18:39 PST 1/5/2021
in
Bryn Sandberg
Leading studios and streamers have suspended their Los Angeles-based projects with plans to restart them in mid-January – but sources say this is increasingly unrealistic.
With production stalled in Los Angeles amid the city’s last COVID-19 peak, the industry is struggling to get back to work safely in one of its most popular filming regions.
Major studios and streamers halted the production of most of their Los Angeles-based projects, most of which were already on a hiatus during the holidays, marking the city’s biggest stoppage since March, when the virus began to spread in the States United. to work as scheduled on Monday, January 4, major content creators, including Disney, Warner Bros. Universal, CBS and Netflix postponed their shooting schedules after the holiday due to the dire situation of COVID-19 in the city. In addition, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, SAG-AFTRA, the Joint Policy Committee and the Producers Guild of America further recommended that productions consider pressing the pause button.
Most productions that were due to resume on January 4 are now eyeing January 11 or 18 as new start dates. However, some production insiders suggest that even those dates are looking increasingly unrealistic. They raise concerns that the city is not yet feeling all the effects of a post-holiday COVID spike, which is widely expected. If the city’s case load continues to skyrocket and the ICU’s capacity decreases further in the coming weeks, they say the studios will likely continue to postpone their schedule – although they probably won’t make those decisions until they can take stock of the situation closer those dates.
Of course, others remain more optimistic about Hollywood’s chances of returning to work sooner or later, often pointing to the effectiveness of the strict COVID guidelines used in productions and what they claim to be low set rates. “The industry has been extraordinarily responsible for the entire duration of the pandemic, as demonstrated by its recent actions during the rise in COVID-19 cases and the history of strict security protocols,” said FilmLA President Paul Audley The Hollywood Reporter. The organization, which tracks filming in the metropolitan Los Angeles area, notes that it plans to release data in January showing that film authorization applications dropped significantly in December, as the industry began to “slow activities considerably” due to guidance of the county’s public health experts.
While most production executives and government officials are hesitant to speak directly about the situation given the amount of uncertainty surrounding it, the Director’s Guild of America, for its part, told members on Tuesday that it is keeping an eye on the environment current. “The situation remains fluid and we will continue to monitor new developments and work across the industry to ensure that worker safety remains a priority,” says the statement. “Together with our sister unions, we communicate to employers that we are prepared to work with any of their productions, aiming to extend the gap even further. Since then, the major studios have announced extensions of the gap for many of their projects.”
DGA recognized that this kind of increase was almost expected in the New Year. “We have long anticipated that there would be this post-holiday spike in community COVID-19 infections, which is why, before Thanksgiving, we negotiated an agreement that provides employers with flexibility and economic incentive to increase testing. and take more time to get results before resuming production “, said the statement. Of course, most studios have not taken advantage of this buffer until now. DGA also emphasized the effectiveness of on-site security protocols that its leaders helped to develop over the summer. “The data so far indicates that these protocols have been quite effective in detecting infected individuals before they become contagious and limit the potential spread on set,” said the e-mail. “Our goal has always been to minimize the risk of exposure in the workplace for our members and all workers on the set.”
Hollywood managed to keep working, despite the fact that other companies, including the restaurant industry, had to close in various parts of the country. The reason is that entertainment industry workers are considered “essential” in California, according to guidelines set by Governor Gavin Newsom’s office. As such, production remained exempt from the order to stay in the state’s recently extended home – at least for now.