Hollywood Confessional
Hollywood secrets... anonymously told.
"You'll never work in this town again."
For decades, those words -- or the sentiment behind them -- have cloaked all manner of evil in the entertainment industry.
As the #MeToo, #TimesUp, #PayUpHollywood, and many other movements demonstrate, times are changing. Yet there are countless things happening behind closed doors that people feel they can't talk about and wish they could.
This podcast changes all that. Actors, writers, crew members and support staffers reveal their wildest behind-the-scenes secrets on this podcast in total anonymity. And then you get to listen to their stories.
Hosted by writer-producers Meagan Daine and J.R. Zamora-Thal, the Hollywood Confessional is a biweekly podcast by Ninth Way Media. New episodes drop every other Thursday. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Connect on social media @fessuphollywood!
Hollywood Confessional
Green Envelope Grocery Aid
Hello Hollywood Faithful! This week we've got a very special episode where we interview Joelle Garfinkel, creator of Green Envelope Grocery Aid. Joelle is actively working to make Hollywood a happier place by organizing a mutual aid fund for those in need.
If you'd like to donate to the fund, you can venmo Joelle: http://venmo.com/joelle-garfinkel
You can also send money via PayPal: https://paypal.me/greenenvelopeaid?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US
If you'd like to apply for funds, you can find the application here: https://forms.gle/YrunTwueUZD5uvos8
Additional information can be found at Joelle's twitter: @msjoellegarf
Connect with us:
Check out some of our favorite shows:
- Screenwriters' Rant Room
- Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss
- It Happened in Hollywood
- The Secret History of Hollywood
Hollywood Confessional is a Ninth Way Media production, produced by Meagan Daine and J.R. Zamora-Thal.
Sound Effects and Music provided by Zapsplat and Pixabay.
Keywords: filmmaking podcast, film podcast, screenwriting podcast, entertainment podcast, Hollywood, filmmaking, writerslife, actorslife, setlife
In the name of the Lord, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.
Speaker 2:Jewell, you ready to step into the confessional booth?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:All right, let's do it.
Speaker 3:Bless me, father, for I have created a Mutual Aid Strike Fund. Oh hell yeah.
Speaker 1:This is going to be my favorite interview of the season.
Speaker 2:Well, tell us all about it, but first tell us about you.
Speaker 3:So I am a third generation Angelino, which I know is rare my grandparents met at Fairfax High. They were friends with Pink of Pink's Hot Dogs, so, like you know, what.
Speaker 2:Pink is a person, yeah, she went to Fairfax High.
Speaker 3:They also knew my great-grandfather, knew Barney of Barney's Beanery, so apparently A-N-E-L-A food. They're all named after people. Oh my God, my grandfather ran Jerry's Famous Daly in Studio City for years. So very tied into LA.
Speaker 2:And the history of food in LA, which is interesting.
Speaker 1:Food in.
Speaker 3:LA specifically.
Speaker 1:Where, in LA, were you born?
Speaker 3:I was born in Cedars, so like yeah, down the street.
Speaker 3:But I grew up Agora Hills area and I always wanted to be a writer. I started writing short stories basically from the time I could write and I was very shy as a kid so I got, you know, put into acting class to kind of come out of my shell. So from like an early age, like A, I was like, hmm, I should write movies and TV. And my grandma was like, yeah, that's a job. So I knew early on this is what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1:I wish my grandma told me that.
Speaker 3:Thank you, grandma. And so yeah, so I went to Cal St Northridge and I was lucky enough. Part of the curriculum my senior year was you had to intern, and so I ended up working on Smallville, which was like huge hit show. This was like right after they, I think it was right after the CW form. So it was season six and immediately I was like this is what I want to do and just figuring out how I could get into a writer's room.
Speaker 2:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I worked as a post PA for a while, then became a writer's assistant, then a showrunner's assistant, then a writer's assistant again and have, basically, you know, been doing that for the past 15 years, worked on 20 shows and then eventually, yeah, I did get into a writer's room.
Speaker 1:Yay.
