‘Intermittents du Spectacle’ vs ‘Newstart’

Artist Welfare

by Lochie Bradfield

image source: Martin Kingsley, Wiki Commons

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As a follow up to the article, ‘A musician’s Perspective on Art’s Victoria’s report in to the ‘Economic, Social and Cultural Contribution of venue-based live music in Victoria’ I thought I would look at the ‘Intermittents du Spectacle’ – a welfare benefit for artists living and working in France.

The program was established in the 1930s, in order to supplement the income of film industry techs (eg. set designers, lightning technicians and camera operators), who worked intermittently under short-term contracts, so that they could remain available for future projects. These days it extends to performing artists of all kinds – musicians, actors, dancers, circus artists, puppeteers – protecting them from the inevitable downtime between jobs that those working in the entertainment industry perpetually face.