What's news: TV writers and executives figure out what a pandemic-era production looks like, L.A. approves film and TV production to resume Friday, Disneyland sets reopening date, Spike Lee talks Da 5 Bloods and Netflix, Live PD canceled at A&E, Ava DuVernay elected to the Film Academy's board. Plus: Warner Bros. and Scholastic respond to J.K. Rowling, and NBC cancels a pair of shows. --Alex Weprin

 What Will Production In a Pandemic Look Like?

►TV execs, writers grapple with COVID-19 era scripts. Showrunners are being asked to cut extras, reconsider sex and fight scenes and, in some cases, shorten page counts, Lacey Rose reports.

Quote: "What we're telling our writers is 'Don't be dumb,' " says one studio executive, who suggests that an elaborate crowd scene with dozens of extras would surely qualify. "We're not going to be able to shoot it, so don't write it."

--Meanwhile, CGI may become a more frequent tool. "The technology that brought you dragons and exploding people is the same technology that will be bringing you ordinary crowd scenes on shows you wouldn't expect [to use] visual effects," says You's Sera Gamble, who suggests CGI will be of little help on her intimate scenes, which she isn't interested in writing out. "We're not at the place in 2020 where we can talk about using visual effects to fake a kiss between [You stars] Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti — that's a separate issue and one we have to figure it out." The story.

+COVID-19 is a global story. How will we tell it? A new era of stories—and storytellers—will likely emerge from the tragedy and crisis writes Bonnie Hammer, the chairman of Universal Studio Group, in a guest column for THR.

Quote: "It’s possible that one of the slim silver linings to be found in this daunting moment is that it will allow us to do what our industry has needed to do for some time: democratize content creation. If we hope to usher in this next era of storytelling we’ll need to listen, to reach beyond our own experiences and our own conceptions of what constitutes entertainment, and to make space for new perspectives in writers’ rooms, dressing rooms and boardrooms." The column.

+Editors Guild releases safety protocols for working amid COVID-19 pandemic. Per the doc, employees can't be held accountable for security breaches if working remotely. The recommendations also call for increasing turnaround time. More.

►L.A. County allows TV, film production to resume June 12. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Department of Public Health made the announcement on Wednesday, with L.A. Department of Public Health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer adding that the County Department of Public Health would also release safety guidelines on Thursday for film productions. Gyms, movie theaters, campgrounds, hotels and museums will also receive guidelines on Thursday and be allowed to open Friday. The story.

+Disneyland aims for July 17 full theme park reopening. Downtown Disney is proposed to reopen July 9 and the entire park, including California Adventure, on July 17. The hotels are aiming to reopen July 23. The plan must be officially approved on the state and local level.

--Once reopened, the park's capacity will be "significantly limited" so attendance will be managed through a new theme park reservation system that will require all guests, including Annual Passholders, to obtain a reservation for park entry in advance, according to Disney. Theme park reservations will be subject to availability. The story.

+Is there a magic number for profitability? Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger writes in a new report that "Disney can generate enough profit contribution to cover the incremental fixed and variable costs of operating its parks when operating at about 25 percent of normal run-rate attendance," meaning pre-pandemic attendance. That visitor level would make the reopening of the domestic parks "worth" it for the company, he explained. More.

+Universal Studios Hollywood partially reopened Wednesday: The CityWalk shopping and dining district will once again welcome guests with select venues available. Strict new health and safety measures are in place, NBCUniversal announced Wednesday morning. CityWalk will be open daily from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. More.

 Spike Lee Speaks

►Spike Lee on the challenge of bringing Netflix's Da 5 Bloods to the screen. As his 25th feature premieres June 12, the never-shy director takes on studio rejections, Trump (aka "Agent Orange") and Black voters: “We don't all think alike."

