Covid-Cinema: Part VIII – Quarantine and In-Person Filmmaking Experiences – with INTERVIEWS!

This (admittedly, very long) post will focus on the experiences of filming a project during the pandemic. Let’s look at the big picture of what happened when films and television shows shutdown in March before they were supposed to wrap. Let’s dive into the world of smaller budgeted projects that were developed and filmed during lockdown. And, let’s discuss the new Safety & Health protocols that the entertainment industry collaborated on so that new and resuming projects can adhere to a set of standards that mitigates risk. [While putting together this post, I came across an article from Variety: “Inside Hollywood’s Expensive and Exhausting Road to Making Movies During Coronavirus” that focuses on Universal Studios’ Jurassic Park: Dominion with its Blockbuster budget and the much lower $300K budget independent film Rift as their examples of the new safety systems. It’s an interesting read.] 

You’ll not only see there are numerous limitations as well as opportunities birthed into this new era of filmmaking for all budget levels, but also I’ve conducted interviews with those who have shared with me their unique experiences. 

Thank you to those who participated, your perspectives are invaluable! 

Sana Soni and Mikail Chowdhury are co-producers of The Myth of Control, made during lockdown. Sana first learned of the novel coronavirus in mid-January. After landing in India, having just seen Matt Damon’s Contagion on the plane, she saw an article about it from The New York Times: “It was surreal.” In March, she had to cancel her upcoming April wedding and reconfigure her move from London to Washington D.C.. Also being at a turning point in her career, the quarantine gave her an opportunity to “navigate film sales/marketing/acquisitions/distribution in this strange new world. I spoke to a lot of people about my ideas about creating an online film market…I signed up for every online panel I could find on the business of film, excited that I could attend without being physically present. I started to reach out and make lots of new connections…It was a scary but exciting time.” 

Summer Crockett Moore and Tony Glazer manage UMBRAStages in New York. They were personally “terrified” with the future being so uncertain but they “knew it was going to be big”. The night they closed the studios due to state-wide mandates, Summer planted a few succulents in their garden, had a martini, and Tony made a firepit, so they can take a breather before having to act on whatever comes next. But for their production company Choice Films, emotions and plans fluctuated between staying creative and handling logistics. Instead of jumping into that dream project those first few weeks, Tony found time later into quarantine “to complete a couple projects that we are now in production/development.” 

Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks made two short films Pains and Bed (which I had provided signatory clearance to) as well as an independent feature-length film during the pandemic, Alone With You. Emily’s first recollection of the virus goes back to the end of February while visiting family in South Carolina. Her relatives and the community that gathered for a gymnastics competition discussed it in conversation, and when coming back to New York there were airport announcements reminding people to wash their hands. She’d also seen some social media posts of memes with “what songs to sing other than ‘Happy Birthday’”. But even in mid-March, no one could have considered how widespread the virus would become or how she’d then be “glued to the news 24/7”. Favoring the horror genre for when making her own projects before the pandemic, she and Justin of course mourned what they’d been preparing to make in 2020 but naturally continued “to find a way” (our paraphrasing Jeff Goldblum’s character in Jurassic Park) to keep making projects themselves, as safely as can by self-taping, being their own crew, and with minimal remote or in-person services with other hired performers.

First, some precedents. 

There have always been exemplary movies that keep the number of characters to a minimum, without many scenes of crowds gathering on-location or on large sets. Each SAG-AFTRA entertainment contract requires hired performers to receive a minimum salary. So independent filmmakers have long been aware that the number of characters to cast has a direct effect on their budget. The less characters in the script, the lower the budget for performers. If a studio-made picture features only a handful of characters, it’s usually for narrative than economical purposes. 

These kinds of stories have suspenseful plots with nail-biting scenes, center on the human condition, complex relationships, and can incorporate some new technological elements. Here’s some titles of the last twenty years:

·       In The Blair Witch Project (1999), a group of friends film themselves in search of a local supernatural legend.

·       In Locke (2013), Ivan drives to a London hospital so he can be there in time for the birth of his son, whose mom was only a one night stand. Along the way he has to make numerous car-phone calls to colleagues so that a major project stays on schedule in his absence, having to admit the truth of infidelity to his wife, as well as having imaginary conversations with his dead antagonistic father about the whole predicament.

