
WASHINGTON-As television and film production begins to open up after four months of being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, producers and crews have learned a simple lesson that has applied to how so many other enterprises have encountered when trying to resume operations.
No one size fits all.
That was one of the many takeaways from webcasts held last week from the two most prominent industry associations for the film and TV industries. The bicoastal webcasts were sponsored by Hollywood Professional Association-which presented the view from Hollywood-and the SMPTE NY chapter, which discussed the challenges of restarting production in the Big Apple.
PROTECTING THE PEOPLEThe HPA has created an Industry Recovery Task Force headed up by industry veteran Leon Silverman who spoke about how production has changed since March.
Before the pandemic our industry was exploding with production and post-production fueled by the amazing creative talent for tools and the services you provide, he said. As we focus on getting production back and post-production back we absolutely know that were at the beginning and what were getting back to will necessarily be different in the work that we had been doing before.
TV and film production is not just limited to the coasts, though. And as we've learned over the past several months, certain areas of the country have been dealing with the effects of the lockdown in different ways and at different times, according to Dr. Daniel Z. Uslan, co-chief infection prevention officer for UCLA Health.
If you had asked me three months ago that New York would be relatively safe to shoot in and Atlanta would not, people would look at you like youre crazy, Uslan said. Its completely changed since then, where New York is safe now and Atlanta and Georgia in general is experiencing a surge.
Industry associations, including SAG/AFTRA, Director's Guild of America, IATSE and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have developed guidelines that address the unique issues to on-set production, taking into account the challenges of social distancing among performers and crew members.
PLUS: Survivor Finale Conquers COVID-19 Challenge With Help of Tech
The recommended guidelines state that theres regular testing for everyone whos going to be on set, the actors and crew, Uslan said. But theres also been a lot of attention on availability of testing.
STAYING IN ZONEThe importance of testing cannot be overstated. Among the guidelines is the recommendation of setting up zones that would define the amount and risk of contact to avoid spreading the virus and establish the amount of testing involved. Crew members, including hair stylists, makeup artists, audio techs and actors, would comprise members of Zone A. Because of the close interpersonal interaction, these people would need to be tested most often.
Zone A is not just a physical space but a state of being, said Joseph Reidy, with the DGA, during the SMPTE presentation.
Those in Zone B include other crew members on the set that are more able to practice social distancing, such as camera and lighting employees for example, who could be tested less often. Zone C comprises the rest of the world and represents perhaps the biggest risk of all.
Zone C is the outside world thats your own home or the hotel where you might be staying at or the restaurant you stop at on the way, said Reidy. Its anywhere other than the environment of the production, a set and its footprint. It's important to know because you are going to be mingling in Zone C every day and thats where you will end up getting infected.
Keeping people in zones ensures that if in the unlikely event that there is a case of COVID-19, youve limited the number of people in contact with that case and so it makes contact tracing easier and it makes decisions about who needs to quarantine easier as well, Uslan said.
HPAs Virtual Global Town Hall, hosted by Carolyn Giardina from Hollywood Reporter, was one of two online events addressing TV and films return to production last week. (Image credit: HPA)Another recommendation is to designate a COVID Safety Officer on-set who would be responsible for ensuring safety guidelines are being followed.
It could be somebody from the medical field, who has advanced training in Infection Control and Prevention, said Uslan. Most importantly, you want someone who is well trained and understands some of the challenges and be responsible for overseeing everything from testing to enhanced cleaning and disinfection, physical distancing, the use of personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves and how to use those safely.
ADVANCING THE TECHNOLOGYWith much of post-production already having been moved to cloud-based workflows over the past decade, the new normal of social distancing has only validated this technology move even further.
According to a recent survey taken American Cinema Editors, 95% of editors are working from home now, according to association president Steve Rivkin.
I think editors are in a unique position to continue working from home, Rivkin said, I think some of the big challenges are working out the logistics, technically, obviously perfecting the way we work from home.
Rivkin added that security concerns surrounding working on high-impact projects have been lessened in recent years.
In our instance, editors are remotely logging into assets that are housed securely at our studio and media as well so there is no media stored at home, he said. Which is I think a great relief to the studios and producers.
Improvements in communicating among production crews has also improved as more people get used to Zooming instead of meeting in person.
Communication among other crew members has improved already in the sense that you dont have to go take
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
01/07/2025
The launch of Code of Silence, coupled with the Britains Got Talent semi final, gave ITV its best Sunday night of 2025.
The first episode of the new crime dr...
01/07/2025
ITV and Mammoth Screen have announced the start of filming for Betrayal, a gripp...
01/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies has delivered its second Bombardier Global 6500 missionize...
01/07/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., July 1, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its second quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, Ju...
01/07/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has rejected license challenges to three full-power Baltimore TV stations, renewing the licenses for Chesapeake...
01/07/2025
Dalet has released a new update to its Dalet Flex media workflow platform, introducing powerful new capabilities to its flagship platform....
01/07/2025
NEWARK, N.J. With the FIFA Club World Cup final rapidly approaching and the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup now less than a year away, interest in soccer in th...