Speaker 3:Yay, exactly. And two years ago I got staffed on an NBC show which was amazing, double yay, yay. But then that show got canceled.
Speaker 2:Boo.
Speaker 3:And then, yeah, like as we all know and part of the reason that we're out on strike is, it has been really, really hard for lower level writers to find that second job. So, despite having all this experience, despite having multiple freelances and a staffing job under my belt, I couldn't find that second staffing job. And I'm a single mom, I love to work. And so I went back as a script coordinator and was lucky enough that I did get a free lance on that show and was sent to set to produce my episode, which was an incredible experience, and then now we are on strike.
Speaker 3:So, oh, wow, so this happened just recently. Yeah, I was up in Vancouver just in March of this year. Yeah, oh gosh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, were they able to finish your season before the strike?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we finished. We were going to come back for season two a week after the strike started.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:Our season two is pushed and we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's just everybody's mantra, like we'll see what happens.
Speaker 3:It's all day by day yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, man so you have a ton of experience in TV and writers rooms. Do you have any experience organizing or creating mutual aid?
Speaker 3:No, the most experience I have organizing is I'm a type A Virgo. So I'm very organized in my own life, but no so I had no experience in this, no experience in the nonprofit world, and, like truthfully, the amount that we have been able to raise and everything that we've been able to do is continues to blow my mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really amazing and actually, before we get into that a little bit more, can you talk about how the idea came?
Speaker 3:out. So for me, I was just focused on like how am I going to pay my bills, Like all of us, figuring out all the different resources. I was lucky enough I applied for the WGA strike fund loan. I got approved and that was like a great piece of mind. But I was like, OK, so I've got month one covered. What am I going to do for as long as this goes? So it was right about the start of month two and I got a green envelope in the mail, which you know as. As we know, that's what our residual checks come in, and I was so used to at that point it being like a twenty two cent check, and I know it's almost insulting.
Speaker 3:Well, it's also like less than the cost of postage, so it's kind of like what is even you know what is that being the person who is like the accountant figure.
Speaker 2:Oh OK, so we owe them twenty two point one cent. Yes, exactly, so we'll round out.
Speaker 1:Exactly it's just it's.
Speaker 3:it's maddening, but I was so used to a twenty two cent check and I opened it up and it was like a check that was almost the exact same amount for what I was approved for the strike fund. So it was like a solid months worth of bills.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And the relief I felt, like honestly, opening it, it was so palpable and like immediately it was, it was like a light bulb moment and I'm like, ok, I have enough money to pay my bills. I also have enough money. I'm going to send grocery money to our PA. Being support staff, I always am looking out for the support staff, our support staff. They're really hurting right now because they're not. They don't have the same resources that we do. They can't even get free food at Bob's. You know like right, you know a struggle. So I was like, ok, I'm just going to Venmo her a hundred dollars, she can use it for groceries, it'll be in a boost. And she was so grateful and it was like, immediately, that same feeling that I got, she, you know, conveyed that she also fell. And I was like, ok, I'm going to do this for one more person. Like that's all you know I can afford, but like I want to be able to pass this feeling forward. And so I did. You know what we all do go to Twitter and so called Twitter.
Speaker 3:Like back you know, only two months ago, good old days, and so, and I just made like a post, that was you know, if anyone is struggling right now because of the strike, support staff specifically DM me. You know, I'm going to raffle off a hundred dollars towards groceries. And you know, the response was immediate, like you know, people immediately DM'd me and you know, because there was such a need for this, and so I was like, ok, well, we'll do a raffle. And then what happened was a friend of mine that I reconnected with on the picket line. She reached out to me and she's like I just got a green envelope too Like can I send you money and like now, sponsor like three people? I was like, oh my God, this is amazing. So we were able to sponsor three people.
Speaker 3:And then another writer friend of mine reached out to me and she's like I've been looking for ways to help, I would also like to, you know, contribute. And so I just kind of realized like I, you know, was this kind of person in between, you know, knowing all these writers and show runners, but also like having a pipeline to support staff. So I asked my friend I was like, do you think I can like actually turn this into something where writers would donate and I can like facilitate this. And she's like, yes, go for it. And then I called my accountant because I was like I was like let's make sure you know like everything is kosher.
