I have a friend who works in the film business as a Director’s assistant.  He’ll be starting work on an upcoming M Night Shyamalan film in about two weeks.  I recently had a conversation with him about the new film he’s working on and I asked how they’re dealing with Covid and what kind of protocols they’ve put in place. 

A lot of people have been asking me how Covid has affected tv and film productions since this obviously affects music licensing. I thought I’d share what my friend told me about the film business, to get an insider’s perspective, directly from someone who works on major film productions.

For the film my friend is working on, they’ll be testing all actors and crew weekly for Covid 19.  Everyone who is working on the film will be staying in designated hotels.  No on is allowed to leave the set or their hotel throughout the duration of the shoot.  They’ve split the entire crew up into four different groups, and all crew members are only able to interact with other crew members from their designated group. 

They’ve taken pretty extreme measure to make sure everyone working on the film is safe. My friend said these sorts of protocols are typical and similar measures are being implemented throughout the industry.  He also said that most productions that were delayed are now getting back to work. 

Here’s a site that has a breakdown of different Covid related protocols being implemented for film productions around the world.

https://americanfilmmarket.com/worldwide-covid-19-film-production-guidelines/

Fortunately, the film industry is adapting to the times and figuring out how to get their crews and actors back to work.  This is good news for both the film and licensing industry.

What about television?  TV shows are also resuming production, although it will add about 10% to their budgets, due to the cost of implementing safety protocols.  Here’s a quote from an article on CNN.com about TV show production in the age of corona virus:

“TV shows can get back up and running during the age of Covid-19. But as Hollywood seeks to adopt new health and safety protocols, production is going to take more time -- and money.

That was the main takeaway from a Hollywood Radio and Television Society panel Wednesday night, discussing the logistics of production during a pandemic. Participants estimated testing and other precautions are adding roughly 10% to production costs, and cited the need for "Covid-related contingencies" being incorporated into series budgets, said Erika Munro Kennerly, senior vice president and associate general counsel of Endeavor Content.

"Production is coming back. It's just going to take a little bit longer and cost a little bit more," said Scott Hervey, an entertainment attorney with Weintraub Tobin.”

Read the full article here:

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/06/entertainment/tv-production-coronavirus/index.html

The bottom line is that life goes on and the tv and film industry are figuring out how to get back to work and resume productions, while also implementing safety measures to keep their crew and staffs safe.

The show must go on!

 

Best,

Aaron Davison