The Hollywood Reporter: During the height of the pandemic and in the months since, Hollywood productions routinely cut corners while trying to balance tight filming schedules against strict COVID-19 safety protocols, some insiders say. In September, a former HBO health adviser, Georgia Hesse, sued the company for wrongful termination, claiming she was fired for raising a red flag that CineMedics, a third-party COVID-testing vendor, used an unapproved and inferior test during the production of HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.
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Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me at all that these big-budget companies ended up cutting all these corners, often to the detriment of their cast and crew most importantly, and often ending up in those productions having to be shut down early as a byproduct. Now, I can definitely understand COVID fatigue, and I know just how hard a lot of companies, especially those in the entertainment industry, ended up getting hit by the pandemic. However, what I can't understand is the reasoning that by ignoring those realities that they might have somehow avoided the consequences of it. Isn't it better to have to rework your calendar and schedule a bit than have to shut down completely? I would certainly think so, but I guess people think differently when they have money on their brain. What this means though is that the cast and crew had to be the ones to suffer, having to police and advocate for themselves when their higher ups failed in their responsibility to them.
First I need to acknowledge the graphic designer who made the photoshop image of the tv show underscrutinity with a image of the covid virus taking place of a basketball. It is truly great graphic design work. I also like the accessibility of this article as there is an option to listen to the article built into the webpage. I wish the contents of this article surprised or shocked me but unfortunately it does not. Cutting coners on safety is not a new thing. Especially when it comes to covid. I feel so deeply for anyone who has/will work in the positions of covid safety within the theatre industry and film industry as it is a truly thankless job. It truly angers me that producers and those in higher positions are putting profit above safety. It does give me hope that this isnt true at each film set and in each theatre. I hope we continue to move forward with safety being at the forefront of minds, however, I fear the more realistic future is the decrease in covid safety protocols and moving back to a “normal” that should no longer exist.
Unfortunately, this is not surprising. However, I did learn a few things. I had no idea that HBO was being sued for wrongful termination involving a covid concern, or that they supposedly fabricated medical records – that’s alarming to say the least. I’m not surprised that the crew was kept in the dark about positive tests, I feel like this is quite common in a lot of places. I know a lot of individuals that had issues this past summer with covid transparency. At one point in time, I was working for a company that had 18 positive tests at once between cast and crew and we were told hardly anything. Some individuals are just putting their company and making money over the health and safety of their employees and it’s just extremely disappointing. I was also not surprised to read that individuals did care about COVID safety, until they realized that the budget would increase due to those safety protocols…
WOW this is a wild read. Echoing Danielle, that photo at the beginning of the article is great. But, the reports of COVID policy violations just got worse, and worse, and worse as the article went on. I forget how awful people can be sometimes. Did COVID take a huge toll on your industry? Absolutely. Is that a reason to put people’s lives at risk? Absolutely NOT. Screw your big budget movie. Things can always be changed, schedules can always be shifted, but putting the health of the team at risk is not an option, ever. I understand that this pandemic is and has been hard on us- since March of 2020 for goodness sake. But that never means sacrificing health and safety. The fact that the COVID safety officers had zero power makes no sense to me- they literally couldn’t do anything (which, realistically, was exactly what the producers wanted it seems). I could go on and on.. Wish I could say the contents of this article actually surprised me.
Honestly, this isn't very surprising to hear. I feel that the entertainment industry is constantly cutting corners when it cones to it's own employees, so why would it care about those that come to see it's shows? The obvious answer is that the venues in question might have a vested interest in keeping paying customers alive but I think the reality is that overhead is already too tight to worry about that kind of thing, so a theatre that turns away business for any reason isn't going to stay afloat. That doesn't make any of it right, but in an industry that isn't even ready to take care of it's own employees, why should anyone be surprised to hear this?
I remember during the early days of the pandemic after we returned to the shop, it was standard policy to basically sweep any exposure or positive test under the rug. We would hear from a coworker that they had come down with covid, but management would just say that someone was out with an illness and not really confirm or deny that it was covid.
