Getting back to production: what should we worry about?

>>In a hurry?

In this post, I share my thoughts on restarting film and video production during the pandemic, highlighting the importance of the safety protocols put in place to protect the health of people working in the industry. I talk about the easing of social distancing measures in São Paulo and the creation of an industry-wide Return-to-Production Protocol that puts crew health first, but I also express my frustration with the excessive focus on financial matters and legal protection at the expense of the health and safety of the people involved. I mention the value of practical discussions and sharing useful information, like what happened in a livestream organized by SpCine (São Paulo's film commission), and how crucial it is for production companies to put strategies in place that minimize the risk of infection. I close by asking colleagues in the industry to share valuable information so we can ensure a safe and healthy return to work.

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I've been stuck at home for months thinking about the new options for film production in the context of the pandemic and the absence, for now, of a vaccine that would make contact between people safer.

Back in late April, I wrote a piece about how I saw work continuing and the risks involved. If you'd like to read it, that post was reposted on the website's blog, since it was originally published on Medium.

A week later, the São Paulo state government announced it would begin easing social distancing measures and shared a general manual of procedures to be followed for getting back to work. On top of those recommendations, each sector would only be officially cleared to restart after the state reviewed protocols drawn up by the trade associations representing that sector, explaining how they would keep workers safe and keep the risk of infection under maximum control.

Guidelines, news and updates on reopening in the state are always posted on the Plano São Paulo website (the state's reopening plan), if you want to check it out.

The associations representing crew, talent, production companies and equipment rental houses, among others, quickly came together to start drafting the Return-to-Production Protocol for the audiovisual industry (shared below), which was presented to the city government in mid-June and approved for the sector's restart at the beginning of this month.

I read these (and other) documents, and I notice that the main concern in these protocols is always the health of workers and of anyone whose health could be put at risk by the work they'll be doing.

In addition, every day associations and workers host livestreams to discuss the protocol, how it applies, its challenges and its consequences, which I think is essential for exchanging practical ideas, assessing whether the processes are sustainable and spreading useful information.

Of all the livestreams I've watched, I'd single out the webinar "Restarting Shoots in São Paulo: Equipment and Processes," organized by SpCine, the only one I saw that actually offered an exchange of practical information and important reflections beyond the impact on production companies' profits.

That's exactly what's been frustrating me in so many of these debates. Although I understood in the first livestream that discussing the Protocol's financial impact was essential to understanding how to apply it, the number of these events that insist on bringing in insurance companies and lawyers makes me wonder what kind of concern production companies really have about the protocol.

As I see it, there's far too much concern about how a company can avoid liability if a crew member gets infected, and far too little about how to minimize the chances of infection, how to properly dispose of the volume of waste generated, the specific difficulties each department in film production faces in actually applying the recommendations, and so on.

This constant focus on how a company protects itself in the pandemic, instead of how a person protects themselves, says a lot about how we manage and are managed within the capitalist system. To be clear, I'm not against capitalism; in fact, I really do think it's the best system we've managed to come up with so far. But let's not forget who makes everything happen: people.

Beyond that, the Protocol clearly calls for testing before anyone steps on set, a health screening questionnaire for hired crew, and even signing a waiver acknowledging the risks we're taking on by increasing contact with people and going back to work. It also covers the obvious: use of PPE, frequent sanitizing of hands, objects and spaces, fewer people, and safe distancing at all times.

I understand the financial concerns of production company owners, and I share them. After all, we've been shut down since March and we need to get back to work so that both businesses and people can recover financially as soon as possible. But I'd like to hear more about how people are succeeding and creating ways to bring crews together without actually creating a hotspot for the virus or some other health or environmental impact, despite the obvious economic need.

Once again, I'll mention the SpCine livestream, where I heard good practical reflections on these issues, and where I also got in touch with freelance line producer Ian Haudenschild, who kindly shared with me his folder of return-to-production protocols from other Brazilian states and other countries, along with the department-specific ones already available, such as wardrobe, makeup and equipment rental. I merged his folder with mine, and if you'd like to take a look too, it's available here.

Finally, I hope that besides being a source for the information I've gathered on getting back to production, I can also receive from you any information I haven't covered so far, so I can add it later and make it available, so that colleagues who are starting to shoot also know what to worry about.

More than success, I wish everyone health, because that would certainly be a good measure of success as we start getting back to work. Think about it.

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