Showbiz Sandbox

Showbiz Sandbox


Showbiz Sandbox 493: Rebooting Film and TV Production Won’t Be Easy

May 12, 2020

When most of the global entertainment industry shut down in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it wasn’t just movie theaters, concert halls and amusement parks that were affected. The sudden lockdown forced film and television productions of all kinds to be suspended, no matter what stage they were in. What has yet to be determined is how to start filming new shows and movies while keeping cast and crew safe.
Questions remain over everything from how to shoot love scenes moving forward, whether cast and crew should sequester themselves during production to how often everyone on set should be tested to how meal breaks should be handled. There are concerns over every aspect of a production, including craft services.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including an increase in cord-cutting among cable subscribers, why a major Hollywood talent agency is struggling to survive the industry’s lockdown and how the Fox network is making their upcoming television season coronavirus-proof.

Germany Gives Green Light For Bundesliga Soccer Season To Restart On May 16
https://deadline.com/2020/05/germany-budesliga-restart-may-angela-merkel-1202927339/
Hollywood CEOs “Sacrifice” Base Pay, Yet Keep Big Bonuses
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-ceos-sacrifice-base-pay-keep-big-bonuses-1293435
AMC Theatres’ Stock Soars on Amazon Acquisition Speculation
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/amc-entertainment-amazon-acquisition-stock-1234603290/
Colson Whitehead Wins Second Fiction Pulitzer, Ben Moser’s ‘Sontag’ Wins for Biography
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-05-04/pulitzer-prize-book-winners-colson-whitehead-ben-moser
WME Looking At Black Monday: 20% Of Employees Will Be Laid Off, Furloughed Or Cut To Part Time
https://deadline.com/2020/05/wme-layoffs-monday-20-percent-staff-1202922043/
Sinclair Broadcast Group To Pay $48 Million Penalty To Close FCC Investigations
https://deadline.com/2020/05/sinclair-broadcast-group-fcc-fines-tribune-media-1202928035/
Pay TV Subscriber Losses Hit Record Amid Pandemic, Virtual Services “Implode”
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pay-tv-subscriber-losses-record-pandemic-virtual-services-implode-1293904
Fox Sets Corona-Proof Fall 2020 Schedule
https://deadline.com/2020/05/fox-fall-2020-schedule-new-shows-las-finest-the-masked-singer-corona-proof-schedule-filthy-rich-next-1202930903/
Little Richard, Flamboyant Wild Man of Rock ’n’ Roll, Dies at 87