Speaker 3:You know and like what are the parameters, and learned a lot about that, because one thing is we're not a nonprofit. Like and, and so it's just me, you know, sending the Venmo and or PayPal, whatever you know Money App. Once I got the go ahead from my accountant, then I just, you know, put it up on Twitter and I think that first day we got like $5,000 in donations, which was just incredible, like.
Speaker 1:So that would support 50 support staffers for groceries for a week.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that would support, yeah, the 50 support staffers. Initially it was just people were DMing me and then within a week you could tell that this was going to start taking off. And someone reached out to me that was involved in, like, pre-wga world and so that was also a great pipeline to, you know, the people that need it most. And he helped me make an application and a logo and I was like, okay, like this is starting to become a thing, wow.
Speaker 3:So now we have, you know, an application and yeah, it's just, it's it's taken off from there. And what's Amazing is the fund prior to SAG and after going on strike had continued to grow with the demand. Once SAG and after went on strike, the demand has quadrupled understandably so but because we're open to all union members.
Speaker 1:Do you have a pipeline for actors to donate? Do you think actors know about this fund?
Speaker 3:That's a great question. I mean I'm starting to now that they're on the picket lines with us. I'm a captain at Radford, so we're not an official SAG after site, and that's where a lot of me pushing it on the picket line has come in, and we have had actors now donate, which is pretty exciting. So I think that the more people that we are able to spread the word about will continue to get those donations. Thankfully, there has not been a day that the fund has hit completely zero, so, which is also incredible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's inspiring.
Speaker 2:So now I'll add in the fact that you hit $100,000. Oh my God.
Speaker 3:The latest is, I think it's 112,000. Oh my God, so we hit yeah, which again is amazing, I've been able to give 1110 grants to different people, so it's pretty incredible 1110 different people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, wow, yeah, we're just now starting to do repeat funds and so how it had been since it started, as mainly for support staff and lower level writers. Support staff continues to get priority funds, so they apply. They are usually not waitlisted. Everyone else gets put into a waitlist and the waitlist now is about two to three weeks. So we still try and get funds as soon as possible and make it as easy as possible. But if support staff does reapply they will not get the priority. They'll be put into the general waitlist.
Speaker 2:And how do they apply now that the DM thing is?
Speaker 3:blocked. So we have an application I put on my Twitter every night just the latest totals and link to the application, a link to donate, and then like any notes for the day, I guess, and also like who we're currently sending funds to, like what date of application we're sending to, so people can kind of track and see where we're at.
Speaker 2:And what's your? I will ask you again at the end, but your Twitter handle so people can follow you and find out miss.
Speaker 3:Joel Garf is my, my Twitter handle and then we will eventually have a website, but this whole thing, honestly, has felt like laying, like train track as the train yeah. And I'm like I didn't even know I could drive a train.
Speaker 1:Like so We've got a lot of experience putting track in front of the train by being by doing TV so.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, and so I'm really interested in how this whole thing has changed your experience or your feelings about the strike. You started off in a very different place, yeah.
Speaker 3:You're out now, right? Yeah, no, I mean, it was, you know, at the start of the strike. I was also hesitant to become a captain because I was like I'm a single mom, I don't have really the time and the bandwidth, and, you know, I think also another thing is there's a lot of insecurity about where we're all out in our careers and I felt like I'm like I can't be a captain, like I was just a script coordinator, which, like I'm totally glad that was dispelled, you know, because it's been such an amazing experience and I honestly I don't know if I hadn't become a captain, if I would have felt enabled, you know, empowered to do this. The fund, it's just been, it's just been incredible, like in terms of feeling the solidarity on an everyday basis. Since we opened it up to all unions, we also accept donations from anyone and, like we get donations from people all around the world. There's a woman who donates in Hong Kong, like every other week just because she's a fan of television.
