The coronavirus has undoubtedly changed every aspect of life, including how we work and behave. As businesses open up across the world, they are functioning much different than they were before, struggling to maintain coronavirus safety guidelines and finding unique ways to run their businesses that are sadly more expensive.
This is no different for Hollywood, with the Los Angeles Times predicting that, under safety guidelines, movies may cost an additional one million dollars to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The paper cited that additional production costs will stem from the hiring of new personal like health and safety experts, among other crew members, stating, “Studios and production companies will have to hire additional personnel, such as health and safety experts and sanitation crews.”
The L.A. Times additionally cites new social distancing guidelines that will change production schedules, with movies taking longer to film with staggered shifts. “On top of that, staggered shifts for crew, meant to minimize the number of people on set, could stretch what would normally be an eight-week shooting schedule to as many as 10 weeks,” the paper concluded.
This will have a large effect on the industry, but how large of an effect remains be seen. It is very likely that fewer movies will be made than before, with Hollywood also facing consistent revenue drops on a yearly basis at the box office.