Chelsea Cash
With more than 28.8 million cases of Covid-19 worldwide, producers in the film industry make the bold decision to start filming again.
Daytime television shows like the Bold and the Beautiful returned to filming in June unlike prime time shows who started filming in September.
The producers are confident that it is safe to return although the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise. They are promising that the cast and crew will social distance and take extra safety measures while filming.
After the film industry was forced to shut down in March, producers were desperate to begin filming again since the crew member’s income mainly come from filming.
Actors like Ellen Pompeo from Grey’s Anatomy and Scott Clifton from the Bold and the Beautiful anxiously awaited the approval to return to film because they missed entertaining their audience and because it is their main flow of income.
When soap opera the Bold and the Beautiful was forced to shut down producers began to worry about ratings because the Bold and the Beautiful ran for 33 years straight without a break until the Covid-19 pandemic. They feared their profits would plummet.
Film companies are taking extra safety precautions such as Covid testing weekly and temperature checks each time a person enters on set.
Other precautions include using the actor’s real-life partners for more intimate scenes calling them “Stunt Kissers” and even using dolls when needed.
The crew is down by 20 percent and are separated as a precaution. The Bold and the Beautiful’s executive producer and head writer explains his frustrations following the Covid-19 shutdown.
“it’s been a financial strain,” said Bell. “We are doing everything we can and sparing no expense to make sure we are working in a safe environment.”
Most productions in Hollywood are having the same issue with finances because of budget cuts and having to find safe ways to film.
It has become harder for film companies to travel for shooting in bigger movie productions like Dune, a film that is set to come out later this year that films all over the world.
These productions film in secluded sets in many different countries. Major films have bigger budgets and have more leeway when it comes the time so they are suffering less during the pandemic.
Luckily, most primetime shows film in one set location for the entire span of series like Riverdale which films in Vancouver.
However, some shows like Grey’s Anatomy and some Netflix shows have to keep filming postponed because of the extensive size of their cast and crew and the need to travel to multiple sets.
Most shows are still in the “table reading” stage of production, meaning they are still learning their roles so they can easily use a video chat service to read and practice the lines.
The hard part about filming in the pandemic is the actual filming because it is difficult to film with a mask on for the actors.
After filming resumed in June and July, it was put on hold once again in August because of the Covid tests taken from the crew were inconclusive and the producers began to worry about an outbreak within the sets.
While some producers have resumed filming, most big productions have postponed not only filming but also movie and tv release dates due to the fear of catching Covid at theaters and movie premieres.
Despite Hollywood and most of the world having to do things differently right now, is with great hope that things will one day return to normal or at least to a more convenient normal than today.
Photo Courtesy of Warehouse Studios