Speaker 3:Oh my God.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:There's, like there's been parents that have emailed me from all over the country that they're like my son is, you know, studying to become an actor and so, like, I want to give to, you know, support the future, and those are always incredible. And you know, there's been people that have donated because they're like a fan of TV or like a fan of a particular TV show. So it's just, you know, and all the messages are so encouraging and inspiring. But also the people that are applying. You know like IOTC has been such a ally to us, you know, in the strike, which is, I think, a major difference in 07 and 08. And so, to be able to give something back to them, as they are sacrificing, and you know we're supporting each other, is just it's amazing, like so, yeah, so I feel very, very grateful for that.
Speaker 2:I do have more questions, but I feel like I've been monopolizing the conversation.
Speaker 1:No, I'm just simply in awe, listening, like my brain is spinning, just like I'm completely awed by the work that you're doing. I think it's so amazing, like, honestly, I feel like I'm listening to a podcast right now.
Speaker 3:And we just want to say you're also part of it.
Speaker 2:Oh, say something, say something.
Speaker 3:I will say that has been for me the hardest part of the fund is like people that I admire and like respect so much. Being like what you're doing is incredible. I'm like I'm just sending Venmo.
Speaker 1:No, but it is incredible. It's you know, an amazing service for somebody that was, you know, not sure about how you were going to cover bills, or, if you have rent, not sure how you're going to cover that, to go from that Sort of mindset to a mindset where you're helping the entire community. It's expanded from writers to actors even I ought to. I mean, that's incredible.
Speaker 3:The best was we had janitors that were fired, you know and stuff at different studios and stuff, and they are some of them also applied for the funds, so being able to give. Yeah was was also just incredible.
Speaker 2:And I was interested in. You know you mentioned a couple times your experience as a captain and how that has helped empower you in ways that maybe you weren't expecting, and I was wondering if you would be comfortable talking about that a little bit, because you know a lot of our listeners may not even know what a captain does or what that means.
Speaker 3:I mean I would say every lot varies. At Radford were very small and mighty lot. We probably have about 12 captains as opposed to like I think Warner Brothers has 40 or something. But you know it's just making the commitment to be at the picket line and it is organizing. And so you know, to your question earlier, like, do you have any experience organizing, like being a captain and starting the fun feels very similar, you know, and just in terms of the bandwidth and what's required, our lot coordinator at Radford she's also deemed captains is like sidewalk social workers.
Speaker 3:Every day there's something you know, it's being able to answer questions and you know dry tears and give hugs and offer encouragement, and you know. But I do think you know being in a leadership experience, especially, you know, being support staff for most of my career, has been, you know, very empowering and is is making me realize I'm like OK, like this is not me as a person. This is the system at large that we're part of and I've had several friends that have felt that way that you know they've been able to kind of come into their own a little bit, just because right now we're all in the same playing field of being out of work and not knowing what's going to happen next.
Speaker 2:That is a really interesting perspective and I'm and I think I have had, I've had sort of a similar experience. You know, I'm not a captain, but I am on the line every day and you know, you, just like, you walk and talk with so many people from all different backgrounds and it doesn't matter, no, like nobody's talking about what level they were on the show that they were on. I mean, you basically never even talk about writing, you're just talking about life and being human together and you know, and then you find out like weeks later oh my God, I was, I've been buddies with the creator of such and such and I didn't even know exactly right, and that's a really special experience. I mean, you know, we're all like struggling in various ways and wishing that we the strike would end, but there's also a lot of silver linings to it, I think.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and I think the community that we're all building like that's exactly what it is is community you know where we're all in this together, and so it's like that has been such a huge silver lining. Is you know, having that realization?
Speaker 1:My mind is I'm just, my wheels are spinning. This is crazy, like. It's so crazy that you didn't have any experience and it just like happened. And then it happened bigger and bigger and so many people are helped.
