Happy Memorial Day. I hope you and yours are safe and healthy. The global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has upended Hollywood. Movie theaters and theme parks are shuttered, and Film and TV production has all but ground to a halt, forcing TV networks and film studios to improvise. Meanwhile, companies and individuals are adapting to this drastically changed environment, getting creative with how they produce shows and films, and how the finished product gets delivered to consumers who are largely staying home. In this special issue of Today In Entertainment, we will take a look at the current state of affairs, and what it will take to reopen the entertainment business. --Alex Weprin

 Returning to Production

Complicating the return of the entertainment industry are the different groups that have a say in the matter. Individual states and countries have different rules, guidelines and timelines for a return to production. Studios and production companies have a say in when and how films and TV shows will resume, as do the major Hollywood unions.

►The states: California Governor Gavin Newsom said last week that the state could release its guidelines for resuming TV and film production as soon as today. New York is reopening the state by region, with upstate counties already beginning to allow nonessential business to resume. While New York City's film studios are likely months away from opening up, some upstate options could become available much sooner.

--In Georgia, production could begin in the coming weeks. The state released guidelines on Friday for reopening, which include encouraging frequent hand washing, and the use of personal protective equipment. Some local producers, like Atlanta's Tyler Perry, have put together their own plans (see below).

--In Europe: Different countries have different schedules and different guidelines. Iceland and the Czech Republic have already allowed production to resume, with Poland and Portugal set to follow in short order. Here are the country-by-country guidelines.

►The studios and production companies. Studios are caught in the middle. They have to abide by state guidelines, but they also have to keep their talent and staff happy and safe. Perry, who will resume production on his shows The Oval and Sistas in July, is requiring all cast members to self-isolate for two weeks before taking a private jet to Atlanta, where they will be tested for the virus in their cars. Once inside the studio facility, all cast and crew will be unable to leave until production is complete.

--Discovery Inc., which owns Food Network, HGTV, Discovery and TLC, sent a document to the producers and production houses it works with, outlining its virus guidelines. Those guidelines include frequent handwashing, keeping cast and crew six feet apart, and private transportation if possible.

►The unions. Hollywood is a union town, with unions like SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, the WGA and DGA holding enormous sway. Each union is developing its own guidelines for a return to work in consultation with doctors and their members, and the unions and studios are talking to each other to try and get on the same page. Tomorrow, Actors' Equity Association, the union that represents New York's stage actors, will host a call with its heath expert Dr. David Michaels, who will give an overview of the safety protocols that would be needed for broadway to reopen.

--Some unions, such as Writers Guild of America members, are still able to work during the pandemic (more on that below) while others may be able to return to work over time. For example, some technical crews may be able to return to the job if they usually work on live sporting events or game shows, programming that could resume production before scripted shows start up again.

 Adapting to a Changed World

The pandemic has forced TV shows, movie studios, film festivals, production houses and other Hollywood firms to rethink how they do business. Unless there is a vaccine, it is entirely possible things don't return to where they were anytime soon. That isn't stopping creative efforts to rethink pre- and post-production, and how festivals and markets that have been the lifeblood of the industry are handled when no one will be cramming into packed theaters.

►The rapid rise of remote production. Imagine going back in time one year, and telling anyone in Hollywood that the season finales of American Idol and The Voice would originate from the homes of the contestants and judges. Or that LeBron James would host a primetime 2020 graduation special from an empty, sanitized studio. The pandemic forced unscripted production to pivot, and most did so on a dime. Or at least a quarter. Here's what went into these productions.

►The new writers room is Zoom. Writers are used to sitting around an office conference room, bounding ideas and jokes off of each other, and ultimately taking that creativity, bottling it, and turning into finished scripts. The pandemic blew up that dynamic, but many writers rooms have continued over streaming video services like Zoom. So when production is allowed to resume, TV shows and movies will have scripts ready and waiting.

+Related: One thing these writers rooms have to grapple with: If and how to incorporate COVID-19 into storylines. More.

►VFX houses learn to work from home. Amid the maelstrom, some boutique postproduction companies are finding creative solutions to thrive in the new normal of lockouts and work-at-home orders. Several smaller VFX firms have actually seen an increase in business since the start of the crisis, as both studios and streamers push to get productions that wrapped shooting before the shutdown finished and out.