--"We barely got this film made," Lee tells Rebecca Keegan. "We had gone to every studio, and they all turned it down. I've had many, many projects turned down, and in my history, they don't say they hate it, they just say, 'No, it's just not for us.' I'm in this game a long time. So when someone doesn't want to do it, I'm not going to say, 'But why? Why don't you want to make this film?' I just say, 'Thank you.' And keep stepping. Like Jay-Z. On to the next one. And that is why I've been able to amass a body of work. I'm not going to sit around and cry. Keep it moving." Though Lee is frank, "There was nowhere to go after Netflix."

--Asked if Netflix eventually will put Da 5 Bloods in theaters, Lee says: "I hope so, but me personally, I hope only when it's safe. There are theaters open now, but I would not go see a movie now. But I do hope that somewhere down the line, people could see this film on a big screen because going into it, the whole thing was, 'We have to make this film on an epic scale.' And I don't care how big your widescreen is at home. It's not bigger than a movie theater. Unless you got a big-ass house." The story.

 Ava DuVernay among six elected to Film Academy board for first time. DuVernay has been elected to represent the directors branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on its board of governors, part of a historic wave that establishes new records for women (26) and people of color (12) on the 54-person board (up from 25 and 11, respectively), Scott Feinberg reports. Here's the list of new and returning board members.

+Recording Academy makes changes to Grammy Awards categories, rules amid claims of conflicts of interest. In a push for greater transparency, the organization, headed up by interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr., is making the official Grammy Awards Rulebook available for the first time online. Here are all the changes being made.

+Peabody Award winners: The University of Georgia has named Watchmen, Dickinson, Stranger Things and When They See Us among this year's winners. The other winners in the entertainment category are Chernobyl, David Makes Man, Fleabag, Ramy, Succession and Unbelievable. The nods mark the first Peabody wins for Apple TV+, which just launched in late 2019, and Oprah Winfrey's OWN network. The full list.

►TV writers group calls on industry leaders to hire black writers, commit to equal pay. In a "call to action" message, the Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity laid out some concrete goals for companies that are looking to respond to the moment of social change beyond statements. More.

 Bloomberg hit with sex bias suit for aiding Charlie Rose. Katherine Brooks Harris and Sydney McNeal are the two plaintiffs, and if those names sound familiar, they are the same ones who previously sued CBS News and Rose himself back in May 2018 upon an expose by The Washington Post. Harris and McNeal have already settled with CBS while their action against Rose is ongoing. That prior case is soon headed to summary judgment motions and perhaps trial after a discovery process that included a deposition for Rose, who admitted to having "inappropriate" relationships in the workplace. The story.

+U.S. Senator hits video app's "predatory" practice of paying people to watch. On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) went after the video app Zynn in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission requesting an investigation. Zynn is a new TikTok competitor in the short-form video space. The app has been a hot download, although it was recently taken off the Google Play Store due to a problem with copyright infringing material on its network. More.

 'Live PD' Canceled

►A&E cancels Live PD amid nationwide police brutality protests. The decision was even more surprising than Paramount's decision this week to cancel the long-running Cops, as Live PD was a ratings juggernaut for A&E. In fact, the network ordered an additional 160 episodes of the series in May. Host Dan Abrams said on Twitter: "To the loyal #LivePDNation please know I, we, did everything we could to fight for you, and for our continuing effort at transparency in policing. I was convinced the show would go on."

--In a statement, A&E said: “This is a critical time in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD. Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments." The story.

New TV series in the works...

--Amazon is bringing beloved Vertigo manga series The Promised Neverland to life. The retail giant/streamer is teaming with Vertigo to adapt the title as a live-action scripted event series. Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse duo Rodney Rothman and Meghan Malloy are teaming with Masi Oka to adapt the popular manga title. The story.

--Dakota Johnson is heading to the rodeo. The Fifty Shades of Grey alum is set to star in — and exec produce — Rodeo Queens, a mockumentary comedy currently in development at Amazon Studios. The potential TV series, which is currently in development, landed at Amazon following a competitive bidding process with multiple suitors pursuing the package. The retail giant/streamer has also given the greenlight to open up a writers room ahead of a likely series pickup. More.

