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Indiana entertainment venues "go red" to urge help from Congress

Entertainment venues in Indiana are coming together to support financial relief from Congress.

Hundreds of Indiana workers in the entertainment industry are calling for Congress to pass the Restart Act.  The Restart Act would give financial relief to the sector devastated by the Coronavirus.

Tuesday night they’ll be going red to send their message.

The Paramount Theatre in Anderson is back open, but they’re not quite back to normal.

The pandemic shut them down in mid-March and they stayed closed for four months.

“We knew that within a two- to three-month span we had lost at least $70,000-$80,000,” said Paramount Executive Director Randy Hammel.

That is a wallop and is right now is very typical for most of the entertainment industry.

“We were getting ready for our biggest year ever and then this hit and within a few days everything was gone,” said Robert Williams, CEO of Mid-America Sound.

Williams' company offers production services and they’ve been hit, too. But he’s been leading a charge in Indiana to find help for everyone.

“Just to bring awareness to all the people that are out of work in our industry,” said Williams.

Tuesday night, from 9 p.m. to midnight, more than 40 entertainment venues across the state will turn their marquees red, to raise awareness and call on action from Congress to pass relief help.

Through support of the Restart Act, additional PPP and continued Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for people, Congress can help the industry survive until events can resume organizers said.

“This isn’t about politics, this is about letting the whole world know that there are about 10-12 million people that could be potentially out of work and that the whole industry could start failing if something is not done soon,” said Williams.

The Paramount will be lighting up their marquee.

“We’re just trying to let Congress know that we need help to keep all of these people that are touring and they are working in theaters and in the entertainment industry to keep them afloat during these rough times,” said Hammel.

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