is
01:26something that's very core to Delta. It's core. It's in our DNA. It's what our people love to do.
01:31And so, we want to make sure that the cities where we are, where our people live, work, and serve,
01:35are thriving. And the way to do that are these partnerships. And so, we want to make sure that
01:39that safety net is there, whether it's through civic infrastructure or through these public-private
01:43partnerships. One example of something that we've done just recently in advance of LA-28 specifically
01:51was to commit to planting a thousand trees with tree people before the opening ceremonies, which are
01:57roughly 761 days from today. Not counting at all. Not counting. No. The clock is not on. And so,
02:06LA-28 will be a huge moment for the city, for the world, but especially for the city. But we
02:12want to
02:12make sure that we're doing something that's going to leave a lasting legacy and have impact far beyond
02:17the games in a community that is so important to us. That's really incredible, and what you guys
02:22have done is unbelievable. So, congratulations. Thank you. I will also add, we love our partners.
02:29We're honored to be on this stage today. So many great things have been said already that I was trying
02:35to remember things I wanted to comment on and layer in, but we're really just so proud and proud of
02:39these long-standing partnerships with all of you and are grateful to be here.
02:43Bob-
02:44I got you.
02:45Thanks, Bob.
02:46My next question is actually for you, Bob. The Motion Picture and Television Fund has been
02:50providing workforce care for over a century now. How has the nature of the entertainment safety net
02:55fundamentally changed as we navigate the post-strike AI-disrupted reality of 2026?
03:00Well, how much time do we have?
03:05I know.
03:06You know, it is, I think my focus would be less on AI disruption because, yes, it's, the wave is
03:16coming, but it hasn't quite hit us yet. But, you know, we're an industry that has gone through
03:21three major kind of cataclysmic episodes. The pandemic, which we all, you know, entertainment
03:30industry and others went through. Work stoppage strikes, which, you know, were very specific
03:38to us. And then the wildfires, which, you know, affected the entire city, but a large number
03:46of our members. And, you know, thank God that the MPTF exists because we, I say that as a
03:59proud leader, but, you know, we've served, we've given away 18 or $20 million to industry
04:05members. We gave out vaccines, testing so that people could get back onto the set.
04:16And then we run into this wall. I'm sure many of you are experiencing it of the production
04:21contraction, which has really slammed our specific Hollywood workforce in a very substantial way
04:31and has stretched our resources. But, you know, we're seeing members leaving the industry,
04:43you know, they've given up. Unfortunately, the, what's getting hollowed out is the younger,
04:53like seven to 10 years in the industry members who are young enough to say, screw it, still
05:01young enough to go figure out something else to do. And the older members who are saying, well,
05:08well, I was going to wait five years to retire. There's no work. I'm going to leave, take my
05:13retirement, maybe move out of LA. And, you know, so we're hollowing out that portion, the people who
05:21should be teaching and the people who should be learning. And we all hope that the industry will
05:27come back, roaring back with tax incentives and all those things. And at some point, we're going to
05:33find ourselves, our big concern is without enough trained, experienced people to do the work.
05:40So, you know, that, that's a focus of ours as well. I hope that answered.
05:44No, that does answer your question. And to that point, I think on the production contraction piece,
05:48Kirsten, I'm curious from your perspective as well, as the industry faces economic contraction and
05:53structural shifts, what specific actions must legacy institutions like women in film take to ensure
05:59gender equality and career sustainability aren't the first thing sacrificed?
06:04Well, those things have already been sacrificed. And so our job now is to hold the space to continue
06:12to push to keep gender equality top of mind and to innovate new solutions. So one of the things I
06:19think that we do well, we've been doing this for 53 years, is build a community of people who believe
06:26that all kinds of diversity are what make not only a thriving industry, but create culture overall.
06:35And so through our fellowships, through our membership, through our advocacy campaigns,
06:42we are continuing to send the message that focusing on gender equality and all underrepresented
06:50populations is of utmost importance to both the business and to the culture.
07:00And Victor, I'm curious from your perspective, as a non-entertainment civic institution serving
07:05roughly half a million Angelenos, how do you define the connection between the entertainment
07:09industry's economic survival and the broader wellness of the Los Angeles community?
07:14Well, thank you, Ellis. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Good afternoon, everyone.