Speaker 3:I know, I know it's it. That's what I mean. My like, my mind is blown by this whole process because, like never in my wildest dreams, in fact, after I called my account and I talked to my dad and you know I was telling him about what I was trying to do, and he's like, I think you're fine, like as long as it doesn't hit like $10,000 or something, I'm like never, like so assured, I'm like we're never going to hit 10,000. I think we like hit it the second week. And then, yeah, and like a hundred thousand was such a huge milestone because like that's real money and like being able to help a thousand people, like, feels, like it's making it, you know, a big difference.
Speaker 3:and even now it'll be, you know, amazing. Being out on the picket line, people will either come up to me and say you know they've received funds, or they've shared funds, or they've donated, and so it's almost become its own community in a way, which is also interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and and again for our listeners if they want to donate. How did they do that?
Speaker 3:So again on my Twitter I have the links to donate. So we are accepting donations via Venmo and PayPal and on Venmo it's Joel dash garfinkel and I've got the little green envelope grocery aid logo. So you know it's that. Paypal, it's Joel garfinkel at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:Awesome.
Speaker 3:Also my email address, so you can now email me and not DM me.
Speaker 2:That's good to know. I'm really curious to hear like, god willing, the strike will be over soon. And what do you see as the future for green envelope grocery aid?
Speaker 3:So that's definitely something that I've been thinking a lot about. You know, I at one point I was thinking is this something that I can actually turn into a nonprofit, which I'm not putting off the table, but I just don't have the bandwidth or the money right now to do that. But I do think that this is definitely opened my eyes that there is a need for an emergency aid that covers all unions, all industry members. So I would love to see it continue. I certainly think, even if the strike ends next week, you know, or whatever, there will still be, you know, a need for this, and so I will continue it as long as I have donations and funds to continue to do so. Yeah, and I'd like to see some version of it continue even past the strike.
Speaker 2:I love that. Yeah, that's a really great point about a need for an emergency fund across all unions. I mean it's big idea.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, and I mean, and that's really what it turned into, like I loved the alliteration of green envelope grocery Like, but you know it's $100 and it's so it's not going to move the needle as far as rent or you know anything, but it is some sort of emergency relief and I've had people that have been like my cat was down to its last bag of litter, like thank God, you know this came in, yeah.
Speaker 3:Or people have been using it, you know, to pay bills or you know whatever, and so it is, I think, more of an emergency aid, but green envelope emergency aid just didn't roll.
Speaker 2:And what do you see coming for yourself as a writer and a creative and a human?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I just want to go back to work and continue to write, and I will say I'm so grateful, for this has really, you know, introduced me to a lot of people. I've built my community up even more, I'm getting to meet you guys, you know, and so there's been so many just personal benefits of of things that have been brought into my life as a result of this, and so, yeah, I'm just kind of taking a day by day.
Speaker 2:So one more time for the record your Twitter is miss joel, Can you spell it out?
Speaker 3:Yeah, ms joe l, l, e, g, a, r, f, ms joel garf, and we do have a email address for green envelope, which is just green envelope grocery aid at gmailcom, so everyone can also email there if they need an application or donation information. Yeah, and we make it really easy the application. All you need is either an IMDB link or proof of a union card, or people have even sent like call sheets and just something to prove that you, you know, actually work in the industry and are a human.
Speaker 2:Always helpful All right.
Speaker 1:So, to summarize, if people want to donate, they can find you on Twitter at miss joel garf. Yes, and they donate through Venmo or PayPal or PayPal, and if they want to apply, they email the green envelope grocery aid.
Speaker 3:They can do that, or also the application link is also on my Twitter.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. And what is the green envelope email again.
Speaker 3:Green envelope grocery aid at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:Awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much for joining us for this interview and also for everything that you're doing to make Hollywood a happier place. We need more people like you in the industry, and hopefully this experience is helping us all to find each other.
Speaker 3:Yes, Thank you so much for having me, guys.
Speaker 1:Why don't you close out this episode with our message to the Hollywood community?
Speaker 3:Go create in peace Awesome.
Speaker 1:Awesome. The Hollywood Confessional is produced by Megan Dane and JR Zamora Thall, special effects provided by Zapp Splat and Pixabay. Hollywood Confessional is a ninth way media production. Follow us on socials at FESUP Hollywood.