California film, TV production guidelines to be announced next week

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will issue guidelines next Monday that would allow film and TV production to start up in some counties in the state, perhaps even as soon as next week.

Newsom hosted a virtual roundtable on Wednesday with industry leaders, including Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos and director Ava DuVernay.

Sarandos reported that production is already underway in South Korea, Sweden and Iceland, and that protocols in those areas can be transferred to other places once production resumes.

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“The choices that we have to make today are not staying home or not, it really is how do we get back to work safely,” Sarandos said. “It can definitely be figured out. We have the smartest people in the world working on it.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will detail guidelines for film and television production on Monday. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool)

Production is not expected to be allowed to resume until the state reaches “Stage 3” of its reopening plan. However, the state is allowing some counties where the virus is more controlled to start up sooner than others.

Newsom said that Los Angeles County continues to represent a disproportionate share of the state’s cases, however.

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“It remains a challenging part of the state for us still,” he said. “We are concerned they will be a few weeks behind everybody else.”

Newsom asked Sarandos how California is faring compared to other states, particularly Georgia. Sarandos said that while no one in the U.S. is filming yet, there has been “a lot more talk about moving faster” in other states.

Danny Stephens, representing IATSE Local 80, noted that the new protocols will come at a cost, and said he worries that if restrictions are too aggressive, productions might move elsewhere.

The next installation of the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise is among the productions that have been delayed. (Paramount Pictures)

“The last thing we want to do is price ourselves out of business,” he said, and made a pitch for further state tax incentives for production.

Newsom seemed at least open to the idea, while he did not make any commitments.

“I appreciate the need for this state to be more competitive in this space,” Newsom said. “We cannot rest on our laurels.”

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DuVernay said she appreciated that California has been strict about imposing measures to control the virus, in contrast with other states that have opened sooner. She also said it was important to keep the victims of the virus in mind.

“There are too many lives lost, and too much we have to learn so those deaths aren’t in vain,” DuVernay said.