07:20You know, if the industry is strong, that means our community is strong. That means households are
07:27strong. And there's a lot then you can do to help support our community, such as our organizations and
07:35many of the organizations that are in this room. If the industry is weak, that means it's less consumption
07:44of whatever that product may be, the less engagement with community. And so I think the stronger the entertainment
07:53industry is, I think it has a ripple effect on how strong other industries can be. But most importantly, as
08:01we look at the
08:01nonprofit sector here in our region. And so, Bob, make the industry strong, Bob.
08:12I'm going right now.
08:14No, but I think that's an incredible point. But, you know, entertainment truly is the beating heart of, you know,
08:19Los Angeles
08:20and the work that all of you are doing to really uplift and support that is incredible.
08:25Emma-Kate, I'm going to come back to you. Delta has been recognized as one of the 50 most community
08:30-minded
08:30companies in America for eight consecutive years, which is incredible.
08:35From your seat, how do you ensure corporate philanthropy is woven into the core brand strategy
08:40rather than just being an adjacent marketing topic?
08:44So it couldn't be further from a marketing topic, so much so that I think we actually, we do, we
08:52under-index on
08:53people being aware of how much we do in the communities where we live, work, and serve.
08:57I can say that with extremely close knowledge to it, I led the brand for the last eight and a
09:03half years,
09:04and we see in research that people just don't understand how much we do in communities.
09:08So it is a bit of a failure on my part, I will admit it.
09:12It's also, I think, a testament to how much we are about the work.
09:15We put our heads down and we do the work.
09:17We're not, we're a humble brand and we're not there thumping our chest.
09:21I do think we could do a better job to make sure that people know, but the way that we
09:25let people know
09:25is by being in the communities and doing the work.
09:28It's so core to our DNA.
09:30We have, we have a hundred thousand employees and we attract people in our frontline that are helpers
09:36and that are givers.
09:37We have former teachers, we have former EMTs, people that want to help and give.
09:43And so they do that for you when you are out traveling with us,
09:46but they also invest so much of their time to volunteer.
09:50We put up an opportunity to volunteer with the YMCA and it'll be gone in minutes, if not seconds.
09:59We actually don't have enough capacity for as many employees who want to volunteer.
10:04So it is such a part of our DNA.
10:06I think that we know through research that that attracts people to come and work with us.
10:12And so it's just extremely important for us.
10:15And I think something that we could do better about telling that story, unfortunately or fortunately.
10:22We've been around for 105 years and have the same problem.
10:26Yeah.
10:27All right.
10:27Well, we can work on it together then.
10:29We're a hundred years.
10:30You're 105.
10:31I've been around for 145 years.
10:33Oh, okay.
10:33And I have the same problem.
10:35I think there's a task force in this piece.
10:37It's the do-gooders, right?
10:38We've got our heads down.
10:39We're just getting it done.
10:39We've been around for 53 years.
10:41So we're half the age of all of them.
10:43All right.
10:43And also have that problem.
10:46But what a testament, though.
10:47Honestly, what a testament to the impact of the work that you all do, that you've been
10:50around for this long and actually continue how you show up and you see it.
10:55I mean, we were talking before the panel started about Atlanta being the hub, but how much you
10:59actually do invest in Los Angeles in particular as a community.
11:03So I think that's really special because you don't see that across a lot of corporate brands.
11:08Bob, I'm going to come back to you now.
11:10You'd mentioned the wildfires in the earlier part of the discussion.
11:16So when the historic 2025 wildfires displaced so many thousands, actually, of industry workers,
11:22the MPTF had to respond within hours.
11:25What did that crisis teach you about vulnerabilities and the resilience of our industry's private
11:30sector relief infrastructure?
11:32Yeah.
11:34Well, you know, as I said, we've gone through these various crises.
11:39You know, the pandemic came on us slowly and we had time to to build up our team and figure
11:46out, you know, how do we get money in people's hands?
11:49How do we, you know, support them with mental health stuff?
11:55The work stoppage, we saw it coming.
11:59We had, you know, exercise those muscles from the pandemic.
12:04The work stoppage was, as you said, it was holy shit.
12:09You know, next day we've got thousands of industry members who are unhoused looking for food, you
12:18know, looking for just the basics of existence.
12:21We were very fortunate.
12:23We moved six families onto our campus.
12:26We had some housing available there and they stayed for a while until they got settled and
12:32we moved six more families.
12:34So we were able to do a very small part of what people needed.
12:41The entertainment industry comes together in a really remarkable way.
