Director James Cameron, left, and producer Jon Landau arrived at Wellington International Airport in New Zealand on May 31 to resume filming the ‘Avatar’ sequel.
Photo: lightstorm entertainment/ReutersThe state of California has said film and television production can resume Friday, roughly three months after being shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But few are ready to shout “lights, camera, action” just yet.
Before actors, directors, producers and crews return to set, a range of issues need to be resolved, including coronavirus-safety protocols, privacy concerns and insurance coverage.
Behind the scenes, writers are figuring out how they will craft scripts and scenes in the Covid-19 era. Don’t look soon for intimate moments, exotic locales or wide shots full of background actors.
Few in Hollywood expect filming to begin again until the end of July at the earliest, and even then it won’t be at full steam. The return to production will likely be led by unscripted programming like reality-TV shows, which often are smaller productions involving fewer people, non-union crews and talent and less financial risk.
“We are optimistic that we will go back into production on some shows as early as late July or August,” said Jeff Frost, president of Sony Pictures Television Studios.
Other studio executives think even August might be wishful thinking, especially when it comes to big-budget films, which involve hundreds of workers on large sets or remote locations and can take months to prepare.
Studios and streaming services are unlikely to recover lost ground quickly, meaning an extended period of fewer content options for consumers.
California’s decision to allow production to move ahead came after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Hollywood’s major studios, submitted preliminary safety guidelines to state and county authorities.
The studios and unions representing actors, directors and crews still need to complete negotiations over the specifics of how those protocols are to be implemented. So far, insurance companies have refused to cover productions for coronavirus disruptions, creating another major hurdle. Insurance companies are reluctant to write policies without adding huge premiums and exceptions to coverage after the coronavirus shut down production, causing a surge in claims, according to law firm Pryor Cashman LLP.
As with other industries trying to figure out how to reopen, the magical world of make-believe that is Hollywood is saddled with a new reality likely to continue to disrupt work for at least several months.
“The virus doesn’t negotiate,” entertainment lawyer Paul Bernstein said. “It makes demands.”
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People in the industry offered widely varying estimates for how much new safety measures and longer shooting schedules might add to a given production’s budget, from 5% to doubling or tripling the total cost.
Some of the guidelines are similar to what most of the country has been doing for months—wearing masks and social distancing. However, that obviously doesn’t work for actors in front of the camera.
“The trick is getting the talent to feel comfortable showing up on set,” Mr. Bernstein said. Even with lots of testing, he expects television and movie shoots to steer clear of intimate scenes in the short-term.
“It will be like when the married couples had to have separate beds and one foot on the floor,” he joked.
Studios and unions representing actors, directors and crews still need to complete negotiations over the specifics of implementing coronavirus safety protocols.
Photo: valerie macon/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesActors’ off-camera experience on set is likely to change, too, including minimizing the time between the application of makeup and shooting a scene, said Screen Actors Guild general counsel Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who added that actors will likely cool their heels between scenes in “a special holding area.”
Buffet-style meals for cast and crew are likely to be replaced by individually wrapped meals.
“A lot of the conveniences that are normally there are going to go away, and I suspect will cause frustrations,” said Greg Pearson, chief executive of the security and risk-management firm FocusPoint International Inc., which consults with producers and unions.
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The industry guidelines recommend “regular, periodic testing of the cast and crew” for the new coronavirus, though they don’t specify how often it should happen, and an independent “Covid-19 Compliance Officer” on every set. That person could be supplemented by as many as eight additional personnel, according to a major-studio production executive.
Shooting on location will become more challenging as well, because it affords producers less control than working on a secure set.
“There are discussions about trying to limit location shots,” Sony Pictures Television’s Mr. Frost said, adding that completely relocating productions to mitigate risk could be cost-prohibitive.
Productions in nations that weren’t hit hard by the coronavirus have a head start on the rest of Hollywood. Director James Cameron plans within a few days to resume filming his “Avatar” sequel in New Zealand after the cast and crew complete a quarantine period. New Zealand has managed to avoid large coronavirus outbreaks.
Crowd scenes are also likely going to be a no-no for a while, or to be created through special effects or trick photography.
Sets where cast and crew are allowed to go home each day, rather than being sequestered, are likely to implement contact tracing, sparking potential privacy concerns.
“To what degree am I going to allow access to my life?” Mr. Pearson said. “That’s going to be a major sticking point.”
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
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