UK Film Production Set to Reopen with New Covid-19 Safety Guidelines

UK Film and TV Production Set to Reopen with New Covid-19 Safety Guidelines

The British Film Commission (BFC) has published a document which includes new safety guidelines for filming, giving the UK Film and TV industry a sooner date to resume production.

The published document was endorsed by the UK government and is titled “Working Safely During COVID-19 in Film and High-End TV Drama Production” and is intended to provide guidelines to ensure a safe production environment to manage Covid-19 risk while filming. The 44 page document looks at all angles of production, covering points from COVID-19 awareness, through to travel, mental health, and location shooting.

The guidelines include induction training for all crew members prior to the start of shooting, COVID-19 daily symptom checks, on set social distancing, all waiting and communal areas must be cleaned and disinfected, increased handwashing, international crew having to follow terms of quarantine and PPE measures, use of pre-packaged food and single-use cutlery for catering, etc.

The document even breaks it down by crew category. For example, for costuming, it’s encouraged to avoid face-to-face positioning during fittings and having the cast dress themselves when possible. For hair and make-up, they’d like time in the chair limited and Perspex screens between stations should be used to establish appropriate physical distancing. They also encourage that cast and crew stay in small groups and avoid face-to-face positions when possible. The Chief Executive of the BFC, Adrian Wooton, says, “The industry is extremely keen to restart production as soon as possible, but not without a comprehensive road map for how to do it safely while the threat of COVID-19 still looms large,” according to Deadline.

The news of the guidelines definitely gives hope for big budget productions to resume shooting as early as July, however, it will definitely take time to plan and implement the new guidelines per project.

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