Right off the bat, I am not surprised considering how many shows I have worked on with “COVID Compliance Officers.” Although after reading the article, I realize my small grievances were truly nothing compared to the scary reality of what is going on in Hollywood to “deal” with COVID. My problems on a smaller level were that the officer wouldn’t be there everyday, lots of people would fall through the cracks, and even for things like unauthorized travel there were only small slaps on the wrist that made it okay for people to make the same mistakes. Now talking about the bigger film and tv industry, it is very concerning that higher ups are either hiring people who do not believe in COVID, are willing to do anything to keep filming going, or are firing those who stick to the job description and value the safety on set. It makes Hollywood even more inaccessible than it already is.
I really wish this was surprising, but it’s not. In an industry where many times the people in power want to cut corners for the sake of saving money or time this response to COVID is pretty par for the course. To hear the accounts of COVID compliance officers only lasting a few weeks before getting fired because of them pushing for compliance to COVID policies regarding COVID positive cases and exposures is a brutal read - seeing how people who should have had power in the situation, i.e. the COVID compliance officers had none. I know that COVID took a huge toll on the entertainment industry, but actively making choices that harm employees - those who are already burnt out from a pandemic and working conditions that in many cases already cut corners is the absolute wrong approach. Having a COVID compliance officer in name but not in action is just the producers and the company trying to look good.
Companies caring more about money that their actual real life employees? Who could have possibly foreseen this?? More like, companies caring more about money and not giving a hoot about covid OR their actually real life employees. It’s not like I didn’t expect that out of a business model that depends on a lot of working parts. A lot of companies will talk so much game in the beginning about how they’re so covid compliant and they’ll do everything they can to make sure everyone feels safe in the workplace and then they just don’t. They don’t want to spend the money or time dealing with it and only want to worry about themselves. Which is totally fair, in this very expensive world I get it. But from a person perspective, that kinda fucked up no? You’re effectively choosing to do the wrong thing and looking the other way about it.
It’s not a shock in the slightest this is a problem. With the entertainment industry not only is “cutting corners” with just about every safety and health regulation normal, but also it’s just an industry where people are forced to come into direct contact with one another. People cannot stay in their own bubbles easily because people are constantly interacting from different departments. With theatre specifically it’s almost impossible to adhere to COVID 19 regulations as casts and crew are shoved into very tight spaces and the chaos to get things done can easily overpower the mindset to keep your distance and wear a mask. I wish that Covid 19 was taken more seriously by the entertainment industry as I still support wearing a mask just to decrease the spread of illness in general but I find no surprise for the same reasons listed in the article.
I am not surprised at all by this to be quite frank. Especially in the earlier day, COVID 19 was not taken seriously. Arguably, it isn’t taken seriously enough today. A lot goes into a production and i wish that COVID 19 were on that priority list. In general, I wish health and wellbeing was. The fast pace of the film and tv industry leaves so much to hang loose and be taken advantage of. In the article the officer talks about various instances of negligence towards precautions for COVID 19 and those costs. I will also state that while productions are absolutely responsible for taking care of their cast and crew, in many cases they just reflect a government sentiment. Like in the cases of COVID 19 test scarcity. The story of spending hundreds and even thousands or even ten thousands for COVID 19 related products truly embodies how absurd the economical disadvantage the lower income population has when it comes to health.
I would never want the job of a covid compliance officer. It’s a rough position to be in. As mentioned in the article, everyone has differing opinions on the severity of covid and the repercussions a positive test can have. You can never make anyone happy, especially when it comes to safety vs money. Fortunately the theatre company that I worked with this summer took covid testing and covid cases very seriously. They are a small company that maybe could have gotten away with not but they did. Their covid safety officer quit early on (probably not the best pay) but the Director of Production took it upon herself to perform the necessary duties. It made me feel safe. I thought it was great that is position was introduced into the industry but it’s not great that it is being used as a front and that people that do take it seriously are losing their jobs.
It’s really sad to see how people are acting like the pandemic is completely over and there’s nothing to worry about, when in reality we still need to be vigilant about COVID precautions. And if you’re going to hire a COVID compliance officer, (which you should), then you absolutely need to be deferential to their judgment when something goes wrong. Safety and health should always be the most important priority, even if that means getting behind schedule; not only does it put the cast and crew at risk, but the audience for any live show. So ignoring COVID compliance rules is already problematic, but the fabricated medical records on top of that seems insane. I hope this issue continues to be focused on and talked about. You can’t just talk the talk of having adequate safety procedures; you need to be willing to walk the walk as well, or you shouldn’t be doing it.
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