Kimberly’s Story

Kimberly Douglas, Flow Film Festival and Film Market
Plantation, FL

Before COVID, I was employing 10 people, and we were preparing for a film festival in Miami to celebrate all the amazing women-led productions in the film industry. Given the core of the business is in-person festivals and events, when the pandemic hit my business was greatly affected. I had to let my staff go, and completely change the event to a virtual one, which cost over $15,000 to change on the fly. With decreased fundraising and little support from the federal government, the majority of my employees have been volunteering their time because of their passion for the project - this guts me and shouldn’t be happening!

I applied for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) through the SBA. The grant was advertised as $1,000 per employee, up to $10,000. With 10 employees I should have received the full grant, but was only able to secure $3,500 with no explanation. As a newer business, the PPP was not designed to support us and we were discouraged to try.

Because I ran a newer business I did not have the accounting software or banking relationships prior to the pandemic. Navigating the process was a nightmare and I never got any explanations for any discrepancies.

Without the “right relationships” it felt like I was hitting barrier after barrier. Congress should have never been allowed to go on vacation. They need to have real humans who can help with applications for whatever comes next. Technical help, free help and outreach to my community. There is no opportunity for you to reapply, they just decide that you are not eligible. Lots of folks who don’t know how to navigate the very complicated system didn’t get the help they needed, and even if we tried, we got less than we needed. Action is urgent!!