12:46We partnered with a lot of sister organizations.
12:51We got two semi trucks full of household goods.
12:59The next day we called a charity that we know in the Midwest and they said, you know, we'll
13:05load them up and get them out to you.
13:06We, the following week we had a big giveaway of all that stuff.
13:10Uh, we got incredible donations from individuals and from studios, um, too many of them to mention
13:20many of the locals stepped up to help their members.
13:23Uh, and we have 22 social workers who are, you know, honestly the most resilient, uh, hard
13:33working, uh, durable people.
13:36I mean, they went through the pandemic, they were isolated on their own.
13:41Many of them were single living on their own.
13:43They were working literally seven days a week, fielding calls from industry members who, you
13:50know, there was suicidal ideation.
13:52There were people who, who were unhoused.
13:54There were people who were so full of anxiety and stress.
13:58Will I ever work again?
13:59And will I ever be able to, you know, work and associate with my family because they're
14:06immune compromised?
14:08Um, and so it's an incredible team of people who just step up and do the work, uh, take
14:16care of themselves, but, uh, support our industry members in, in pretty miraculous ways.
14:24I'm curious, I'm curious too, just as a follow-up with the production stoppage kind of being
14:31an immediate type thing.
14:33And then from going into the wildfires following that, what did you learn from like in being
14:39able to mobilize that quickly with wildfires?
14:42What were some of the lessons that kind of bought, you bought into that as that happened?
14:47Uh, you know, one, uh, important thing is you can't do it all yourself.
14:52Uh, this was a much bigger problem than any, you know, we're as relatively small organization.
14:59I mean, uh, here, the stats from Victor, uh, and they're overwhelming compared to what,
15:05what we can marshal.
15:07So we had to reach out to other organizations and figure out what everyone is, was doing,
15:14how everyone could contribute.
15:15Uh, you know, we reached out to law firms and said, our folks need to learn the best.
15:22about applying to FEMA.
15:25We've never done it before.
15:27Yeah.
15:27Uh, they've never done it before.
15:30You must have folks around the country who know the steps to get a good response from
15:35FEMA.
15:36And then we found folks and we did a bunch of webinars.
15:40We had hundreds of people coming onto those webinars because there are folks in here who, who were FEMA
15:49askers.
15:52Well, it's, you know, it's like doing anything with the government.
15:57It doesn't come easy, there's a lot of questions, there's a lot of nonsense, and people were struggling.
16:03I mean, they needed, uh, money and they needed it right away and they needed support.
16:08And, uh, you know, we, we got together as a group, entertainment community fund, uh,
16:14uh, will Rogers foundation go through, uh, a bunch of organizations and you have to pull
16:20together and, uh, and present a unified face and divide up the work and get it done.
16:28Because the most important thing at that moment is wrapping your arms around people who are,
16:34you know, wiped out.
16:37Yeah.
16:38And Kirsten, you've spoken really movingly about being both a survivor of the 2025 wildfires
16:44and a leader of an entertainment organization.
16:46How did that personal experience reframe your perspective on what vulnerable workers actually
16:51need from philanthropic institutions in a crisis?
16:54Um, so we did lose, we lost our home and our neighborhood and our whole community and, um,
17:04uh, I am, I'm, I'm a neighborhood captain.
17:07I'm involved in a lot of community organizations and I am running women in film.
17:11And in those months after the fire was also, um, helping to raise some money through our organization
17:17to also support other survivors.
17:19Um, I think one of the most interesting things, um, and maybe useful to this room to think
17:25about is, um, what long-term support looks like.
17:30So there was incredible support in those first few months.
17:34It blew my mind.
17:36The, the generosity of so many individuals, so many, uh, nonprofits, so many corporate partners.
17:42Um, it actually made me think of abundance in a different way that there are so many resources
17:47out there, um, and that if we work together in different ways that we can get resources
17:54to people who, who need them.
17:56Um, a year and a half later, it was the, uh, 18 month anniversary last week, last week.
18:04Um, it, it has become apparent that people who were under-resourced to begin with are more
18:13even, or even more deeply under-resourced.
18:15I think of Altadena, um, in sort of three buckets in the, in the rebuild.
18:20There are people who did not have insurance and have no way to rebuild and, or were renters
18:25and, um, have no way to get back to what they had.
18:29There are people who are, um, under-resourced, like, under-insured who have some money, um,
18:36but don't necessarily have access to FEMA and, or the FEMA paperwork.