·       In The Shallows (2016), Nancy needs to survive on a rock’s surface that is barely above sea level. It’s close enough to still be in the lagoon but far enough from shore that a great white shark can attack her midway back.

·       In 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), three strangers are locked in an underground bunker one of them owns, to protect themselves from a mysterious alien attack taking over the world.

·       In Destination Wedding (2018), two guests attend the wedding of a mutual friend and can’t stop talking to each other.

·       There’s also: Cast Away (2000), Buried (2010), and Gravity (2013). 

Taking this premise to a new level of narration are Unfriended (2014) and Searching (2018). The former is about a group of friends being haunted by a supernatural entity taking revenge on those who wronged her when she was alive – an overall lesson in cyber and IRL bullying. The movie screen is from edge-to-edge, supposed to be main character Blair Lily’s own computer screen filled with whatever open windows and tabs she has on the desktop interface in the background; including the Skype video chats with her friends, iMessenger, Chrome search engine for Google, Spotify music playlists, etc. and in the top right-hand corner of each window has the Mac OS’ red, yellow, and green window buttons. (SPOILER:) Only at the end when Blair Lily closes her laptop do we see into her own dark bedroom from her eyes, attacked by a ghoulish Laura Barns. Meanwhile, the latter title features a dad in search of his missing daughter by digging into her laptop’s digital files, communicating over phone or FaceTime with those who could help locate her or give clues to where she might have been, as well as being filmed by  “a clandestinely placed camera” (NY Times review ) for the more objective observing shots, and then (SPOILER:) replaced by “Live” or “Breaking News” helicopter-shot video reports of her rescue. 

Both movies had up to a $1million budget (and list the Bazelevs Production team in its company credits). 

What was a distinctive hook for these movies has and will even more become a necessary socially-distanced option during the pandemic and post-pandemic era of Covid-Cinema titles. 

However, there are vast titles of low-budget web-series content available on YouTube that have long been doing small cast and crew productions since the beginning of the platform’s inception and nascent popularity. One notable example is The Lizzie Bennett Diaries. Based upon the reverential Pride and Prejudice, and with episodes released from April 2012 to March 2013, its vlog-style storytelling technique required that all actors had to appear and perform as if knowingly within the frame or interrupting it during Lizzie’s personally recorded camera diary entries from home; but also the story had been modernized for a millennial narrative. 

Second, some 2020 filmmaking process adaptations. 

Variety published a list of movies and television series productions that shutdown due to the coronavirus, which you can view here https://variety.com/2020/film/news/films-tv-delayed-coronavirus-canceled-1203532033/ 

Two of the earliest shutdown projects from early March were Baz Lurhmann’s Untitled Elvis Project starring Tom Hanks (who contracted the virus) in Australia and (preemptively) MCU’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in the Czech Republic. 

In mid-March, Paul Schrader famously reacted to his film The Card Counter’s shutdown 5 days out from its intended wrap date in Mississippi saying on Facebook “(due to) my pussified producers because an LA day player (jargon for performer hired for one or a few days instead of a week’s worth or more during the entirety of a shoot) had the coronavirus…Myself, I would have shot (aka filmed) through hellfire rain to complete the film. I’m old and asthmatic, what better way to die than on the job?” 

Yes, his statement is belligerent but given how difficult it is to get an indie movie off the ground even with his veteran credentials, it must have been frustrating, disappointing, and disheartening for him and everyone on that project to stop so close to the finish line; having to put everything made up to that point in jeopardy of its completion. 

Meanwhile, those of us in SAG-AFTRA’s Entertainment Contracts Dept. who were working from home, it was our responsibility to keep track of all our individually assigned projects at all budget levels that were further pushing its start dates or suspending all services until further notice. It was chaotic and we were constantly shifting calendars through the Spring and early-Summer months of the pandemic. We tried staying as organized and focused as could given all of the daily changes and updates on a local and national scale. 

But, we noticed that despite the near complete drop of in-person high budget studio and indie films, there was still a steady influx of short projects and ultra-low budgeted features that had upcoming starts for either fully self-taping and remotely filmed or very small cast and crew in-person projects. [*Each and every one of them were diligently vetted for their safety plans. But, if a project’s hired performers were only going to self-tape themselves or be recorded on a video-conferencing program without any physical in-person interactions, then such plan was more likely to be cleared for their such built-in protocol. It was not impossible for an in-person project to be cleared but it was highly rare given the federal, state, and health organization lockdown quarantine mandates.] 

