{"id":567984,"date":"2023-03-30T02:03:23","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T23:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/top-production-pros-examine-potential-writers-strike-covid-19-safety-protocols-at-afci-brunch\/"},"modified":"2023-03-30T02:03:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T23:03:23","slug":"top-production-pros-examine-potential-writers-strike-covid-19-safety-protocols-at-afci-brunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/top-production-pros-examine-potential-writers-strike-covid-19-safety-protocols-at-afci-brunch\/","title":{"rendered":"#Top Production Pros Examine Potential Writers Strike, COVID-19 Safety Protocols at AFCI Brunch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n From a potential writers strike to COVID-19 safety protocols on-set, some of Hollywood\u2019s top producers offered a peek on Wednesday at how they app<\/a>roach some of the industry\u2019s most contentious issues.<\/p>\n

\n The insiders, typically tight-lipped on Hollywood dealings, discussed their thoughts to widespread industry concerns and trends at a brunch honoring the top physical production pros during a multiday networking event from March 27 to 30 hosted by the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), a group made up of more than 300 commissioners on six continents. The brunch, a joint effort between AFCI and The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>, saw a turnout of hundreds of production executives and film commissioners across the world, who chatted over quiche, fruit platters and pastries.<\/p>\n

\n Featured on the panel was Janet Graham-Borba, executive vice president of production for HBO, as well as Marcy Kaplan, physical production principal at MGM Television and MGM+, and Herb Gains, executive vice president of production for Legendary. The 45-minute conversation was moderated by THR<\/em> editorial director Nekesa Mumbi Moody.<\/p>\n

\n The conversation touched on a wide range of topics, including how the demands of their jobs have changed over their careers, film and TV tax credits, and the easing of safety restrictions.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn 20 years, we\u2019ll look back and say \u2018What were we thinking?’\u201d Gaines said, likening the protocols to recollections of nuclear attack drills in schools during the Cold War in which students \u201chid under desks thinking that\u2019ll save [them.]\u201d Still, the executive producer on Dune<\/em> and Godzilla vs. Kong<\/em> said that he insists that crew wear masks to protect actors on small movies<\/a> shooting in tight, small interiors. \u201cI don\u2019t think it should totally go away and be ignored,\u201d Gaines said. \u201cIt\u2019s how much you want to spend and how much you want to risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Graham-Borba quipped, \u201cWe joke about how it\u2019s trying to do production on a slip and slide.\u201d She similarly stressed the increased expenses of production due to COVID-19 safety protocols. Costs ballooned by roughly 20 percent because of tests and employees to administer them, among other things, she estimated.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe industry is probably, in its intense focus on testing, out of step with culture,\u201d said Graham-Borba, who added that Hollywood needs to support workers so they feel safe.<\/p>\n

\n The latest extension to Hollywood\u2019s COVID-19 safety agreement in January loosened protocols<\/a> on-set when virus admissions are low. Productions were allowed to end pre-employment testing for employees in certain groups who aren\u2019t in the proximity of actors. Weekly testing requirements for some workers were also nixed. The agreement is set to expire on March 31.<\/p>\n

\n Moving to another hot-button issue in Hollywood, Kaplan said MGM got in front of a potential writers strike by getting ahead with compiling scripts.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI do think it\u2019ll be a curve because, if it\u2019s not decided quickly, things will slow down,\u201d said Kaplan, emphasizing the costs of pausing and resuming a production. \u201cWe did a lot to get ready, but it could create an environment where people just stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n While it\u2019s largely \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d at Legendary, Gaines noted that the studio is \u201cscrambling to get scripts done before May 1.\u201d He said, \u201cIf there\u2019s a strike, hopefully we\u2019ll have enough scripts we\u2019ll be working on so we\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n HBO, meanwhile, hasn\u2019t been \u201cdoing anything extreme in preparation,\u201d said Graham-Borba, explaining that she thinks \u201ceverybody who\u2019s working will continue working.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n The current Writers Guild of America contract with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers is set to expire on May 1, with negotiations already underway. On the table: overall staff size, basic compensation and a wave of so-called mini-rooms, among other things. Any work stoppage will suspend production until a new agreement is reached. There was a 100-day strike from November 2007 to February 2008 and a longer work stoppage in 1988.<\/p>\n

\n The production executives also touched on the international reach of the entertainment industry. \u201cIt\u2019s become a global business,\u201d Gains said. \u201cThere used to be Hollywood, London, and nobody went to Australia until The Matrix<\/em> went there, but now look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Graham-Borba recalled her \u201cextraordinary experience\u201d shooting True Detective: Night Country<\/em> in Iceland. She told THR<\/em> that\u00a0the local crew had to film\u202f\u201coutdoors in the cold and dark for long stretches\u201d and navigated the elements with \u201cstartling ease.\u201d She added that\u202fthe past year has been full of weather surprises, with \u201churricanes, unexpected snow, wind or temperature drops and heavy\u202frains.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Each of the production executives stressed the significance of film and TV incentives when choosing a location to film, especially as times have changed with them being told the budget opposed to helping come up with a figure after reading the script.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019d be able to persuade my leadership in [shooting] in a place that didn\u2019t offer robust incentive and resources,\u201d Graham-Borba said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n