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Wednesday, September 23, 2020
North Carolina Reopens Film, TV Production for Five Projects
Variety: North Carolina officials have approved a quintet of film and television projects to being filmed in the state as a part of its 25% rebate on production expenses, with shooting starting by the end of October.
4 comments:
Jill Parzych
said...
I chose to comment on this article because it excites me that film is going to start production again. While I am quite judgmental about theatres opening and managing productions with live audiences, I am more at ease with the idea of movies and shows filming again. I am of the belief that is a great way to have some small part of normalcy in the industry- and it seems safer to me to film instead of working on ways to keep venues free of the virus with live audiences coming in and out. North Carolina is offering rebates to interest production companies to film in their state, much like Georgia did. These productions will bring jobs and revenue to struggling local businesses- and will follow industry wide protocols on safe filming. Now, the companies will need to race time to get their projects filmed before a potential wave of cases this flu season which could lead to more shut downs.
I really don’t know that much about film production and how it works, but it seems like according to this article the government of North Carolina is decided what films can continue production. Which I think is really interesting to me. I would not have thought the government gets to dictate what projects are allowed to continue productions, and I am wondering why these specific projects were chosen. It does look like the government is giving the projects rebate money to continue production and to help with the losses of the pandemic. I could be wrong though because I don’t really know what a rebate grant is and this article was kind of unclear. But I am glad there is support going out to the film and television industry. I would love to see similar financial support for the theatre industry. I am glad that filming is happening again for film and TV, I really hope it is happening safely because if the crew or actors get sick, or worse, it will not have been worth it. But it seems like they are following guidelines and being safe so that is good.
The way TV and film work can be so different than how theatre works, and this is a perfect example. During COVID, TV has been able to create bubbles to protect cast and crew, and finish their process remotely, whereas theatre is based on a large group of people being in one location at one time. Another large difference is the financial backing of TV and film vs that of theatre. TV and Film can easily afford significantly more preventative measures, isolationist precautions, and technology to support their teams in the production process. Theatre has a harder time than these things. It is a good thing that TV and Film are also being supported by some grants, but it is a bit disappointing that the theatrical environment is receiving less despite it being in a worse position. I hope that all of these sites are following the provided guidelines and are doing whatever is necessary to protect everyone working right now, not just the performers.
The states decision to green light five productions in the middle of a global pandemic is reckless and greedy. States like North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and others have proven over the course of the year that COVID is not worth sacrificing the state economy. Personally, I am shocked that the unions have agreed to let these productions go forward with little to no national COVID plan on film sets. Additionally, I think the opening of film and television is only going to hurt the live event industry more. The general public will soon have new stuff to watch on TV which is just one part of the world that will feel “normal” again. This sense of returning to “normal” will only cause people to let their guard down and spikes in COVID numbers will return. I am really glad to see that Variety decided to list the specific projects that will be in production and I was sad to see that most of them were seasonal movies that could have been put off until the next holiday season when the world is hopefully in a better place.
4 comments:
I chose to comment on this article because it excites me that film is going to start production again. While I am quite judgmental about theatres opening and managing productions with live audiences, I am more at ease with the idea of movies and shows filming again. I am of the belief that is a great way to have some small part of normalcy in the industry- and it seems safer to me to film instead of working on ways to keep venues free of the virus with live audiences coming in and out. North Carolina is offering rebates to interest production companies to film in their state, much like Georgia did. These productions will bring jobs and revenue to struggling local businesses- and will follow industry wide protocols on safe filming. Now, the companies will need to race time to get their projects filmed before a potential wave of cases this flu season which could lead to more shut downs.
I really don’t know that much about film production and how it works, but it seems like according to this article the government of North Carolina is decided what films can continue production. Which I think is really interesting to me. I would not have thought the government gets to dictate what projects are allowed to continue productions, and I am wondering why these specific projects were chosen. It does look like the government is giving the projects rebate money to continue production and to help with the losses of the pandemic. I could be wrong though because I don’t really know what a rebate grant is and this article was kind of unclear. But I am glad there is support going out to the film and television industry. I would love to see similar financial support for the theatre industry. I am glad that filming is happening again for film and TV, I really hope it is happening safely because if the crew or actors get sick, or worse, it will not have been worth it. But it seems like they are following guidelines and being safe so that is good.
The way TV and film work can be so different than how theatre works, and this is a perfect example. During COVID, TV has been able to create bubbles to protect cast and crew, and finish their process remotely, whereas theatre is based on a large group of people being in one location at one time. Another large difference is the financial backing of TV and film vs that of theatre. TV and Film can easily afford significantly more preventative measures, isolationist precautions, and technology to support their teams in the production process. Theatre has a harder time than these things. It is a good thing that TV and Film are also being supported by some grants, but it is a bit disappointing that the theatrical environment is receiving less despite it being in a worse position. I hope that all of these sites are following the provided guidelines and are doing whatever is necessary to protect everyone working right now, not just the performers.
The states decision to green light five productions in the middle of a global pandemic is reckless and greedy. States like North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and others have proven over the course of the year that COVID is not worth sacrificing the state economy. Personally, I am shocked that the unions have agreed to let these productions go forward with little to no national COVID plan on film sets. Additionally, I think the opening of film and television is only going to hurt the live event industry more. The general public will soon have new stuff to watch on TV which is just one part of the world that will feel “normal” again. This sense of returning to “normal” will only cause people to let their guard down and spikes in COVID numbers will return. I am really glad to see that Variety decided to list the specific projects that will be in production and I was sad to see that most of them were seasonal movies that could have been put off until the next holiday season when the world is hopefully in a better place.
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