Entertainment Industry Foundation Starts Disaster Relief Fund for Los Angeles Wildfire First Responders, Victims

The Hollywood-supported nonprofit Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) has started up a disaster relief fund called “Defy: Disaster” for first responders battling the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires.

“Our hearts go out to all who have lost their homes and those who are uncertain what the days ahead will hold,” EIF president and CEO Nicole Sexton said in a Wednesday statement. “There is an urgent need to provide shelter, food and water, medical care for individuals and families, as well as care for pets that have been displaced.”

The program works to mobilize the entertainment industry and the public by helping provide frontliners with essential needs — including equipment, food, water and other resources. City National Bank sponsors “Defy: Disaster.”

The organization, on which former film studio executive Sherry Lansing serves as director with Creative Artists Agency’s (CAA) Chris Silbermann as board chair, has set the fund up to accept public donations that will be distributed to frontline workers, including firefighters and other emergency service personnel, as well as impacted residents in the communities.

Board members also include NBCUniversal’s Jeff Bader, Fox Entertainment’s Dan Harrison, CBS Entertainment’s Noriko Kelley, Netflix’s Andy Kubitz and more.

The Palisades fire started late Tuesday morning in the ritzy neighborhood nestled between the Santa Monica mountains and the Pacific Ocean, sparking a mass evacuation of an estimated 30,000 people from the celebrity enclave. Along with the Eaton and Hurst fires, the trio have now scorched at least 10,000 acres in just one day. Officials said more than 1,000 homes, businesses, schools and other buildings have since burned, and two deaths were reported overnight.

In response, some Hollywood productions have been shut down entirely, including Max’s “Hacks,” NBC’s “Suits: LA” and “Happy’s Place,” Apple TV+’s “Loot” and Peacock’s “Ted, all of which are produced by Universal Studio Group. Other premieres and industry events have been postponed or canceled altogether as well.

The last time EIF activated the initiative was in 2023 during the Maui fires, with Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson offering help.

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