Fewer Fistfights, Less Sex — TV Production Gets Corona Makeover…

Just before production resumed in August on the hit
CBS
police drama S.W.A.T., co-creator and executive producer Shawn Ryan called an infectious-disease expert with one question.Are we crazy to be doing this? Mr. Ryan asked Marissa Baker, a professor at the University of Washington. Ms. Baker, who specializes in potential exposure to infectious diseases, reassured Mr. Ryan that if the show followed the coronavirus protocols she advocated to protect the cast and crew, it should be fine.
Easier said than done. As Hollywood resumes production in the midst of a pandemic, fear of Covid-19 is changing how television gets made. Producers are avoiding scenes with crowds, guest stars or intimacy between characters, wherever possible. Crew members have backups in case they get sick. Special cameras give the illusion that actors are near each other when they are far apart.
For some, regardless of all the safety measures, the health risks are too great to participate.
On the set of S.W.A.T., which is produced by Sony Pictures Television, actors and the people who need to be close to them, such as directors and sound technicians, are usually in what is known as Zone One or the A Zone. The other zones are for people who dont need to be near the actors, including producers and writers. Cast and crew typically wear wrist bands identifying which section they can be in.
All the actors on S.W.A.T. and the people who are in constant contact with them get tested at least three times a week, while others on the set get tested once a week. Bigger shows with larger budgets often have additional crew members on call who are undergoing the same testing as those working on the programakin to being an alternate juror, a CBS executive said.
Such Covid-19 testing and safety measures are quickly becoming standard across Hollywood, and the price tag is steep: more than $300,000 an episode for a typical one-hour drama, and over $150,000 an episode for a comedy, according to people familiar with production finances. That amounts to a 10% to 15% increase in cost per episode, the people said. Network and streaming outlets are kicking in to help studios and producers shoulder the extra costs.
Things like testing can be very expensive. PPE is very expensive. Reconfiguring sets can be very expensive, said
Sony
SNE 0.40%
Pictures Television Studios President Jeff Frost.
When actors or crew members test positive, production can grind to a halt. This week, NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives and HBO historical drama The Gilded Age both suspended production after crew members tested positive.
After shutting down early in the pandemic, the television industry is gradually resuming production.
The Morning Show (Apple)
Shooting resuming Oct. 19
Premiering in 2021
Bosch (Amazon)
Started shooting Sept. 17
Premiering in 2021
Greys Anatomy (ABC)
Started shooting Sept. 8
Premiering Nov. 12
Riverdale (CW)
Started shooting Sept. 14
Premiering in 2021
Shameless (Showtime)
Started shooting Sept. 9
Premiering Dec. 6
Stranger Things (Netflix)
Started shooting Sept. 28
Premiering in 2021
Succession (HBO)
Shooting may start in December
Premiering in 2021
S.W.A.T. (CBS)
Started shooting Aug. 4
Premiering Nov. 11
This Is Us (NBC)
Started shooting Sept. 24
Premiering Oct. 27
Bosch (Amazon)
Started shooting Sept. 17
Premiering in 2021
Greys Anatomy (ABC)
Started shooting Sept. 8
Premiering Nov. 12
The Morning Show (Apple)
Shooting resuming Oct. 19
Premiering in 2021
Riverdale (CW)
Started shooting Sept. 14
Premiering in 2021
Shameless (Showtime)
Started shooting Sept. 9
Premiering Dec. 6
Stranger Things (Netflix)
Started shooting Sept. 28
Premiering in 2021
This Is Us (NBC)
Started shooting Sept. 24
Premiering Oct. 27
Succession (HBO)
Shooting may start in December
Premiering in 2021
S.W.A.T. (CBS)
Started shooting Aug. 4
Premiering Nov. 11
Bosch (Amazon)
Shooting began Sept. 17
Premiering in 2021
Greys Anatomy (ABC)
Shooting began Sept. 8
Premiering Nov. 12
The Morning Show (Apple)
Shooting to start Oct. 19
Premiering in 2021
Riverdale (CW)
Shooting began Sept. 14
Premiering in 2021
Shameless (Showtime)
Shooting began Sept. 9
Premiering Dec. 6
Stranger Things (Netflix)
Shooting began Sept. 28
Premiering in 2021
Succession (HBO)
Shooting may start in December
Premiering in 2021
S.W.A.T. (CBS)
Shooting began Aug. 4
Premiering Nov. 11
This Is Us (NBC)
Shooting began Sept. 24
Premiering Oct. 27
Most of Americas corporations are figuring out how to return to the office. The entertainment industry faces some special challenges. For one thing, the workplace can change every day, in configuration and location. On a typical set there are scores of people with vastly different responsibilities and importance working close to one anothera megastar getting paid millions of dollars is alongside a boom mic holder or makeup artist. Treating everyone safely while taking special care of the performers, who cant work with masks on, is no small effort.