01/07/2025
COW Job Listing: Laser Engraved Logo
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
Laser engraved logo
July 1, 2025Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Cr...
01/07/2025
LeGrow.Studio Builds Broadcast Hub for ePro League
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
TEM Constellation HD and BlackmagicURSA Broadcast G2 drive liv...
01/07/2025
Beeble launches SwitchLight 2.0, bringing AI-powered relighting to any footage
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
New AI model delivers full-scene p...
01/07/2025
Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Created with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K digital film camera...
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement and Media Bureaus have entered into a consent decree with Sinclair to resolve a variety of in...
01/07/2025
DENVER Low-power television (LPTV) station owners looking to navigate the complexities of selling their assets in todays dynamic media environment are invited t...
01/07/2025
NASA announced today that live programming from its NASA+ channel will be available on Netflix starting sometime this summer....
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has appointed Katie McAuliffe to serve as policy advisor in his office....
01/07/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Alphabet's GFiber, the broadband provider formerly known as Google Fiber, has announced that it recently worked with Nokia to demonstr...
01/07/2025
NEW YORK, N.Y. DoubleVerify (DV) has announced the launch of DV Authentic Attention for Social. The product will first launch with Snap, the owner of Snapchat....
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has rejected license challenges to three full-power Baltimore TV stations and agreed to renew the license for C...
01/07/2025
Compact new converter lets users capture live NDI and streaming sources into software over a USB interface
Video interface and IP workflow innovator Magewell ...
01/07/2025
Disguise, the award-winning tech company driving visuals for Broadway and West End hits including Redwood, Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Disney's Fr...
01/07/2025
Vocal-processing plug-in joins NOIZ Hub series
Launched in 2024, KIT Plugins' NOIZ Hub series was created with the aim of providing a range of professio...
01/07/2025
New self-paced learning programme announced
Mastering.com have announced the availability of a new online course designed to cover the fundamentals of maste...
01/07/2025
Historic appointment ushers in unified leadership for WRAL-TV, New Media, and Digital Solutions
RALEIGH, N.C. - 6-27-25 - Capitol Broadcasting Company is prou...
01/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...
01/07/2025
The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...
01/07/2025
Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...
01/07/2025
NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...
01/07/2025
TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...
01/07/2025
cetecom advanced certifies Rohde & Schwarz test solution for the verification of...
01/07/2025
Back to All News
Watch: A Line Crossed: Netflix Drops Explosive Trailer for New...
01/07/2025
Tyngsboro, Mass. - June 30, 2025 - The 2025 ACM Annual Conference at Boston University was an energizing and inspiring gathering of community media professional...
01/07/2025
RT has announced that Teresa Smith has been appointed Commissioning Editor with responsibility for Factual Entertainment following a public competition. This s...
01/07/2025
This July, RT is delighted to support Galway International Arts Festival, Earagail Arts Festival in Donegal, Belfast TradFest and 23 other arts and cultural ev...
01/07/2025
In many parts of the world, including major technology hubs in the U.S., there's a yearslong wait for AI factories to come online, pending the buildout of n...
30/06/2025
There's nothing quite like the magic of finding music that feels made just f...
30/06/2025
When it comes to new music, Spotify's team of editors across North America is always on the hunt for songs that make them feel, think, and move. They're...
30/06/2025
SBS On Demand boosts global news offering with launch of France 24 FAST Channel
30 June, 2025
Media releases
SBS is expanding its international news offeri...
30/06/2025
Star Studded Ensemble Cast Are Joined by Richard Rankin as Filming Begins on the Second Season
[June 12, 2025 - Boston, MA]: The Forsytes, Debbie Horsfield...
30/06/2025
The Artemis II Space Launch System core stage is integrated with the solid rocket boosters inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy S...
30/06/2025
RALEIGH, N.C. Capitol Broadcasting Co. has named Heather Gray vice president and general manager of WRAL-TV and WRAZ-TV here....
30/06/2025
The Virginia Association of Broadcasters has recognized Bill Sewell, Director of Engineering at WTKR & WGNT in Norfolk, Va. as the recipient of the 2025 J.J. Fr...
30/06/2025
The Society of Broadcast Engineers said its annual member drive resulted in the recruitment of 49 individual members....
30/06/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid today released its fully integrated news platform, uniting MediaCentral and Wolftech News in a single newsroom solution, and will demonst...
30/06/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communication's Enforcement and Media Bureaus have entered into a Consent Decree with Sinclair Broadcast Group to resolve a variety o...
30/06/2025
Eurorack sequencer module reimagined
California-based modular synth innovators Qu-Bit have announced the launch of a new module that offers a fresh new take...
30/06/2025
Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics to Host 40th Anniversary Concert The celebration will be held on July 10 in Perugia, Italy.
By
Colette Greenstein
June 30, 202...
30/06/2025
PremiumBeat Tips and Tricks
Brie Clayton June 30, 2025
0 Comments
When editing to impress, you'll need quality music, and if your studio happens t...