How The Film Industry Will Resume After Covid-19 According to Film Execs

After months of production delays and shutdowns, it seems like Hollywood is eager to get the cameras on and rolling once again.

For Audio Post-Production and post-production in general, COVID-19 definitely altered the way we work and operate. From the way we meet and greet our clients, to the way we give the last touches and deliver our product. Locations will be less critical, as sessions are normally monitored remotely. In that sense, and as coronavirus continues to spread, several states have issued revised guidelines for restarting film production; however, there is no consensus within the industry of what kind of restrictions will certainly allow cast and crews back to work under safe circumstances.

Some studios in states that have allowed businesses to reopen have begun to ready their production crews in hopes of resuming their activities this summer. Meanwhile, production companies have used their time in lockdown to handle pre-production —scouting new locations online, polishing scripts, video casting— and post-production —editing, polishing CGI, and adding scores. All of this can be done remotely.

Be that as it may, until an effective vaccine is widely shared, it’s highly unclear what the new normal will look like. The film production process is large and extensive and requires the cohesion of different groups —makeup, costume designers, actors, camera, sound crew, set crew— to work together in a seamless way. Today, under the current COVID-19 circumstances, these jobs, which are carried out in close proximity to other individuals, become difficult to be done.

Industry experts have weighed in on how these crews could adapt to take on these challenges and how the entire film production workflow, from early script versions to the final edit, could change forever. Some expect there could be changes in the types of scripts, considering that this new reality will alter the way movies are filmed. Changes could also give a boost to independent filmmakers and the use of other cloud-based solutions and tools.

Pinewood Group, one of the biggest names in this industry, had hoped to open and resume activities in early June; however, they now don’t expect shooting on set to begin until late summer.

Most big names in the industry thought pre-production would be early summer, mainly focused on the construction of different sets. And although this is still uncertain, the logistic approach seems to be feasible. A top priority for studios is ensuring that all of the teams on the set, irrespective of which production company they work for, can operate under the same safety and social distancing measures.

Although there has also been a lot of speculation as to how the day-to-day operations will change, what seems to remain unaltered is the value of the content that will be produced on set. The vast majority of companies that work under the filmmaking umbrella have the fortune of employing some of the greatest storytellers, sound professionals, make up artists, decorators, costume designers, etc., so it is highly unlikely that this juncture will compromise the quality of the final product.

Productions may not be able to hire 150 background actors to stand in a field and pretend to be pedestrians, as they would do in the pre-pandemic days, but crews will definitely be able to pull off something to achieve the quality they’re looking for, and that can be via technology or advanced CGI. This also can be reflected in the post-production stage: the use of state of the art technologies and tools will mark whether the transition from pre-production to post-production is possible while complying with safety regulations.

Just like Pinewood Group, other big names in the industry recently started to heavily invest in air filtration technologies to allow people on set. Additionally, they are now considering building a small town close to the studio as a controlled environment for shooting and hosting other companies that work at the different stages of the film production process.

This way crews wouldn’t be required to travel to public places where they wouldn’t be able to control who passes by or who comes and goes. Thus, they would be able to comply with safety measures while being able to do their job. 

Filmmaking is a collaborative art, and although some parts of the entire workflow can be adjusted more easily to the new reality, the truth is that all of them will have to rely on these new ways of interacting with each other. The audio post-production stage is no different, as we will need to keep up the progress made by companies in the UK, who are already doing great work setting rates for production and post-production, but that’s just the start. We need to keep going and make sure we don’t trip over what we have learned.

*The images used on this post are taken from Pexels.com