The numbers for COVID-19 in Los Angeles County are appalling and hospital beds remain at an alarmingly low capacity, forcing Hollywood to delay when most Los Angeles-based television programs are produced again. At this stage, most major studios – including CBS TV Studios, Warner Bros. TV, Universal TV and, as of Monday, Netflix – are trying to return to the set in mid-January.
But while positive case rates across the county are darker than ever, approaching or exceeding 10,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, the current tone of the conversation in the city appears to be less focused on a total closure similar to the spring of 2020, and more focused on a careful assessment of the day-to-day situation.
“The lockers are empty and there is a lot of money at stake,” said a TV producer who wished to remain anonymous. “Somehow, we are convinced that we can do this safely. Are we doing this safely? We are being encouraged to believe so. So I think everyone will continue to take calculated risks. “
He, like many others in the industry, noted that strict security measures were implemented on the set, regardless of the impact to show budgets. Protocols that have emerged in the past 10 months include routine casting and crew testing, COVID compliance officers, constant use of a mask on set, designated areas to regulate contact, among others.
The fact that last year gave the entertainment industry time to test and refine security rules offered some comfort and confidence, although this did not in any way eliminate the risk of contracting coronavirus on the set. “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet,” “Mr. Mayor, ”“ Lucifer ”and“ Young Sheldon ”are some of the TV series that recorded positive COVID-19 cases in the double digits, as Variety previously reported.
“It doesn’t mean that we should still film, but at least it has that,” added the producer.
On the side of the agency, the suspension of production this time is not generating the same type of concern caused by the initial closure of months at the beginning of the pandemic.
According to multiple talents and literary representatives who spoke with Variety, the current situation looks like a spot on the radar. The week-long extension of the hiatus to certain programs is unlikely to materially affect the workflow for these productions, they said, and everyone expects both the cast and crew to receive their normal pay. From his perspective, the studio move is more of an effort to ease public concerns while keeping production going, as the studios invested millions in COVID protections last year.
The only way to see things changing is if guilds and unions intervene significantly; if labor groups officially ask for a complete shutdown of physical production, the studios will have no choice but to comply. From the agencies’ point of view, there seems to be practically no scenario in which they close completely and, again, run the risk of losing jobs and revenues.
On Sunday, SAG-AFTRA, the Producers Guild of America and the Joint Policy Committee jointly issued a statement recommending a temporary suspension of production, with SAG-AFTRA chairman Gabrielle Carteris, emphasizing that “Patients are dying in ambulances waiting due to treatment due to hospital emergency rooms are overloaded. This is not a safe environment for personal production right now. “
SAG-AFTRA national executive director David White said Variety on Monday that so far, the COVID measures implemented on the set are working, but the union continues to closely monitor developments.
“We are constantly monitoring the situation and, so far, our security protocols are effective,” said White. “However, the assessment of the environment in which production takes place, including data such as hospital capacity and peaks in the local infection rate, is also critical. As you all know, at the moment we are all very concerned with these environmental factors. “
Netflix is the latest studio to postpone its return to work date on less than a dozen programs filmed in Southern California until mid-January. (Filming on “Dear White People,” a program produced by Lionsgate for Netflix, was also suspended for another eight days.) CBS Studios was the first to make the decision, on December 29, to pause production beyond the holiday normal hiatus, which would have ended on January 4. Other major studios soon followed.
Although industry experts say that minor adjustments to schedules or production dates can be made, they are not expecting the months-long shutdown that brought the city to a standstill during the spring and summer of 2020. The balance between keeping entertainment workers insurance and keeping them employed is precarious.
“We want the sector to prosper,” said White. “We want members to be able to put food on the table for their families.”