Film and television production is still largely at a standstill in Los Angeles, two months after the county lifted production restrictions.
FilmLA, a nonprofit that issues film permits for Los Angeles, reported Wednesday that daily film permit applications have grown from 14 shoots a day in late June to 18 per day in late July. That's just a third of the number of permits usually granted.
Commercial and advertising production have dominated permit applications since June 15, when filming was allowed to restart. They now make up nearly 65% of all production in Los Angeles, FilmLA president Paul Audley told dot.LA.
<p>Unlike TV and film, which require large crews and often more elaborate staging, commercials are relatively quick projects. Many advertisers had been anxious about coming back after the lockdown. "The advertising community nationwide has been sort of held back from advertising their product."</p>
<p>Producers were given the green light to restart when both L.A. County and commercial producers organization released public health guidelines for filming. Those included mask wearing, social distancing and protocols for scaling back the size of cast and crew.</p>
<p>"Traditionally on a film set, everybody would gather around the monitors and watch what was going on or see the playback," Audley said, adding that production teams have been slimmed to about 25 to 30 people. "All of that is not happening anymore. They're really reducing the number of people present at any one time."</p>
<p>Audley says many unions and guilds are looking to institute testing requirements for upcoming shoots. Fears that production could be shut down again have also eased among unions, he added. FilmLA is not affiliated with any local union.</p>
<p>"Right now, what we're hearing and seeing is that there's confidence about not shutting down filming again at least in the nearer term," Audley said. "Numbers are looking better in California and public health and the state both say they don't intend to go back on filming permissions." </p>
<p>In a few instances, COVID infections among employees on set have shut down production. But thanks to prescreening, this isn't too common, Audley said.</p>
<p>"Our hope is that people will continue to welcome filming in their communities, recognizing the extraordinary methods being used to make sure not only the cast and crew but also the community is safe as filming returns," Audley said. </p>
<p>In their statement, FilmLA said it expects most scripted television and movie projects to pick back up in early September, once unions and guilds have worked out arrangements to ensure safety on set.</p>
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A task force composed of entertainment companies, unions and guilds sent recommendations for resuming film production to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday.
The 22-page document detailed 19 guiding principles underlying the recommendations, which were spread across five "critical areas of concern":
- Infection control
- Protecting and supporting cast and crew health and safety
- Physical distancing
- Training and education
- Unique production-specific concerns
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul><p>"A staged reopening process may be necessary," the document noted, "with entertainment industry sectors reopening sequentially based on risk and public health authority approval. For example, aspects of pre- and post-production activities may be deemed lower risk and could reopen sooner than production activities." </p><p>FilmLA, a non-profit that administers the film permitting process in Los Angeles, is still unable to provide guidance on the expected timing for resumption of film production in L.A. County. That decision remains the responsibility of public officials.</p><p>"We await guidance from the County of Los Angeles and Department of Public Health with regard to the timing of the safe and responsible return of on-location production to Los Angeles County," a FilmLA representative told dot.LA </p><p>The task force's report acknowledged that many facts about COVID-19 are yet to be determined, meaning that safety protocols are "subject to further discussion and agreement." The report also noted that filming in adherence to the recommended protocols represents a notable departure from the common practices before the pandemic.</p><p>"The Task Force recognizes that many of the recommendations outlined in this document represent considerable changes in current workflows and processes," the report said.</p><p>Specific recommendations include providing regular, periodic testing of cast and crew; limiting face-to-face contact; designating a COVID-19 compliance officer; and instituting mandatory COVID-19 training on or before the first day of shooting. </p><p>Netflix, Walt Disney Pictures, Apple Studios, NBCUniversal and HBO were among the task force participants.</p><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><p>The coronavirus pandemic has hit Hollywood hard, with <a href="https://dot.la/hollywood-layoffs-2645997837.html" target="_blank">thousands left unemployed</a> and <a href="https://dot.la/disney-the-most-magical-place-on-streaming-2645928478.html" target="_blank">company finances upended</a>. And the longer the production pipeline remains crimped, the more squeezed companies will be, from streaming to the silver screen. </p>
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Los Angeles studios are shuttering film and TV projects as the city and county brace for the impacts of coronavirus. The extent of the slowdown can be seen in the drop in production permits being issued.
FilmLA, a nonprofit that coordinates permit applications for L.A. County and 15 other local municipalities, typically processes 250 permit applications per week. According to its president, Paul Audley, the slowdown began two weeks ago, when four projects pulled their applications – two because they did not want to fly in from New York, and two because they could not import supplies from China. Last week, applications fell by 8%. Based on Monday's numbers, Audley predicts a free-fall of 80% this week.
<p>"Most of the work done in L.A. now is TV," he said, "and most of that is being done by larger producers – Amazon, Hulu, et cetera – so those crews tend to be pretty large." </p><p>But even the smaller shoots — commercials and independent projects, mostly — may need to shut down soon. On Monday afternoon, the White House advised against gatherings of over 10 people. </p><p>"If the county health department, which controls most of our jurisdiction, extends the 10-person limit to the county, it'll pretty much eliminate filming altogether as far as permits go," Audley said. </p><p>San Francisco and Santa Monica have already instituted a moratorium on issuing film permits.</p><p>Workers' unions throughout the entertainment industry are trying to help their members navigate the uncertainty and cope with potential hardship. </p><p>The Writers Guild of America West has a COVID-19 Resources page "to help writers weather the uncertainty of this crisis," which includes links to organizations that help support struggling entertainment workers. </p><p>The president and executive director of the Directors' Guild of America sent members a letter on Monday highlighting the organization's effort to get residual checks paid more quickly. </p><p>And SAG-AFTRA is asking members to contribute to its SAG-AFTRA Foundation to help struggling colleagues, while warning against an active online scam that is falsely purporting to raise funds for actors in need.</p>
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