►How global producers have found new ways to work. From Sydney to Seoul, filmmakers are developing resourceful new ways to keep going: "There is something great about how working under these conditions has brought everyone together."

►Reckoning with broken windows. As the pandemic has shut down movie theaters around the world, the film business faces a potentially transformative question: Should studios hold movies for a later, indefinitely postponed theatrical release or make them available as online attractions now? That question has caused tension between the studios and movie theaters, as every player seeks to chart a path back toward profitability.

►Cannes' virtual markets are "selling hope" amid the crisis. Two complementary events will run online in June, one screening completed projects and the other pitching packages, both navigating multiple time zones as they avoid on-demand offerings. "We want to keep them on the same day, if possible, to maintain that urgency of everyone watching the film at the same time," says Marché executive director Jérôme Paillard. "If you just send links to people, they don't necessarily take the time to watch them, [and] it's difficult to organize meetings and sales negotiations on the back of that."

►CEOs and executives are sacrificing. Sort of. With layoffs and furloughs rippling across the industry, senior executives are forgoing their salaries or taking sizable pay cuts. "It's not a good look to complain about running out of caviar on your yacht right after you let 10,000 people go," says Greg Zbylut of business management firm Singer Burke. "By making a sacrifice themselves, they show that they are practicing what they preach and get buy-in from management and staff for belt-tightening policies." That being said, many CEOs will still be eligible for their bonuses, which are often much more valuable than salaries anyhow.

►Some productions never shut down in the first place. TV news programs have, obviously, stayed on-air throughout the pandemic, though many anchors now work from home. The late night comedy shows have all pivoted to a remote format, with their hosts holding fort from their homes. Animated shows have continued production with virtual writers rooms, remote animators, and voice talent working from home studios, and the WWE moved its shows to its training center in Florida (with no audience), after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis deemed the programming an "essential" business.



WHAT'S NEXT?

►A production logjam? A growing queue of film and TV projects awaits now-empty soundstages as productions that couldn’t wrap filming before the mid-March shutdown may be prioritized, Bryn Elise Sandberg reports. “It’s like a horse race — you’re waiting for the gates to open and everybody’s going to rush out at the same time,” says Claudio Ruben, the head of New Mexico’s Garson Studios. Among the projects at his studio that had to suspend production was Netflix's Idris Elba-fronted Western film The Harder They Fall. As for how it will all play out, Ruben is cautiously optimistic. "I think most people are going to be patient and respectful, but I can’t imagine there won't be some jostling in the mix."

+You could always go somewhere that beat the virus. Production on Disney's Avatar sequels is set to resume in the next few weeks in New Zealand, which has all but defeated the virus, and now has strict measures for anyone entering the isolated island nation. 

►Will the "baseball rule" apply to reopening movie theaters and theme parks? There will be masks, temperature checks and plexiglass, but also liability waivers. Eriq Gardner writes about What more than a century's worth of lawsuits over foul balls can teach us about placing legal responsibility for COVID-19 injuries.

►What about live sports? While some sports have resumed production already (golf, UFC, NASCAR) major team sports are still a ways away from returning here in the U.S. (so far, only Germany's Bundesliga and the Premier Lacrosse League have plans to resume). The NFL is proceeding as if this season will kick off as normal, while Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association are figuring out the best way to resume their postponed seasons.

--The NBA said this weekend that it is holding "exploratory" talks with The Walt Disney Co. about hosting the remainder of the season in Orlando. Games would be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, a massive campus on the Disney property near Orlando. Players, coaches and broadcast crews would stay there too.

--When it comes to sports, all roads lead through Disney. ESPN may be the hardest-hit TV channel by the pandemic, and the company holds rights with almost every major sports league. Disney gave UFC its blessing to resume fights in Florida this month, and now with the NBA talks, it is taking matters into its own hands.

Ultimately, we don't know if and when things will return to "normal." But it seems all but assured that production will resume this year on sporting events and shows that were cut short by the pandemic. Some of these trends, like virtual writers rooms, or postproduction from employees' homes, could become a new normal, while others could return to the way of doing things pre-corona. One thing's for sure. Once fresh movies and TV shows are ready, the world will be ready to watch.