Hollywood’s major unions have released extensive back-to-work guidelines for resuming production amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, with a heavy emphasis on testing.
The 36-page report, titled “The Safe Way Forward,” starts by saying, “This document represents what we believe to be a path for employers to provide a safer workplace for their cast and crew members in a pre-vaccine COVID-19 world.”
“The Unions and Guilds quickly determined that a comprehensive, mandatory testing regimen would need to be the cornerstone of a safe return to production in a pre-vaccine landscape,” the report said. “Without testing, the entire cast and crew would be working in an environment of unknown risk. Confirmed cases would be determined days after people have been shedding the virus – potentially endangering the health of cast and crew members.”
“Moreover, they could lead to the quarantining of others on set, and should those individuals include a key actor or director, to production delays or even a production shutdown. Not to mention the public health implications associated with cast and crew members interacting with the public and going home to their families,” it continued.
Related Stories
The report was released Friday by the Directors Guild of America, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Basic Crafts, and SAG-AFTRA. It comes less than two weeks after the unions teamed with studios to release another set of guidelines, and contains far more detail.
“The Guidelines set forth a detailed set of science-based protocols serving as a path for Employers to uphold their responsibility of providing safe workplaces in a pre-vaccine, Covid-19 world,” the unions said. “The Guidelines serve as an essential and necessary element of a return to work for the Unions and Guilds representing film and television casts and crews.”
The guidelines were issued a day after Los Angeles County released extensive regulations for a staged resumption of film and TV production. The rules allow for productions to resume as soon as Friday, although in reality, most are not expected to get underway until July or August.
The county’s rules set out stringent directives for social distancing on sets. It mandates the use of cloth face coverings by cast and crew, orders that only “essential cast and crew” be allowed on set, and advises that actors wash their hands before scenes.