The Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee’s task force on the safe resumption of film and TV production expects to have the final draft of a White Paper completed in a week or two for delivery to government officials and public health authorities. According to a recently published story by Deadline, the document is still under review by the representatives of the major studios, unions and guilds.
This joint collaborative effort will produce guidelines for the safe return to work. Keeping in mind that productions will vary in size – and that each production will have to approach re-opening differently, – the drafters of the White Paper will have to design a flexible document instead of a standardized set of rules.
The industry task force’s White Paper is intended for a high-level audience of governmental and public health officials, including the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which is considered one of the primary gate-keepers for greenlighting a return to work in L.A.
According to Deadline, the idea for a White Paper originated out of the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who asked the industry to develop safe-opening protocols. The major studios and Hollywood’s guilds and unions – including SAG-AFTRA, the DGA and IATSE – are working on their own sets of detailed protocols, as well. California Governor Gavin Newsom stated earlier this week that his office will be issuing guidelines on Monday for the industry’s reopening.
Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp announced on Friday the safety guidelines for film and TV production to resume on its sets, including the Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios that is preparing for a July 8th production restart. Companies are asked to use the Georgia recommendations in conjunction with industry-wide labor and management protocols as they are developed. In addition to Tyler Perry’s slate of TV series, Netflix’s Stranger Things also films in Atlanta, which has emerged as one of the biggest Hollywood production hubs outside Los Angeles and New York.
