LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — COVIDStudioPlan.com announced its launch today, combining industrial hygiene services with extensive film and video production experience to offer tailor-made COVID safety plans for content producers. COVIDStudioPlan.com expands on the union guidelines issued earlier this year to customize specific safety and environmental health strategies for all types of productions.
“Producers are handed volumes of documentation from the unions, the CDC and other government health offices, but the problem is that one size does not fit all. Productions are complicated and no two are alike,” said Slade Smith, a registered professional industrial hygienist, work safety expert, and co-founder of COVIDstudioplan.com. Smith concluded, “Intense collaboration required for productions to restart does not need to come at the sacrifice of safety.”
COVIDStudioPlan.com’s launch comes on the heels of The Safe Way Forward, the unions’ joint collaboration on creating guidelines for safely running productions. “The unions have done a fantastic job in creating The Safe Way Forward,” said Mr. Smith, “but what sets us apart is our ability to consolidate it all into real-world implementation, protocols, identification of critical control points, and the tools to efficiently execute the science on set.”
Major studios have been proactive about implementing strong safety plans, but even further protections may be warranted. The shutdown of “The Batman” after Robert Pattison tested positive for coronavirus is a costly example, showing that even the smallest mistake can cause an entire production to grind to a sudden halt. There are still many questions related to other productions’ ability and willingness to adopt new infection control plans that add a fresh level of complexity and costs to producers. There is growing concern in the film community over the adoption of plans by independent productions. Assistant directors and on-set managers have lodged complaints of non-compliance or being passed over for opportunities when inquiring how plans will be implemented on set.
Third party reviews of recently created on-set safety courses have uncovered troubling results; one such course had zero mention of on-set testing in its literature, instead advising testing only if cast and/or crew report COVID-related symptoms in a distributed questionnaire.
“The impact of coronavirus has given entirely new meaning to the words ‘production safety’,” said Smith, “and maintaining it will no doubt present new challenges; however, production and creativity can flourish once everyone participating feels safe so they can focus on their craft.”
About COVID Studio Plan
For more information, visit COVIDStudioPlan.com
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SOURCE COVIDStudioPlan