Although most of Los Angeles still cant eat indoors or go to a gym, and many of the nations movie theaters are still closed or operating at low occupancy, the entertainment industry felt it was crucial to get the TV cameras rolling again. Broadcast and cable networks and new streaming services such as
Comcast Corp.s
CMCSA 0.00%
Peacock,
AT&T Inc.s
T -1.40%
HBO Max and
Walt Disney Co.
DIS 3.42%
s Disney+ are starved for fresh content. Even
Netflix Inc.,
NFLX 3.13%
which has banked enough content to get through next year, needs a constant flow of new material to maintain its streaming dominance.
S.W.A.T., which is known for its well-choreographed fight scenes and occasional romances, now requires story lines with less action and sex. Actors typically stay the recommended 6 feet apart, and physical contact between them is limited. I dont get to do any hanky-panky, said the shows star, Shemar Moore, who added that he also misses hand-to-hand combat.
The most action Mr. Moore gets now is having a swab stuck up his nose several times a week to test for the virus. Its annoying, he said. Wed all rather not be doing this, but this is what it takes to be safe.
Prime-time TV viewership is down for major networks in 2020, with few shows debuting new episodes this fall.
Some shows have been victims of slow test results. In Vancouver, production on many TV shows, including ABCs A Million Little Things and the CWs Riverdale, was halted when labs processing Covid-19 tests got backed up and results were delayed.
The real fear for studios and networks is what happens when the day is done and the cast and crew go home. Its only going to be as good as the commitment you make to how youre going to be when youre away from the set, said John Wells, a prolific producer who currently has three shows going at once, including Showtimes Shameless and TNTs Animal Kingdom.
We have lots of conversations about keeping your bubble small at home, he said. If you dont feel comfortable with that and you want to go on a boat with a bunch of other people on the weekend, this isnt the job for you.
Ms. Baker, the consultant for S.W.A.T. and other Sony shows, said a movie or TV set is most similar to a construction site with lots of contractors and subcontractors. You have a lot of different groups working together under one umbrella, she explained. It can be confusing as to who should be in charge and who youre taking orders from.
The protocols in place at S.W.A.T. are similar to those at other television shows. Sets and equipment are constantly cleaned. Most shows have a Covid-19 compliance officer, whose job is to make sure social distancing is being practiced and everyone is masked up. Mr. Moore, the actor, said, They walk around with 6-foot sticks just to remind us what 6 feet is.
Mr. Ryan said the show is doing far fewer crowd scenes and now has 30 extras it uses on a recurring basis instead of the usual 250. If a guest star is brought in, the show pays extra to the actor to not work five days before the S.W.A.T. shoot.
Gone are big fancy buffets and large groups eating around a few large tables. Instead, everyone is given a boxed lunch to eat in shifts at individual tables arranged to resemble an elementary-school classroom.
I thought it was the most depressing part of our set, said Casey Kriley, co-chief executive of Magical Elves, a production company that makes the cooking show Nailed It for Netflix.
Besides protecting the cast, the zone system also allows shows to limit the potential damage of someone testing positive. On Nailed It, when a crew member tested positive, the show tested others who had been in contact with that person.