With so much of the media focused on the studios’ and high-budget indies’ shutdowns, they didn’t realize the exact opposite was happening with filmmakers on the other side of the spectrum. A 5-minute $250 budget Short Project Agreement for one member to film themselves doing a monologue or an 80-minute $50K budget Ultra-Low Project Agreement for 5 professional and 3 non-professional performers being filmed via a Zoom recordation are some general examples. 

Many creatives saw their time in quarantine (if they weren’t sick) as an opportunity to stay busy, motivated, connected and involved. Most were also first-time filmmakers and got a/my crash-course on the SAG-AFTRA signatory process and rules, even if it was just to put themselves, some friends, or hired performers on-camera. The self/remote taping not only saves producers from having to worry about the significantly complex protocols required for in-person services, but also cuts costs and risk – given that very few (if any, even now) film insurance policies do not currently cover coronavirus-caused shutdowns. 

Additionally, similar to my findings when studying Afterlife Cinema’s period of released films during or right after World War II, reading their Covid-Cinema screenplays, I noticed many explored larger questions of humanity centered on only a handful of characters. It must have been their way to cope with the uncertainties the pandemic gave them just as the uncertainties of how war does. Whether drama, comedy, horror, or romance-based stories, the virus was the lens which they faced mortality, racial (in)equality, relationships, social media, work-life balance, etc. Though there were still moments of action, the scripts included more meaningfully written conversations and expressed thoughts. 

The filming capabilities of self/remote taping also had some of its own challenges. To start, there’s the equipment being used and by whom. For a professional-looking made film even under budget constraints, the cinematography, sound quality and lighting need to be carefully handled. The best people are highly trained and experienced working in teams not just to execute the director’s vision but so that it’s done safely without causing personal or property damage and accidents. But having less crew members, or even none, on-site means the performers and/or those they’re living with become responsible, even if directed remotely, to properly place and handle their own or the more complex rented equipment production gave them with little to no prior experience. And of course to also mention, whatever props, costumes, hair & makeup might be needed to further emphasize characterization and plots they’d be doing themselves. 

If you hate to see someone not figure out how to work the Zoom mute button, imagine the helplessness of remote filming. Or how they dynamic can oscillate between people quarantined together on a daily basis, and then the added pressure of one person directing the other. 

As lockdown measures were gradually being lifted, more in-person productions were looking to resume work or start. Many trade articles focused on the anticipated bottle-necking studio scheduling, the lack of PPE available, the upgraded sanitation and studio air-filtration requirements, and especially whether or not the performers themselves would even want to return to work. 

But it also gave the films’ production teams time to take a more focused look at what they already had in-the-can to better prepare for what to do if/when they’d be able to resume. Script scenes could be rewritten. Edited footage watched and reworked. Characters changed. Stunts and intimate scenes removed. Special effects (practical and CGI) more so considered. 

Even Paul Schrader realized The Card Counter was able to benefit from its pandemic shutdown. In the four months’ interim, he was able to work with his team virtually to make the remaining characters’ scenes better. With everyone being back on set in July after such an emotional hiatus, there was a greater level of elation and appreciation than what is normally felt when doing reshoots.  He noted there was additionally taken time for performers’ rehearsals separate from the crew’s scene setups so that when everything is rolling, there is less room for error and less prolonged takes. You can read the rest of his interview with The LA Times here. 

Again regardless of budget level, the pandemic lockdown and quarantine mandates put significant strain on the livelihoods of all the people involved: performers (whether a celebrity or J. Doe), producers and directors, crew members, catering, and even film crews’ parking attendants. Productions are working like mad to get their team back together for any in-person services that can be done before this winter’s anticipated surge of more positive cases. But should there be another round of local, regional, or national quarantine lockdown mandates, productions will already know what the industry agreed upon protocols would be should they continue (with any necessary permissions) or resume again at a later date. 

While there have been so many (unnecessary) divided political opinions on coronavirus prevention such as (the completely sane) mask-wearing, etc., the AMPTP (which represents studios like Warner Bros. and Disney) and the unions (like SAG-AFTRA, DGA, IATSE, etc.) all respected the facts provided by the country’s leading virologists to draft the Safe WayForward and the Return to Work Agreement at such respective links. 

