Steven Soderbergh Will Head the Safety Committee to Reopen Hollywood Productions
There are going to be a lot of questions when it comes to reopening Hollywood and Steven Soderbergh is going to find the answers.
It only seems fitting that the director of Contagion would be the one to help Hollywood back from the COVID-19 pandemic. There are so many questions circling around town right now. We are not sure when production can start again and how it can occur safely.
As the country works to produce faster testing and the world hopes for a vaccine, Hollywood wants to find a way to get back to work.
But things are not that simple.
So the DGA has formed a committee, led by Steven Soderbergh, to try to put the industry back together.
In a statement from DGA president Thomas Schlamme and national executive director Russell Hollander, they voiced their faith that this would pass, and when we came back, crews would be safer.
“While we don’t have an answer as to when production will resume, we are taking steps to address how we can be safe when it does happen. A national board committee, spearheaded by Steven Soderbergh, and with members from all categories, has been appointed to do a thorough examination of the issues at hand, and to make recommendations to the Board. The committee is consulting with top epidemiologists in the field, and we will collaborate with our sister guilds and unions and the employers as we put together a comprehensive guide to help us all return safely to work.”
So what are some ideas for making sets safer?
On Twitter, filmmakers chimed in with worries and hurdles about returning to create after this is all over.
There are massive worries out there, but what are the solutions?
People have tossed around ideas, like temperature checks on set 3 times a day, the use of masks by all crew members, skeleton crews in general, and quarantining entire productions in one hotel to ensure safety.
But secondary to all of this is the economic and familial hurdles that might happen if people get quarantined to work together. What if people are so poor they take medicine to keep their fevers down so they can work to feed their loved ones?
You can't fault them for those worries.
So, we also need a system of paid leave from productions to protect the crew and incentivize people to be honest.
What are some strategies you think Soderbergh will employ? What are the ideas you have for us moving forward?
Let us know in the comments.
