Nine and a half months after Hollywood’s production stopped with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, filming in Los Angeles is quiet again.
Film and TV production was released from coronavirus restrictions and continued after the current home business was set up in early December. But amid an unprecedented increase in coronavirus infections and deaths in Covid-19 in Los Angeles County, the vast majority of TV studios and streamers have delayed January production by one or more weeks.
Netflix
Like its traditional media counterparts, Netflix has also pushed the pause button on its productions in LA, which is expected to begin filming this week, until at least mid-January. This includes sitcom Family reunion, who recorded his second season without live audience at Paramount Studios – Gower, as well as several unwritten programs and additional photography for Netflix movies.
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As the Netflix move comes to light today, the streamer has been working on the decision for the past few weeks. Last month, Netflix began production of The gray man, Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, the biggest tent film to date, starring in mid-January to at least the end of January due to the growing number of Covid cases. Ava DuVernay’s limited series Colin in black and white, which will only start shooting after mid-January, remains on track, along with the upcoming limited series True story, with Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes in the lead roles, and is currently also holding the start of production later this month.
Other studios that have extended production breaks from their LA series or delayed production in January include CBS Studios, Warner Bros. TV, Universal TV, Sony Pictures TV, Lionsgate TV and Disney TV Studios’ ABC Signature and 20th Television. To do so, producers checked the relevant logistics, including the availability of talent and whether casting and crew would be paid for the extra idle days.
The studios are responding to a call by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which last week encouraged the film and TV industry to halt production for several weeks during the continuing increase in coronavirus cases in the whole province. In addition, SAG-AFTRA and the Producers Guild yesterday recommended that commercial production set up temporarily be shut down in Southern California due to the immediate boom.
“Southern California hospitals are facing a crisis like we have never seen before,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris. ‘Patients die in ambulances waiting for treatment because hospital’s emergency rooms are overwhelmed. This is not currently a safe environment for personal production. ”
The suspension of production also extended to talk shows. Los Angeles-based CBS ‘ The late late show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! switched to filming again from today The Ellen DeGeneres Show extended his break by a week.
Over the weekend, LA County surpassed 800,000 total cases of coronavirus – nearly half of which were reported in the past month. Community transfer rate is so high that 21% of all Covid tests are positive.
According to the LA County Department of Health, the current average of 7 days of daily cases is about 15,000, causing gloomy projections – the number of Covid patients admitted to the hospital is likely to range from about 7,600 now to as high as 9,000 per day over two weeks. and we could see the death toll of 1000 or more weekly. With the province’s ICU capacity at 0%, the local home order for Southern California was extended until January 16 last week.
With strict Covid security protocols and rigorous testing, TV series successfully produced new episodes during the pandemic. Since the big wave of infections in the US with California as the center, the number of Covid outbreaks in active productions increased before all shows went on holiday in mid-December. Family reunion was one of the series that recorded positive Covid tests a month ago but remained in production.