Many events have killed the film industry: the 1918 influenza epidemic, the second world war, the invention of television, the invention of VCRs, the invention of the internet, 9-11, strike after strike after strike. And yet, like a phoenix, it rises, every time stronger than before. The appetite for its product is insatiable especially in times of political trouble and uncertainty about the future. People want to escape. They want to be entertained.
The way we make movies most certainly must change. In the best of circumstances, we are a crew of 75 people jammed into a room with very little ventilation, holding our breath until we hear “CUT”. We are in close contact with one another all day long. We never really thought about it before. All of that is about to change. Film sets usually function as big families, and moving forward, that family unit will take on a stronger, protective meaning. This is how we self-regulate in the post-pandemic era.
Most crews working on projects that went down during the pandemic were given a week, sometimes two weeks’ worth of pay, but that’s hardly enough to get us through the next few months. Huge donations from Netflix and the Academy (among others) have filled the tills of the Actors Fund and Motion Picture Television Fund, offering assistance to crew in times of need. The UK has the Covid-19 Film and TV Emergency Relief Fund. We still have to pay the rent or the mortgage.
Everyone will find their own way to cope in this vacuum. Many of us may go into debt. But there is good news: the development pipeline is bursting with new projects. Virtual writers’ rooms are up and running for new shows. The moment we are allowed to go back to work (and many surmise at this point that it will be late July or August), the industry is going to explode with business. This is where it gets complicated.
All of those shows that were in mid-production at the shutdown? Their sets are still set up on those soundstages that are now going to be in high demand by new projects. The actors working on those shows? They have commitments already booked for July and August that will require shuffling, in order to complete the old project that was shuttered. The feeling across the industry is one of cooperation – we are all in this together, and we will work with each other to get ourselves back on our feet. The film industry loves nothing more than a good comeback.
Harder to penetrate may be the insurance market for new projects. In order to shoot a film or TV show, production insurance is required – you need proof of this to secure locations, to hire talent, and to be bonded. At the moment, insurers are writing policies with exclusions for Covid-19 or pandemic claims. Studio projects will have little trouble buying out the exclusion. Independents will find it cost-prohibitive. The insurance market is going to need the same cohesion and cooperation we are seeing in development and production. Any hesitation in this sector will delay recovery. We need to work together.
Finally, the existential question – the one that has plagued Hollywood for the past three years – the discussion no one wants to have. Is a film still a film if it doesn’t play in a theatre? How do we define a “film”? Is it its method of exhibition that makes it so? Or is it its format and content: 120 minutes of narrative? In the absence of theatrical release, because cinemas are closed, films are being fast-tracked to VOD or streaming. Does that make it less than a film? What will happen at awards season, if we are not allowed to congregate to watch these films on the big screen? Would they not be considered films? Would they not be nominated for Oscars? The pandemic is forcing this discussion, one that has taken too long to resolve.
Our method of distributing content has changed fundamentally. If our industry is to boom again, we need to get on the same page in the way we think about film, and content in general. Now is the time to embrace the change the pandemic has brought us. Here is an opportunity to redefine who and what the industry is, and the quicker it can be done, the better off it will be. The business is built on passion, and that is pandemic-proof.
No, the film biz is not dead. Not by a long shot. It is merely getting ready for its closeup.
