FilmLA Urges Filmmakers To Follow Covid Protocols, Limit Shoots “Likely To Invite A Negative Community Response”
With coronavirus cases surging in Los Angeles, FilmLA is urging filmmakers to strictly observe guidelines established by the County’s Department of Public Health, and through the end of the year “to voluntarily limit and/or avoid activities likely to invite a negative community response.”
“Inattention to these protocols – even in just a handful of situations – could jeopardize community confidence in our ability to operate safely,” FilmLA, the City and County’s film permit office, said today. Examples of “high-impact activities” that should be avoided include “any activity requiring Community Filming Surveys, activity that affects customer access to retail businesses, significant prep, strike or filming on secular and religious holidays, and requests that involve extended street parking, overnight filming, street closures, or aircraft use.”
“We realize that bringing filming to our communities always involves balancing a variety of stakeholder needs,” FilmLA said. “As of today, applications for complex shoots will continue to be processed by FilmLA and reviewed by permit authorities on a case-by-case basis. But we also urge customers to keep community concerns in mind. The decisions we make today could determine the welcome we’ll receive tomorrow.”
Since June, when on-location film production resumed in Los Angeles under modified public health orders, the state has viewed workers supporting the film, television and commercial production industry – who number in the hundreds of thousands in Greater Los Angeles – as essential for the state’s critical infrastructure.
FilmLA said it is “unaware of any plans to revisit or modify the state’s essential worker definitions, but new Stay at Home orders this week remind us that the COVID-19 pandemic’s progress is unpredictable, and new business regulation can affect any industry at the state, county or city level, at any time.”
More from Deadline
Barack Obama To Stephen Colbert: Trump Response To Pandemic Was "Shambolic"
L.A.'s New "Targeted" Stay-At-Home Order Restrictions Revealed; Unclear When They Take Effect
Best of Deadline
U.S. Coronavirus Update: Cases Surpass 10 Million Nationwide As Global Total Hits 50 Million
Coronavirus: Movies That Have Halted Or Delayed Production Amid Outbreak
Hong Kong Filmart Postponed Due To Coronavirus Fears; Event Moves Two Weeks Before Toronto
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
