With brands slowly returning to content shoots, people are starting to get in the groove of COVID-era standard practices.
While Studios have ramped up cleanliness measures by providing OSHA-certified staff, new cleaning protocols and establishing PPE requirements, crews, production teams, and clients are also planning shoots a little differently.
The biggest changes we’re seeing are threefold: (1) clients are hiring third-party COVID-19 Safety Compliance Officers (CCOs) – people who are officially certified to implement COVID safety measures on-set; (2) production teams are booking more space and taking more time; and (3) people are keeping their on-set crews small.
Here’s what we’re seeing in the production industry during COVID. Click here to download more information on our production capabilities.
- Hire an expert to manage COVID protocols: CCOs are up-to-date on the science of transmission and know how it affects state-mandated protocols. Their role is to cover COVID-related needs like social distancing, where people eat, and on-set cleaning while a shoot is in session, so that the producers can focus on producing.
- Daily on-the-spot COVID testing: Productions are either requiring crews and production teams supply proof of negative COVID tests prior to shoot day, or have their CCOs administer rapid tests to determine everyone is COVID-negative before being allowed to enter the studio. Daily temperature checks are standard as shoots continue.
- Plan for more space and more days: In efforts to prioritize COVID safety, many are now booking double the number of studios and days needed so that people aren’t on top of each other. 1-day, single-studio shoots of the past are now 2-day, 2-studio shoots; 2-day, 2-studio shoots are now 4-day, 4-studio shoots, and so on.
- Keep it to a small crew: Goodbye video village, hello skeleton crews. Each person now wears different hats across functions, foregoing assistant teams to help pare down the crew and minimize exposure.
- WFH clients: Creative Directors and brand-side clients are working from home to keep the production headcount down, and are leveraging the live remote viewing capabilities to monitor the shoot.
- Virtual creative capabilities: While photographers are mostly going in-person to shoot, there are virtual set-up options to enable off-site collaboration with a photo assistant to direct a shoot remotely.
- Outdoor mealtime areas: Of course, many are opting to use outdoor space for meals if they’re available.
Ultimately, everyone is doing their best to adapt and be resilient during these times. Planning productions during COVID is not easy, and with everything still uncertain, we’re here to help you solve your content creation problems.
Stay safe, and let’s create together.