CMU School of Drama


Monday, February 08, 2021

Dana Walden: Disney TV Shows Have Less Than 1% COVID Transmission Rate

Variety: After adapting to COVID protocols last summer and fall, most of Disney’s TV productions have maintained virus transmission rates of less than 1%, making them “some of the safest places” in Los Angeles, Disney TV chief Dana Walden told a group of Harvard University undergrads on Sunday.

3 comments:

Jem Tepe said...

I mean, it's cool that Disney TV sets have such a low Covid rate, but the precautions taken to protect the casts and crew of their televised shows do not match with the reckless decision to open up their theme parks, putting all visitors and employees at risk. Disney is a prime example of a corporation with a friendly exterior that is greedy to its core. It's not like they opened Disney World because they were strapped for cash, Disney does not need to be risking people's lives by giving them an incentive to travel to a state with one of the highest Covid rates. Clearly they understand that taking precautions is important, and that is a good thing, but apparently it doesn't matter when it comes to the consumer. During the pandemic, the greed and corruption of corporations has reared its ugly head more than ever before, and Disney's laying off of workers and opening theme parks far too quickly has cemented my dislike of it.

Ariel Bernhard said...

time. It is nice to have new content, but it is hard to weigh the costs. Less than 1% transmission is excellent, but it still is not zero. In my opinion, even one death is too many for any industry or community. I am at least glad that Disney sets are doing better than California as a whole. At the same time, theatre is doing everything it can to adjust. Film seems to be incorporating precautions, but otherwise seemingly operating as normal. I support requiring tests, but my concern is that those tests can be negative even if a person has Covid. People cannot rely on a singular test to determine whether or not a kissing scene is going to be transmission proof. I also worry for the crew exposure just as much as the actors. I am glad Disney is taking precautions, but I just hope all industries are making the right choice. It is difficult to see other countries doing a lot better with the virus because they are making more responsible choices on the individual and collective level.

Reiley Nymeyer said...

I found this article to be incredibly misleading. With the hook being that Disney TV Shows have proven to break the mold of high COVID cases in Los Angeles, I was intrigued to see what they were doing differently than other productions. But the article carefully dances around the point, wasting my time by having me read about promotions for Disney. The only piece of substance this article provided about how Disney TV is acting against COVID with productions is this half-assed comment: “‘Our shows have become some of the safest places in this city because of a very motivated work force,’ Walden said. ‘Everyone wants to be back at work.’” Well, obviously people want to be back at work! I can only imagine that Disney TV’s COVID percentages are down because they are either A.) testing more frequently and being harsher on crew and the cast on what they do on their time off or B.) doing the opposite and avoiding testing to keep the numbers down.