Pop Pandemic: Producing during the pandemic
On April 6, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that if certain conditions are met — including a significant decrease of the coronavirus case count and an increase in the number of vaccinated individuals — California’s multi-tiered system (the so-called Blueprint for a Safer Economy color system) will end June 15. This would trigger a full reopening of the state, including many of our entertainment venues here in Los Angeles.
Among the list of businesses set to reopen are movie theaters. Though some of L.A.’s theaters have reopened recently at 25% capacity, the news of the possibility of a full, widespread reopening across the state has incited L.A.’s production companies to resume full-scale filming. For example, Warner Bros.’ film “Godzilla Vs. Kong” was released on March 31 and has far delivered the biggest Hollywood box-office opening during the pandemic, grossing $123.1 million. Such a successful production, however, requires a successful reopening strategy.
Warner Bros. actor Julia Conoscenti, a junior majoring in journalism, describes the coronavirus precautions and restrictions as strict, explaining that the restrictions are universal: If one person on any Warner Bros. set tests positive for coronavirus, all of the sets on the lot are closed until everyone tests negative again.
These strict coronavirus precautions consequently affect every film on every production lot, rather than affecting individual productions, making it very difficult to film monetarily successful productions during the pandemic. Conoscenti explains that “if something happens with another production, that puts everyone else behind, and then [productions] lose lots of money” during set closures.
“It’s very stressful,” Conoscenti said. “You can tell that everyone [on set] has been more stressed than usual because you have all these new rules now that you didn’t have before.”
Filming on location, as Warner Bros. productions frequently do, carries even more difficulty. Conoscenti explained that coronavirus precautions and restrictions vary by location and failure to align with such restrictions can result in a production being shut down, either by the production company or by L.A. County.
These guidelines, however, are one of the only things keeping L.A.’s film industry afloat during this pandemic. Waiting for actors to test negative for coronavirus, production companies such as Warner Bros. stand to lose tons of money.
Aside from strict guidelines, the other maybe more significant danger of losing money comes from the recent expansion of the streaming industry.
Though production companies lose box-office money when films aren’t shown in brick-and-mortar theaters, the money they have made from streaming platforms has allowed them to continue to succeed during the pandemic. In addition, as Conoscenti describes, the expansion of the streaming industry has allowed production companies to take more “creative risk” in their films.
And when you think about it, the rising importance of streaming platforms within the entertainment market makes a lot of sense. I, for one, turned to streaming platforms such as Netflix and our USC-provided HBO Max when the coronavirus pandemic incited our very first lockdown in March 2020, and I haven’t switched back.
It’s much easier, it seems, to watch the most recently released movies from the comfort of your own home, where snacks and bathroom breaks only take a quick pause and a few steps. The future of the film industry, however, relies on our eventual return to the brick-and-mortar movie theater.
Once your local movie theater safely reopens, I encourage you to take a trip down memory lane (not that far of a journey — just to pre-coronavirus) and watch a film in sticky seats in a room with strangers once again. If we all do (coronavirus-consciously, of course), there might be brick-and-mortar movie theaters left for the next generation.
Taylor Perry is a freshman writing about COVID-19’s effect on USC’s artists. Her column “Pop Pandemic” runs every other Friday.