To get health insurance, this couple made a movie

An Arm and a Leg

Society & Culture, Medicine, Health, Health & Fitness, Documentary

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2023

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Last fall, actor-writers Ellen Haun and Dru Johnston were hustling to get their health insurance sorted out for 2023. To qualify for insurance through the actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, Ellen would have to book a little more work — doable, but not a sure bet.

So they came up with a plan: crowdfund a bunch of money to make a short film, starring Ellen … called “Ellen Needs Insurance,” of course.

It worked! And the movie, a 13-minute comedy, is terrific.

Ellen and Dru sat down with us to go over how they made the whole thing happen, and how this year’s Hollywood strikes changed their perspectives.

Here’s a transcript of this episode.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there real quick, if you appreciate an arm and a leg, this is the best time to help us make the show by making a donation.
0:07.3	That's because right now a program called Newsmatch matches every dollar you give.
0:12.1	The place to go is Arm and a Lake Show.
0:14.0	dot com slash support. Thanks. Okay here's a show.
0:18.7	Hey there. Okay here's something I never expected to say. I've got a funny kind of sweet story for you about health insurance.
0:26.0	Okay, maybe sweet and sour. Here it is. As we record this, it's November, which means it's open enrollment for lots of people,
0:32.8	time to get next year's health insurance figured out.
0:34.8	And a year ago, Ellen Hawn and her husband Drew Johnston
0:39.2	were hustling to get their health insurance set up
0:41.9	for 2023 in the most creative
0:44.6	possible way by crowdfunding a creative project. They posted a video of course.
0:50.3	Hi I'm Ellen and I need health insurance.
0:55.7	And I'm Drew, and I also need health insurance.
0:59.2	Ellen and Drew work in Hollywood, acting and writing, and folks in that industry get their insurance through the unions.
1:05.2	But they only get it if they've racked up enough wages for union work over a 12 month period.
1:10.9	So they've been on Ellen's insurance through the
1:13.2	Actors Union SAG, but last fall as they explained in that crowdfunding video
1:18.0	their union insurance was not looking like a sure thing for the coming year.
1:23.0	Right now, Ellen is $807 short.
1:26.3	So we're making a short film.
1:27.6	And that short film is called Ellen Needs Insurance.
1:30.6	The video outlined their plan to employ not just Ellen but other actors who also needed a little help getting over the finish line to qualify.
	...

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