LOCATIONS IN LOCKDOWN AND SCOUTING FOR A WAY THROUGH

April 27, 2020

We have been going through our locations to see which are most suitable as controllable, sterile shooting environments and we are in the process of approaching them all individually to see, under what circumstances they might be prepared to allow crews back in. We have been speaking with companies that can take on deep cleaning before crews enter locations.  We are liaising with Health and Safety companies on how we can introduce corona issues into Risk Assessments to make filming on location achievable and crucially insurable. We are in talks with location supplies partners about sourcing PPE equipment once the front-line services are sufficiently catered for.

We have also been liaising with borough film offices with regards to filming out on the streets.
This is a more complex issue as the boroughs are currently loathe to permit non-essential works activity and are fearful of a public backlash if film crews turn up on their streets. They have indicated that they will take their lead from Film London and BFC although we understand they will not be issuing guidelines until late May or the beginning of June at the earliest.

The Met Police Film Unit have also stated that if filming on the streets or in public areas, crews will be told to disband and return home and that “whilst lockdown is in place no commercial filming in London can be justified” which leads us to further conclude that studios and private sites remain the only option in the first instance.

We will shortly be launching a new category on our website of Lockdown Locations. These are entirely private and controllable locations who have all expressed an interest in letting productions go ahead provided they are accompanied by requisite health and safety procedures and depending on crew size and production requirements, should have ample room for social distancing measures, secure parking for technical vehicles and crew parking to avoid the use of public transport. We are adding to this all the time as studio and location owners are inevitably taking a while to respond with key people furloughed. That said, the response thus far has been extremely encouraging with many locations seeing this as a potential lifeline while they like so many others wait for business to return as usual.

Will keep you updated on all things location related