To summarize, there are protocols and requirements for testing, categorizing personnel per a zone system, hiring health supervisors, providing sanitation services and PPE, as well as rules for travel & lodging, makeup & hair & costumes, props, camera and sound equipment, meal catering, document handling, etc. There are additional protocols for even those working remotely and/or filming virtually. 

When you weigh the numerous ways the safety protocols of in-person or remote filming change filmmaking, there’s perhaps a balance of positive and negative aspects. 

A production’s team needs more time to prepare and familiarize themselves with the above standards, adapting them to their own smaller projects. A budget needs to reflect additional health and safety expenses and personnel that thus requires securing additional financing. More preparation and protections in-place means less risk for an on-set health scare and getting shutdown due to their own disregard. Separating cast and crew into different categories of which areas they can go and who they can interact with means less on-set conversations and relationships between departments. But there’s more control over knowing where performers and crew are going to be before, during, and after their scenes are being shot. There’s less chaos but more punctually timed days. Less spontaneity in and between takes but more rehearsals to know what choices and blocking to stick to. 

Third, the state of film festivals. 

After all of the post-production work makes a movie into its final cut, most independently produced movies exhibit at film festivals with the goal of getting a distribution deal. Also, film festivals act as premiere screenings for the press to review so audiences start hearing about (possible) upcoming releases. The last major in-person film festival was Sundance, held in January 2020 where such titles as Palm Springs, Nine Days, Minari, The Glorias, Kajillionaire, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Black Bear, Promising Young Woman, and even the highly stateside contentious Cuties were shown. 

But the pandemic also caused upcoming film festivals to cancel or figure out alternative means. April’s planned Tribeca Film Festival didn’t have enough time to move online like others did for the summer and fall. The New York Film Festival went largely online but also held drive-thru screenings in Queens where there’s more space for outdoor audiences, instead of in Manhattan. Normal in-person celebrity appearances at screenings and Q&A panels were also moved online or done socially-distanced in-person. 

The remote Q&As are not new to film festivals. I remember attending 2012 Tribeca’s Q&A of the documentary Mansom. Morgan Spurlock and Will Arnett came in-person but Jason Bateman joined in via video-conference. And just as we’ve seen recent numerous WFH Zoom blunders and interruptions, Jason’s young daughter appeared on-screen behind him, wanting attention. He had to momentarily break his professional persona to be a dad kindly ushering her out-of-frame into another room. (If I remember correctly, it may have involved bribing her with a cookie.) 

Now, for the Interviews. 

(1)  Sana Soni and Mikail Chowdhury for The Myth of Control web-series 

Fortunately, on October 29, 2020 when I logged into attend/observe Raindance Film Festival’s panel “The Art of Remote Filmmaking: Success Stories From Lockdown” there were no technical difficulties (but there was a cute puppy sitting on a sofa behind an interviewee). Indie filmmakers talked about their experiences making movies remotely. Documentary as well as fictional content production teams described their need to stay motivated and inspired to keep working from home. Instead of baking bread or watching the 24/7 news cycles and social media updates, they needed to keep being creative. 

Panel participants and co-producers, Sana Soni and Mikhail Chowdhury discussed how quickly they reached-out to their industry contacts whose lives and projects had been suspended by the lockdowns, offering them an opportunity to be part of a 100% remotely made short-episodic series (naturally yet playfully) called The Myth of Control. At the time of this post’s publishing, the project is still in its post-production stage but they are really excited to see all the edited work so far and hoping to get picked-up by a streaming service. 

Initially considered a “bonkers idea” that Mikail emailed others about, he and Sana received such a strong response that by the time scripts were written, performers cast, and crew hired it was barely 2 months later. But it has grown since to involve 75 people across 26 cities in 9 countries – a high percentage of which people in front and behind the camera were women, POC, and those with disabilities. One episode in particular features “a lead character who is deaf…(and) the relationship with her girlfriend.” 