--Two stars of Outlander will explore the real-life history of Scotland in a travel series at Starz. Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish co-created (along with Alex Norouzi) and will star in Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip With Sam and Graham. The eight-episode series from Outlander producer Sony Pictures TV will follow the duo as they explore the history and culture of their native land. The story.

Some cancelations as well...

--NBC has canceled a pair of first-year shows: Comedy Perfect Harmony and drama Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector won't return in the 2020-21 season. The two shows are the first from NBC's 2019-20 rookie class to learn official word on their fate. The network has yet to announce a full schedule for 2020-21 as production is still largely shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic and has not announced decisions on most of its first-year series. The story.

--Harlots and Reprisal have closed up shop at Hulu. The streamer has opted to cancel the period drama after three seasons.The drama, which was from indie banner Monumental Pictures, wrapped its third and now final season back in August on the Disney-owned platform. Additionally, revenge drama Reprisal, starring Abigail Spencer, is done after one season. More.

The day in acquisitions: IFC Films has nabbed the North American rights to Shithouse, the coming-of-age college romancer from Cooper Raiff. The film won the Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature at the virtual SXSW Film Festival, where it had a digital world premiere after the physical SXSW festival was cancelled... CNN Films has acquired the North American broadcast rights to Mary Wharton's Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President, a feature rockumentary about the U.S. president's passion for musical genres that helped propel him from Georgia to the White House...

►Universal Parks, Scholastic and Warner Bros. respond to J.K. Rowling's tweets. The companies weighed in as the studio is poised to start up production on a third installment of the author's Fantastic Beasts movie series in the wake of controversial comments made by the author. More.

►Kidding, This Is Us writer Jas Waters dies at 39. Waters also worked on shows such as Comedy Central's Hood Adjacent With James Davis and VH1's The Breaks. She was a former columnist at Vibe magazine and appeared on camera in VH1's 2013 unscripted show The Gossip Game. No cause of death was given. More.

►TV ratings: America's Got Talent and World of Dance were both fairly steady on Tuesday as NBC swept all three hours of primetime on the broadcast networks. The two shows led their respective hours in total viewers, adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and adults 25-54. The numbers.

Revolving door: Former HBO programming chief Michael Lombardo has officially joined Entertainment One. Lombardo will be president global television at the studio, charged with leading eOne's TV strategy and overseeing development and production — including adaptations of IP from parent company Hasbro... Pierce Brosnan is set to star in sci-fi thriller Youth, which will act as the feature directorial debut for Brett Marty... ViacomCBS said on Thursday that it has elevated Bruce Gillmer to the role of president of music, music talent, programming & events, effective immediately...

In other news...

--The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and country music festival Stagecoach have been cancelled for 2020.

--Cable networks and streaming company AMC Networks has partnered with the On Addressability initiative, which cable giants Comcast, Charter and Cox launched last summer, to pilot targeted advertising solutions on its linear TV and VOD services.

--The showrunner of Batwoman has refuted reports that following Ruby Rose's departure, the CW series would kill off her character, Kate Kane, in season two.

--Women In Film, Los Angeles has announced the launch of Hire Her Back, a multimedia campaign that calls upon entertainment industry employers to hire women and people of color as the town shifts back into production mode following an extended shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

--Riot Games, the Santa Monica-based video game developer behind League of Legends, has placed one of its senior staff members on administrative leave after the executive posted a Facebook note about George Floyd.

What else we're reading...

--"Big advertisers call for a seasonal time-shift in TV’s upfront marketplace" [WSJ]

--"Trump demands CNN retract a poll, as OANN teases a rosier view" [NY Times]

--"As a nation looks for answers on George Floyd, CNN’s Don Lemon steps up" [LA Times]

--"A frank conversation about YA literature, police brutality, and the nuances of Black storytelling" [EW]

Today's birthdays: Peter Dinklage, 51, Joshua Jackson, 42, Shia LaBeouf, 34, Hugh Laurie, 61, Ingrid Newkirk, 71.