On S.W.A.T., directors often use 8K cameras, which have four times the resolution of 4K cameras and allow footage to be edited to create close-ups even if the actors are socially distanced. There are all sorts of tricks that we utilize in that regard, Mr. Ryan said.
A stars usual possepublicists, agents, managersis now barred from sets, as are network executives. Even writers and executive producers are often at home watching the action online.
Jay Roach said he directed the HBO movie Coastal Elites, a series of one-character vignettes about the effect of the coronavirus that starred Bette Midler, Issa Rae and Sarah Paulson, from his own kitchen, while the actors were filmed in their own properties. We might as well all have been in space stations, he said.
A few such changes likely will remain even when the masks and swabs are put away, according to Mr. Frost of Sony Pictures Television. You dont have the luxury of shooting a scene 10 times, Mr. Frost said. Youre shooting fewer takes and getting it right.
Mr. Wells, the producer, believes the days of scripts coming in not long before shooting are over. You cannot do this without fully completed scripts weeks in advance, he said. It allows everyone to really prepare properly and is ultimately the most efficient way to work.
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The unions that represent actors, producers, cameramen and others on scripted TV shows hammered out an official manual on Covid-19 protocols in September, working with the major studios and networks.
Liv Tyler, a co-star of Foxs 911: Lone Star, quit because she didnt want to travel from the British countryside to the shows sets in Los Angeles, given the risk of contracting coronavirus, people close to the show said.
Netflix canceled its female wrestling drama Glow because the pandemic makes shooting this physically intimate show with its large ensemble cast especially challenging, a company spokeswoman said.
Much of the nonfiction or reality-TV world isnt unionized, and some people in that field say safety protections are less stringent.
The jobs I was offered, I didnt feel the sets were safe enough, said Genevieve Wong
Sexology, a talk show on the new streaming service Quibi, doesnt make any effort to limit movements of people or use a zone system to protect those going on-camera, leaving some people on the set nervous, members of the production team said. The supervising producer once asked a guest to drink cold water in an effort to bring his temperature down, rather than sending him home, according to two members of the production team.
A person close to the show said the guest had checked no symptoms on the shows questionnaire, had previously tested negative for Covid, and was merely overheated. In a written statement, the shows producer, Madaket Films, said: We put the health and safety of our staff, crew and guests before anything else.
Production companies behind many unscripted shows dont get the same financial help from networks for added safety costs as the big studios that make scripted shows, some producers said.
More often than not, its the networks who are to blame for not well funding projects, said nonfiction producer Johanna Vanderspool. She is the lead organizer of the Nonfiction Professionals Union, a group seeking to align itself with one of the established Hollywood guilds.
Some reality-TV shows require producers and crew to sign Covid-19 release waivers, she said. We are the stepchild of the industry, she said.
Discovery Inc.,
whose networks run much nonfiction content, initially told producers that it wont help pay for tests. It has since softened that stance, though it isnt doing daily testing, like some other networks and studios. Cast and crew involved in some of its shows get tested every two weeks via at-home tests that are mailed to them, a person familiar with the matter said.
A Discovery spokesman said the amount of testing can vary from show to show, and the company works with producers to determine the best approach.
Some unscripted shows that have shorter production cycles and deeper pockets, such as ABCs The Bachelor, are taking a bubble approach, requiring actors, producers and crew to remain in a location for several weeks, just as the National Basketball Association did with players and staff during its restarted season. The TBS show Go-Big, an extreme talent competition, just wrapped a 10-week shoot in Macon, Ga., with frequent testing and isolation.
The temptation for people to wander off site is a lot less than if youre in Los Angeles or New York or Atlanta, said Go-Big Executive Producer Conrad Green.
HBOs political talk show Real Time with Bill Maher recently returned to its Los Angeles studio with a small audience. All of them were tested before attending the taping, wore masks and sat more than 6 feet apart.
It was a herculean effort, said Mr. Maher, who had been taping his show from his Beverly Hills home, often with only his dog as an audience. He made no secret of how much he missed doing the show in front of a crowd.
At a certain point, he said, I just couldnt tell jokes anymore to nobody.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
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