How could such a feat be accomplished with as few physical risks as possible in such a short time with thousands of miles between everyone? Zoom meetings, emails, phone calls, etc. But also especially local transportation and international postal services. As mentioned above, you need sound, lighting, costumes, and other production design to make characters fit the story’s vision. Production put together a package of the tech equipment that would be needed, and would instruct the performers and performers’ quarantine partners what to do with the items over video rehearsals. "Our package included an iPhone 11 with the excellent FiLMiC Pro app pre-loaded on it, a tripod specifically made for smartphones, a microphone (also with a tripod), an iRig that ran the sound from the mic directly to the phone, and a set of simple lights. All equipment was sanitized after use by each team, and transported (via contactless couriers) to the next team in the trunk of a car (if they were in the same city). If the actor and camera op required additional things -- tape, make-up, cables -- we made arrangements to have those delivered as well." Each performer was recorded with a full team on Zoom for two to three days, they’d sanitize everything, and be instructed to mail the package off to the next performer. And so on. 

There are 7 episodes planned at approx. 10 minutes running time each. They will feature the ripple effect of characters who are closely or distantly inter-connected, all struggling with the realization of plans thwarted, that control over one’s own life is tenuous at best, and using modern communication to maintain relationships despite feeling so isolated. During the pre-production/writing phase, "working with around 10 writers and coordinating that vision...the team exceeded our expectations - they took our outlines and characters and brought their own perspective and style so we got a mix of voices but with a a singular vision."  

And the production has even faced their own myth of control in the experience. “Logging into set” and handling their project’s crew and cast over a video meeting made for intense planning and preparation for leading up to when they’d be able to first say, “Action!” But obstacles still came up. "It was certainly challenging to work with new people we'd just met; online at that. It helped so much that they had such great input, huge amounts of talent, and lots of dedication. During production, it was very difficult not being in the room to help our actor and their camera operator move things or adjust settings on the camera, but again our camera ops' patience + indispensable input and guidance from our 1st AD/tech supervisor really got us through." Mikail adds, "Add to that, people communicating with different languages and it was another level of complexity..." but from having patience, comes resolve: "the crew took the time to work through each shot. It was a very special shoot." 

Remote filming was a completely new experience for them, accomplished in such a short time, and seems to be the optimal choice for what they’d like to make in the future especially because the currently required safety & health protocol expenses could significantly jeopardize the project itself: "...the Unions are (very reasonably) implementing newer requirements for productions to ensure safety, I know from several people that their budgets have gone up by about 20% to cover the Covid costs." And, "...smaller, more independent productions have struggled to find COVID insurance depending on their production territory and have had problems padding out the budget to bring in those safety measures. Plenty of scripts have been rewritten (cutting out scenes with large crowds, etc.) and most productions are still on hold until conditions are more favorable. To keep making movies during this pandemic, they'd choose to keep their projects remote-filmed. "We would absolutely do it again, and in fact we have treatments written up for Seasons 2 and 3 of The Myth of Control."

(2)  Summer Crockett Moore and Tony Glazer of Choice Films at UMBRA Stages in Newburgh, NY 

Filming in-person in a studio space or on-location during the coronavirus pandemic means physically categorizing your team into zones – and making sure they abide by the rules so there’s no further risk of infection between zones that would otherwise stay safe. Who goes where depends upon what they do. The larger your cast and crew, the more space and sanitation required. But even with small in-person filming shoots, such protocols need to be setup well ahead of principal photography’s first scene. 

Hollywood studio lots in Los Angeles may have their own zip codes and you might have to drive through terrible traffic between them but they’re still relatively close to each other when compared with other film regions. New York is the second highest used region in the United States for film and television production shoots, largely due to the significant tax incentives. But the entertainment industry’s company studios, stages, sets, and talent are more spread out here. According to the NY State website, in-person filming could only start again when certain regions enter Phase 4 of the administration’s reopening plan. The Hudson Valley located UMBRA Stages was one of the few that had made the necessary upgrades and preparations so that productions can resume ASAP, thanks to great effort by managers and partners Summer Crockett Moore and Tony Glazer. 

Having known this team since I was a sophomore in college, I am always impressed by their professional acumen and incredibly kind spirits! Even before the pandemic, Summer has been an active proponent of safety on set and abiding by union rules across the board. She herself is a member of several entertainment unions so she understands first-hand what it is like to be in front of and behind the camera, on stage, and calling shots remotely. Now during the pandemic, she is “hyperaware” of the protocols necessary to keep a safe and smooth-running studio. It is no small accomplishment that of the numerous and variety of projects filmed at UMBRA since reopening, there has not been even one outbreak or shutdown! 

