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L.A. County Health Officials Issue New Guidelines For Film, Music & TV Productions (deadline.com)

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials have issued new guidelines for the reopening of film, music and television production. The new orders allow for shorter quarantine periods but require daily Covid-19 screenings, pre-employment testing and increased use of face coverings.

The amended Protocol for Music, Television and Film Production can be read here. The newly updated protocols are below.

• Daily screening before work
Screening of employees and visitors arriving to the worksite must include a check for whether the individual is currently under an isolation or quarantine order, not just asking about current symptoms.

By: David Robb

Continue Reading at deadline.com

Lights, camera, action in Alberta: Film industry readies for booming year (cbc.ca)

Alberta’s film and TV industry is gearing up for an unprecedented production season that promises jobs and a cash injection for the economy as major U.S. studios look north for locations due to COVID-19 slowdowns, says Damian Petti, local president of a union for film and stage technicians.

“The season ahead is something I’ve not seen before,” Petti told the Calgary Eyeopener on Friday.

“We’ve not seen this level of scouting and shows that are already greenlit in January — ever. I’ve been doing this 22 years and this is shaping up to be the most robust season ever.”

Petti, president of Local 212 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), says there are 19 projects in the works within Alberta, but even more are being scouted and greenlighted each day.

Continue Reading at cbc.ca

Want to Be a Hollywood Player? Covid and Streaming Have Changed All the Rules (wsj.com)

Streaming hit Hollywood fast. In its wake, the industry is racing to find a new way of doing business, rethinking who’s in charge, how contracts are set up and how stars get paid.

Studios are overturning their management ranks, empowering executives with backgrounds in business development, technology and strategy. Producers, filmmakers and actors such as Will Smith and Tom Hanks are trying to protect their interests in new contracts that aren’t built around ticket sales in movie theaters.

With most theaters in the U.S. closed and studios sitting on billions of dollars of unreleased movies, corporate parents see streaming as their best opportunity for growth. Last year’s domestic box-office revenues were just $2.28 billion, down from $11.4 billion in 2019, according to Comscore.

By: R.T. Watson

Continue Reading at wsj.com

FilmTT and Eastern Credit Union partner to support the industry (looptt.com)

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (FilmTT) is partnering with Eastern Credit Union (ECU) for the first-ever financial collaboration within the local film industry.

To highlight the magnitude of this relationship; FilmTT, exporTT and ECU are inviting film industry professionals to a free Zoom webinar on Tuesday, January 26 at 10 am.

This partnership was born when FilmTT and exporTT proposed that ECU come on board and lead the way in this paramount financial collaboration.

Eastern Credit Union, recognising the importance of the creative sector to the quality of life of all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, leapt at the opportunity to provide support to creative projects.

Continue Reading at looptt.com

TV Talk: Pittsburgh TV production bounces back; CMU grad stars in ‘Bridge and Tunnel’ (triblive.com)

Netflix’s horror series “Archive 81” has been filming in and around Pittsburgh since November and will be joined in a couple of weeks by another Netflix program, “The Chair.” Showtime’s “Rust” expects to film in March.

Beyond these three series, 2021 local big-budget TV/film production is in a holding pattern. All $70 million of Pennsylvania’s film tax credits for 2020-2021 have been claimed. (Hollywood productions invariably seek out filming locations that offer a tax incentive.)

Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer is waiting for the Pennsylvania legislature to re-authorize the state’s film tax credit program, often a political football, for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Pa. Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, will introduce legislation to increase the Pennsylvania film tax credit program cap from $70 million to $125 million annually. Bartolotta grew up in Southern California and has worked in the entertainment industry on camera (in Pittsburgh-filmed “The Fault in Our Stars”) and behind the scenes (she executive produced the 2014 indie movie “Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies,” filmed in Charleroi).

By: Rob Owen

Continue Reading at triblive.com