Covid & Streaming

Six months after COVID-19 hit, very few things were occurring in the film industry. But things began to pick up once vaccines were released. Filming resumed, and everyone thought it was going to be okay. “It started slowly, but surely people were making things, but it really wasn’t until this spring when the vaccines came out that things started to really start booming again,”George Sledge says, who has worked as both a producer and director for thirty years. Still, there are lots of “Filmmakersobstacles that are involved when tend to producing a film in COVID-19 be adaptable people who times. It’s crucial that everyone are always looking for a is vaccinated and getting tested way to adapt to adverse every day. The entire staff has to circumstances,” Bujalski says. wear masks and face shields. Even with all these precautions, the biggest challenge posed by COVID is keeping everyone, but especially the actors, safe. “The challenge is that there’s a little bit of a gap, whereas someone might get it before it shows up? There’s always a margin of error,” Sledge says, “The testing every day, it’s going to sometimes pinpoint someone who’s managed to get it because you can’t control a person’s life. All you can do is ask people to try to remain in the bubble as much as possible, but then take a lot of precautions in case something slips through,”. There is also something else going on in the studio while producing a film. Because of COVID-19, many filmmaking unions got together to create an outline for how the film industry was going to move forward and work in COVID times. “It’s the COVID-19 Return To Work Agreement with all the main filmmaking unions which is the DGA, which is directors. The Oxy is the technical union. SAGAFTRA is the actor’s union.” Sledge says, “The Teamsters are the drivers. All of these people got together and they created this outline which was how to move forward in the era of Covid.” Members of the Screen Actors Guild, or SAG, will

sometimes be on sets where films are being shot and watch like a hawk to make sure that everyone is following the rules and being safe from COVID-19, when actors who are part of the organization are working on the film. “And when, when we use “Filmmakers tend an actor in the SAG” Sledge says, “ we have to abide by to be adaptable those rules. They’re watching people who are us there and they will enforce the rules.” always looking Another big problem for a way to adapt to adverse that the film industry is facing nowadays is having to manage everyone; actors, circumstances,” producers, staff, etc.. And it’s not just inside the studio that gets you, it’s also outside. People are always making sure that the rules are being followed. Andrew Bujalski, one independent filmmaker, has realized these problems. “Because when you make a movie the old fashioned way, it’s a lot of people in a lot of enclosed spaces,” Bujalski says. “Breathing each other’s air and that became very dangerous

very quickly.” Bujalski, however, has found a solution to that problem. He has just finished shooting a film entirely over zoom. What he did was send individual actors “a little rig with few enough things for the shot, and then myself, my cinematographer, some of the producers, a sound supervisor, we’re all on zoom.” Filmmakers are finding creative and innovative new ways to adapt to COVID-19. The way films are being produced are changing, and we will likely see this a lot more in the near future. “Filmmakers tend to be adaptable people who are always looking for a way to adapt to adverse circumstances,” Bujalski says. While all of this is amazing, it’s not only the way films are produced that is changing. It is also how

“Because when we watch these films. When COVID-19 shut down all of the you make a movie movie theaters, people didn’t the old fashioned way, it’s a lot of have anywhere to go to see their favorite movie. Hence the rise of streaming services’ people in a lot of popularity. enclosed spaces. “I’ve got a huge TV in my living room, a big screen,

Breathing each and surround sound systems. other’s air and that became very You know, technology has allowed me in a way to mimic the theater experience. I can dangerous very quickly.” control it in a way that, you know, if I have to go to the bathroom, I pause and I don’t have to miss anything? And the big question now is are people going to come back to the