You can take a virtual tour of their stages and amenities on their website here, offering ample free parking, private dressing and green rooms, huge studio space with greenscreen technology, cafeterias and offices, as well as nearby film-friendly towns, lodging, parks, etc. 

Summer first learned about the coronavirus from her sister, who is in the epidemiology field in Denver – but severe concern was not widely discussed until around March 7^th or so, and by March 11^th, Summer and Tony made the decision to shutdown the studios. As their scheduled clients’ projects had reserved the two stages for Spring/Summer, they took immediate action to offer options of how to proceed, but also internally figuring out, “some order to our production calendar and also to take some real stock in our finances.” They asked “ourselves, what can we do to be ready…organize and plan out the best route to compliance…”. Some projects had pushed and some others had “fallen to the wayside”. For the projects, it was about whether or not they can move forward with the additional expenses of what the “Covid bump” requires: extensive testing, safety officers, and insurance premiums. For some, the additional hundreds of thousands of dollars could be afforded, but for indie filmmakers, that would be the project’s budget itself. 

For UMBRA, during the lockdown/quarantine period, Summer and Tony had two objectives: the first was to immediately assist their staff with applying for and receiving unemployment benefits through New York State’s system (which is “not good” to put it politely) so families can buy groceries – and the second was to move-up their 5 year plan for expansion so that when they reopen, their two stages increased to four stages, they had the proper layout for social distancing, and the technical ventilation upgrades. What they thought would be only a “6 to 7 week shutdown became a 6 to 7 month shutdown” of everyone’s livelihoods in the entertainment industry. [With the exception of Broadway/live-theater that is not projected to resume until Spring 2021.] It was a “roll of the dice”, by taking out loans, doing what was needed so their “businesses could survive”. By hiring a covid-counsel to “meet with everyone...strategic planner…(to be) really ready and open safely… met with a lot of support with the local community.” 

Being already based in the Hudson Valley was its strongest benefit in the studio-space competition, given the “proximity to NYC, space for social distancing and cost of living…the domino effect (of NYC’s residents) fleeing metro areas”. They entered Phase 4 in late June, while Queens’ based Silver Cup and Kaufman, Brooklyn’s Steiner, and Long Island’s Grumman and Gold Coast stages could not reopen until late July (per The New York Times  https://www.nytimes.com/article/new-york-phase-reopening.html ) . Opening their studio three days after the governor gave them the greenlight meant that everyone on a project’s slate can return to work. In the months since, UMBRA has hosted and operated shoots for “commercials, live events, feature films, remote shoots, comedy special standup – across the board, not long term episodic”. Whether a “crew is big or small, all tested and all protocols (adhered to).” 

So, what is it like to be back on set, working in-person? Summer says, there’s a “very medicinal surgical vibe to everything – an added layer on top of what do…”. But, also that “morale of the crew has been fabulous, nervousness of lots of questions, thrilled to be back at work and off unemployment.” 

From their extensive experience in the industry, they know the new normal will significantly impact independent filmmaking. Projects that can move forward will need to plan far in advance, secure the financing to cover the higher insurance premiums (a $100K policy for $1million coverage in case there’s an outbreak causing a shutdown), the quarantine lodging bubble (for weeks on either end of principal photography’s schedule), sanitized goods and process, as well as the extensive multiple weekly testing. For the “microbudgets of $100K or $200K, can’t do it safely unless everyone is doing remotely and shooting with own gear.” Some producers have expressed frustration and even resistance to the safety protocol requirements and expenses, but Summer and Tony stand by their convictions that “trying to produce without these safety protocols in place then they shouldn’t be filming, full stop…the rules are very clear…”. And, “the attitude that working in a bubble is ‘too difficult or not fair’ is a dysfunctional one. We all have to be in this together…everyone has to be on board. Otherwise, it will not work.” Performers and crew can work in-person, but it has to be done right – with patience, with awareness, and with teamwork. “I think we’re going to have safer, more mindful sets across the board. That to me is invaluable.” 

Tony and Summer know that their success for keeping safe and healthy sets at UMBRA is not just because of their diligence but also of the dedication from those using the stages. And yet, they also are keenly aware that “even with all the precautions in place, someone can still get COVID and the production will still need to…safely find the best way forward.” Knowing what other in-person productions are currently experiencing in other studios around the world, “they have the disadvantages of being first…finding out things the hard way in real-time with their productions. The advantages of course are that…how to operate safely during this period.” “This is a real opportunity for learning and most of us are doing it in real-time on actual productions.” By them being so hands-on (so-to-speak) in this experimental time, productions of all kinds that choose in-person services in 2021 and onwards will really need to look at what’s being done by them now to know what logistical plans are most proven to mitigate as much risk as possible. 

