Man shooting image with professional broadcasting camera.
waltkowalski
Georgia is eager to restart its lucrative TV and film production industry. On Friday it became the first state to release safety guidelines for shooting within the state.
In the last decade, Georgia has become a hub for Hollywood. The state officers enticing tax incentives, is home to a skilled labor force and has earned a reputation for being a heavyweight in the entertainment industry.
It’s three major studios — Pinewood, Tyler Perry’s Studio and Blackhall — have been the shooting grounds for “Jumanji: The Next Level,” “Jungle Cruise,” “Venom” and many of Disney’s Marvel films. In 2019 alone, nearly 400 productions took place within the state.
Last year the state received about $3 billion in direct spending from film and TV production and the industry provided an additional $6.5 billion in economic impact to the local economy.
In order to help restart production safely, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp released guidelines that were developed with officials from local production companies and studios.
- Georgia’s best practices require social distancing, frequent hand washing, temperature checks and testing, as well as limiting the number of people that need to be on set at one time.
- Actors should wear masks when not on-camera, there should be clear barriers between actors when establishing marks and positions for a shot, and camera tricks should be employed when possible to make actors appear closer together.
- Productions should limit the number of background actors needed for a scene and, if they are needed, allow them to social distance. Make-up touch-ups should be limited for main actors and discouraged for background talent.
- Location scouting and casting should be done virtually as much as possible and crews should not allow the sharing of mics, cameras, electric and grip equipment, as well as costumes.
- Cast and crew should use their own personal transportation whenever possible and limit the use of any public transportation.
- Meals should be staggered and productions should make use of prepacked food at its craft service tables, eliminating self-service fruit or snack bowls.
The full list of guidelines can be found on the Georgia Film website.
Hollywood is also looking to resume production. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been working with film industry veterans and health officials to determine a set of standards for resuming production on the West Coast. Guidelines are expected to be released on Monday.
