Hollywood : the back to duty threatened by the Coronavirus pandemic

As new cases of Covid-19 multiply in the United States, what could be the impact of this new peak on the resumption of Hollywood film production?

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While the number of new cases of Covid-19 continues to increase on American soil and especially in California, Governor Gavin Newsom has decided to close again bars, restaurants, museums and cinemas in much of the state.

Against this backdrop of an upsurge in the epidemic - around 40,000 new cases per day throughout the country according to infectiology expert Anthony Fauci and a Californian assessment which tripled in a month - the resumption of Hollywood productions, which had gradually started to set up, is it threatened? In a long paper published yesterday, Variety reports a very worrying situation.

After experiencing a long period of inactivity, the industry seems to be as worried about the epidemic as its consequences on its economy, and in particular on the livelihood of its employees. In fact, when the resumption of production is possible, it takes place under very complicated conditions.

To all the usual constraints, which are often legion on a film set, we must now add the multiple health precautions implemented. Wearing a mask, social distancing, use of screening tests ... These are all measures that sometimes considerably slow down the progress of a production.

It would therefore seem that, being in search of the safest places to shoot, Hollywood productions are now turning more to the states of the country which have suffered the least from the pandemic, and which have experienced the fewest cases. In the same logic, many studios are looking to relocate their filming to Europe, where the pandemic is decreasing considerably. As David Minkowski, director of Stillking Films in the Czech Republic, told Variety:

"I have received quite a few calls from studios and producers who are looking to transfer their productions to one of our European bases in Prague, Budapest or Bucharest. They are looking for safe shelters, far from American risk zones and some European countries. "

Several major productions, such as Jurassic World: Dominion (currently filming at Pinewood), have also decided to come and settle in British studios.

So many back-up solutions that will certainly be beneficial to the industry while waiting for the health situation in the United States to clear up.