18:41Like, I haven't, I didn't finish my FEMA paperwork, like, I gave up at some point.
18:46Um, you know, who don't have the resources to rebuild, or sorry, who, who can kind of piece
18:52it together.
18:52Um, for example, the SBA loan is really helpful, um, but then they, like, decreased my SBA loan
18:58last week.
18:59So it's, like, a constant, like, struggle.
19:02It, it, it isn't ending.
19:03And then there's a group of people who have the resources they need to rebuild.
19:06They were well-insured.
19:07They have, they have the, the finances.
19:10And so, um, thinking about strategies that work for, uh, you know, particularly the people
19:16who don't have what they need.
19:19And also, I think, sort of, the people in the middle, too, who sort of, like, have half
19:22of what they need.
19:23Um, so my, my biggest takeaway in this is that the, the funding is out there.
19:32The capacity to support, um, neighbors in rebuilding exists, but leveraging it for the
19:40long term is really challenging.
19:43Yeah, I think the way that the world moves nowadays so quickly, like, when you just said
19:4718 months, I was like, oh my gosh, has it really been that long?
19:50Um, so really thinking about that long-term piece is, I think, for all of us a reminder
19:55that, you know, things just don't stop when something like that happens.
19:58You have to be building for that longer term.
20:02100%.
20:02And, um, you know, there are many people who are not okay, like, in so many ways.
20:10And that it's going to be, you know, years before, before the communities are rebuilt
20:16and people are able to really be home.
20:19Well, and I think that brings us, it's a nice segue in terms of my question for you, Victor.
20:24You know, the YMCA's wildlife recovery, wildfire recovery response is really still ongoing
20:30a long time after the cameras have left.
20:32How crucial is consistent multi-year corporate partnership for sustaining a community's long-term
20:37rebuild?
20:38Great.
20:39You know, I'm currently, and I'm honored and blessed to be the president and CEO for
20:44the oldest and largest youth and family-serving non-profit organization in the county of Los
20:48Angeles.
20:48But that really doesn't mean anything if we are not willing to leverage that infrastructure
20:55and that system to be able to respond in the moment of crisis.
20:58And so I'm proud that at the Y, from day one, we responded by being one of the largest food
21:08providers, essential items, mental health resource, engaging 30,000 volunteers in a one-month
21:16time to be there in the spirit of service.
21:21I mean, as I look back 18 months ago, it really brought out the best of our region or the
21:27best
21:27of our community in so many ways.
21:30But a lot of that could not happen with many of the people that gave of themselves, but also
21:37corporations like Delta Airlines that made a full commitment in day one to offer their help
21:45and their support.
21:46It wasn't prescribed.
21:47It was done in a very authentic and real way that said, how can we partner?
21:53How can we support?
21:55You're on the ground.
21:56You understand and know what people need.
21:59But most importantly, it wasn't just a one-day deal, a six-month deal, a 12-month deal.
22:08It's the understanding that when corporate philanthropy in particular, when they make a commitment
22:14to be there during a recovery and a rebuild process, they really, truly understand that
22:20it's a long-term commitment.
22:23And so, yes, the cameras are off, but many great companies, many great institutions and
22:31organizations here on this stage and many in this room and many that aren't here have
22:37truly committed themselves and their organization and their resource to ensure that we are at
22:43every phase of the rebuild process for those that have been impacted in the Palisades and
22:49Eaton fire.
22:50To give an example, at the Y, since day one, I made a commitment, and it's still true today,
22:56and I will continue to recommit that in 2027, that anyone that's been impacted by the fire
23:02will have a free YMCA membership.
23:04Anyone that's been impacted by the fire will have free mental health services.
23:12Anyone that's been impacted will have free day camp, resident camp.
23:15Anything that the Y offers at any of my 29 YMCAs and 221 program sites throughout the county,
23:22they know that their local Y as a Center for Community Wellbeing is there for them.
23:27And so, as we look, thank you.
23:32So, as we look at this recovery process, yes, many of us were on cameras, but really being on camera
23:42was fulfilled two things.
23:44One, to show that you were doing work to be able to receive money.
23:50That's the reality of it.
23:52But two, to be able to ensure the fact that you sent out, you gave information to community
23:57that was lost.
23:59Now that the cameras are off, those who are speaking and talking about recovery on a daily
24:05basis, and it's part of their organizational, strategic, operational plan today, and also looking
24:13into the next couple years, those are the organizations you want to align yourself with.