(3)  Emily Bennett for the short films Pains and Bed, as well as the feature project, Alone With You 

When New York went into lockdown, Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks were still in that “tricky phase” of “talent versus money” for a feature-length horror film called Kept, that they had co-written, received a lot of positive feedback on, and which they were planning to co-direct together. Although they had not been technically greenlit yet, the headway they were making had to be put on hold until further notice. The film is still on their horizon to be made once it can be, but in the meantime, especially in those initial weeks of quarantine, Emily and Justin said, “Fuck it, we have to make something!” 

They first made Pains, which Justin had written and Emily starred in; featuring a young woman going through a physical transformation. Justin is a professional director of photography, whose “every dollar (earned) going towards camera and lighting equipment”. So. they’d be able to make a professional looking project themselves, in their own home with what they already had. When I cleared Pains, I suggested they let their neighbors know what they’d be doing so they wouldn’t be caught off-guard by how Emily’s character needed to sound like while shooting. It was a memorable script, and I was happy to see Emily return to my assigned list very soon after Pains had been completed, with a second short project Bed. 

Emily said she “wakes up every day at 5am to write. I’m a writer and I was itching to make something.” She wrote Bed in about a week. It’s the story of a girl who is afraid of her bed, reasons for which are slowly and reasonably revealed through the story. It was made in the same way they’d made Pains, and they were able to work remotely with their preferred VFX and sound team in Australia, editor in Chicago, and composer in Los Angeles.  Everyone “came together”, “were excited”, and “lucky they ‘got’ the narrative.” Influenced by such titles as The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, and Hereditary which have a heightened psychological horror, rather than just “blood and boobs”. This kind of layered and surreal style reflects the deeper ability and need to talk about what one might be fearful of in real life but using the horror genre to take on metaphorical and figurative meaning instead of a literal pandemic-based plot. 

After completing Bed, Justin and Emily said to themselves, “Shit, now let’s make a feature!” Alone With You was able to incorporate remote and minimal socially distanced in-person filmed performers, and still focuses their story on intimate relationships that can develop into frightening scenarios. As the original script featured a male-protagonist but Justin is not a professional performer, in order to logistically make the majority of the movie as they’d made their shorts, the script was rewritten for Emily to play the female lead and then find other performers to play supporting and minor roles remotely or minimally in-person. With the final script draft completed by the beginning of June and getting the other production details in place, they started rolling (so-to-speak) at the beginning of July – all at “breakneck speed”. It “all fell into place, having to do something, and do it safely”. 

Legendary horror performer Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, You’re Next, and numerous soap-opera starring roles), wrote about her experience for a Fangoria magazine article “Scene Queen: Performing in a Pandemic”, writing, that she played a mother who receives her daughter’s Zoom calls and that production sent her a “GoPro camera through the mail, so I handled the camera work, lighting, makeup and acting duties…I really have no background in the technical side of things, but Justin gave me a comprehensive tutorial and even when I forgot to plug in the microphone (that’s what that wire is for!) everything went smoothly.” [*Though Barbara doesn’t answer her own question, “Why hadn’t I stepped out of my lane before?” I hope it’s a reference to that not only she but other performers may consider learning more about the “technical side of things”.] She recognizes that, “Only a few independent productions are currently able to meet the union requirements for Covid-19, because of the extra cost on slim budgets…yet a few industrious folks are using quarantine to their favor, making some incredible thoughtful content in the protection of their own dwellings.” As the Fangoria issue cover features Mike Flanagan’s Bly Manor series on Netflix, this is certainly an opportunity to reach more readers (filmmakers and audiences alike) for learning about the pandemic filming experience outside the studio slate of projects. She continues to commend her projects’ filmmakers that “This (DIY) attitude will always take one far in the independent world, but never more so than currently as we look to six months from now as film festivals and streamers will be clamoring” for content. 

