Media focus on the production industry during Lockdown #3
The media coverage on the latest lockdown is like nothing we have ever seen before, you will be lucky if you can turn on the news and see something that doesn’t revolve around Lockdown #3, the Coronavirus spread and vaccinations. All this goes without saying with the infection rate increasing and how prevalent health is in the forefront of our minds.
We were surprised to be reading the news this week and noted some articles specifically focused on this lockdown and the impact on the film production industry. We are currently being told that the lockdown restrictions will remain in place until at least mid-February and under these restrictions Boris Johnson has made it clear that where people can work from home, they must do so. Needless to say, film and TV production becomes more difficult and, in most cases, completely impossible to do from home.
So where does this leave the production industry? Under the ‘Business and Venues’ section of the official government guidance, it states ‘Some of these businesses and places will also be permitted to be open for a small number of exempt activities’. Thankfully, the exemptions include activities that are for the purposes of film and TV production. Additional clarification came in the form of a tweet from the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden. Mr Dowden tweeted ‘For the arts/creative sectors this means You should work from home unless you can’t – exemptions include for training and rehearsal of performances, recording studios and film & TV production’.
The exemption for the industry is fantastic news, with large scale production currently ongoing in the UK. Current filming includes The Batman starting Robert Pattinson, Mission Impossible 7 starring Tom Cruise and various popular UK soaps that are a staple of our evening watching. The spread of coronavirus is still at the forefront of minds of those in the industry and steps are being taken to protect the health of all cast and crew members.