24:19Because they're the organization that will walk the talk.
24:25No, I think that's incredible.
24:27And I think it harkens back to what you were saying about, like, corporate philanthropy is
24:32not a marketing tactic.
24:33It's a real commitment to your community and the people that live in it.
24:38So, thank you for that response.
24:41I'm also being mindful of time.
24:43So, what we're going to do right now is go into a quickfire round.
24:47And this is really, just want your 30-second, maybe a couple seconds more gut reaction answers
24:53only.
24:54So, we'll just go down the row.
24:56The first one we're going to start with, aside from dollars raised or donated, what is
25:01the single most important metric you look at to know the safety net is actually catching
25:04people?
25:08So, we have a lot of dollars raised by our people.
25:11We have a lot of dollars donated by our company.
25:14We give back 1% of our net profits to the communities where we live, work, and serve.
25:19We have the awards, like, as you mentioned, 50 most civically-minded, community-minded companies.
25:25All of those things don't matter if there isn't the human impact.
25:30And so, we need to know that the organizations that we work with and the people that they
25:34are working with have the resources that they need to make positive and lasting change.
25:40And so, we're really looking at that ultimate individual impact of how many lives have we
25:45impacted in a positive way.
25:47Incredible.
25:48Bob?
25:49Yeah, to go back to something we were talking about previously, for us, the most important
25:54metric is how many people come to us for assistance during these disasters.
26:05Because we do struggle.
26:06You know, we do two things.
26:08We provide retirement housing for 250 industry members, and they're sort of in a community,
26:19and they love where they are, but not a lot of people know about it.
26:24And then, we provide financial assistance, palliative care, a lot of assistance that people
26:31don't talk to others about.
26:34You know, there's a shame factor.
26:36There's a whole bunch of stuff that goes into that.
26:40So, we've been around for 105 years.
26:43We've done amazing work all that time.
26:46And probably 15 or 20 percent of the people working in the industry know who we are and
26:52what we do.
26:53So, you know, what we work hard at every day through social media, everything else, is getting
27:01the word out of what's available to our industry members from MPTF and getting them through
27:08the front door.
27:09You know, we have an intake line.
27:12We tell people, you may or may not be eligible.
27:15Just call, and someone, a social worker, will talk to you, and we'll try to get you help.
27:20And I think through the pandemic, work stoppage, wildfire, you know, probably 20 or 25,000 people
27:31came through that front door.
27:33Only half of them were eligible for assistance for various reasons.
27:38But that larger number now knows who we are, what we do, how we might be able to help them
27:44in the future.
27:45And that's just a super important metric to us.
27:48That's incredible.
27:50Kirsten.
27:50So our goal at WIF is to achieve gender equality throughout the entire industry.
27:56We measure that in terms of jobs, like how many women are directing, writing, producing,
28:01cinematographers, et cetera.
28:03But we also think a lot about the quality of life in those careers.
28:09So are women and gender non-conforming people free from sexual harassment and abuse?
28:15Are they making a living wage?
28:19Do they have job protection and security in as many ways as is possible?
28:24So we're thinking about overall health and well-being of the constituents in addition to
28:30those very clear numbers.
28:32Victor.
28:33Great.
28:34Storytelling is one way to be able to share the impact that someone may have on an organization
28:39such as the Y.
28:40But most importantly, we've gone all in on measurement.
28:43I've contracted over the next seven years with two of Los Angeles' most prominent researchers,
28:50as well as an additional 12 PhDs, to measure my organization in five social determinants of
28:56health around economic stability, health equity, education equity, belonging, and civic engagement.
29:04As we look at Los Angeles, and particularly our most pressing issues that face our community
29:10members, it's really within those five areas.
29:12And I'm really excited in the next seven years, we'll be able to demonstrate with real data
29:17how my Ys at a local level, but most importantly as a collection of YMCAs, how we truly have transformed
29:25and had a positive impact on Los Angeles.
29:28It's incredible.
29:31I know that we are...
29:35I was just going to say, I know that we are at time, but as an Angeleno and a working
29:40professional
29:40in this business, I'm personally so incredibly grateful for the inspiring work that you are
29:45all doing, and for just the organizations and everything.
29:50Thank you all for being a part of this panel, and we really appreciate the time from everybody.
29:56So thanks, everyone.
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