Emily and Justin feel working on their projects together brought them closer. Through the process of making their two short films and their first feature, they were able to plan extensively and go into production with greater ease and understanding. And they were able to keep motivating each other through the more difficult moments. Although their initial plans for 2020 had been disrupted by the pandemic, “they worked more than ever this year”. And Justin was thrilled to be featured in his favorite magazine. They are grateful to each other and those they collaborated with for staying determined, and looking for safe alternatives towards accomplishing their creative goals. But they also very much understand the hardships that independent filmmakers of all budget levels are facing. The safety protocols now required for in-person productions are “really wonderful” and that “the unions have been steadfast upholding standards” for the performers’ sake but one great concern is that “it’s not cheap to keep people safe”.  It’s the hardship determination of whether to continue in-person filmmaking and needing to secure (an estimated) $100K in covid-related safety expenses, or to further postpone into the (hopefully) near-future when there is an (effective) vaccine.

Some of their additional thoughts.

·    Sana: "having the opportunity to exercise your mind in new ways to film during a pandemic has been nothing short of educational and enlightening. And we built a big family in the process."

·     Mikail: "If nothing else, I think this shows that we can incorporate remote elements into production, even if that is just pre and post production - the ability to source talent across multiple cities and countries without managing transportation/accommodation is invaluable and I hope it continues even after Covid." And, "(a)nyone working through this time (whether big/low budget) should acknowledge that they are doing something remarkable and by continuing to create even with these restrictions is a great achievement."

·   Summer: "Being a storyteller in front or behind the camera, so important to make sure doing these things that keep us connected, common good, breathe together, celebrate together, be scared together, stay united for the common good and not let fear win and hate win, incredible time to take our voices and raise them up  - don’t let the challenges deter you, there is a way forward if takes more time – stronger and better and safer - learning as we go.”

·   Tony: "Just that I think now is the time for us to work together not just in the stories we tell but how we tell them...we're telling stories we need to tell for a community that we also have to keep safe while we're doing it."

·    Emily: Having only seen Antonio Campos' short-film entry as part of Netflix's Homeade anthology of self-taped/remotely filmed pandemic quarantine narratives because she adores his storytelling style, Emily has mostly otherwise "avoided all those kinds of" pandemic-content because "the world is too much this year" but would rather watch them "maybe when we're past this time and can reflect on it". She's instead preferred to escape into the non-Covid made movies and shows from the "really brilliant to the crap reality-TV." The "need to escape into the fictional world" keeps her "hopeful".

My concluding thoughts 

In early 2020 there initially were just murmurs about the coronavirus through person-to-person conversations, some news articles and reports in the mass media, and shared memes on social platforms. Then we could see in our everyday lives the small changes the spreading virus was having. When movie and film productions were shutting down and actors were getting sick in March, that’s when it became impossible to ignore. As Justin Hartley’s character Kevin in This Is Us said in Season 4’s premiere of Forty, Part 1’s “I’m a movie star, if there was really something to worry about, my agent woulda…(looking at his buzzing phone, reacts with) huh.” The scene’s dialogue emphasizes the quiet shock that the pandemic has shaken everyone into having a new routine and perspective, especially in the entertainment industry. 

One could say that making a movie during a world-wide medical and health crisis is futile and needless. But that same person would then look to watching movies and other content while they are self-isolating at home in order to stay safe from the pandemic. Making a movie, TV show, web-series, commercial, or scripted social-media post means that creatives need to stay active and producing content for audiences. BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE SAFELY! 

Creatives who already live together or can work with others remotely can make their projects at “breakneck” speed. For groups looking to work in-person, they need to prepare in advance, secure the extra financing required to cover the “covid-bump” of additional expenses, and stay compliant not only with the Safe Way Forward and Return to Work protocols, but also internal compliance among the team so that no one or the project isn’t exposed to more risk of a virus-caused shutdown. Even during the pandemic, working in the entertainment industry is still where you’ll meet so many incredible people that can offer support and encouragement but you also need to be wary of those who are looking to work outside the “zone”. 

And when you are looking to make your own project or join someone else’s, keep in mind some of the following lessons from the above interviewed filmmakers: that safety is a top priority, powerful stories can be contained and relationship-focused made with minimal cast and crew at any budget, in-person projects can be made even under stringent conditions because people are looking to get back into the studio and willing to work together, and that diversity in your crew and cast should be considered as strongly as possible. 

Regardless of whatever national or global situation is happening, creatives will be creative, audiences will keep watching, critics will critique, and we all shall see what happens next.