In the midst of the pandemic, another side effect of the coronavirus is affecting the industry: numerous series and film productions have been accelerated, delayed or even suspended.
NBCUniversal, for example, has 35 shows currently in production, such as “Chicago Med,” “Chicago P.D.,” “Chicago Fire,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “New Amsterdam,” and “The Kelly Clarkson Show”, to name a few. Where possible, the company is pausing production for two weeks as a precautionary measure, and in some cases accelerating plans to wrap up physical production, across all Universal Television, UCP, Universal Television Alternative Studios and First Run Syndication series, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.
Similar measures were taken for shows such as “The Flash” (The CW), “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC), “Carnival Row” (Amazon), “Grace and Frankie” (Netflix), “The Morning Show” (Apple), “Foundation” (Apple), “Riverdale” (Warner Bros), “Survivor” (CBS), and “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (Disney), among others.
Furthermore, late-night shows in New York City almost uniformly announced that they were suspending tapings with live studio audiences until further notice. These include some of USA's most successful shows, such as "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” y “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC); “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS); “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO); “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” (Comedy Central), etc.
In the film industry, the trend is the same. The list of delayed productions includes titles such as "No Time To Die" (MGM), "A Quiet Place Part II" (Paramount Pictures), “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” (Sony), "Fast and Furious 9" (Universal), "The Lovebirds" (Paramount), "Blue Story" (Paramount), "Mulan" (Disney), "The New Mutants" (Disney), and "Bros" (Universal), among others.
● MEDIA COMPANIES KEEP REACTING TO COVID-19
Companies around the world continue to take preventive measures to deal with the pandemic. Netflix, for example, recently shutted down one of its LA offices after an employee was believed to have contracted coronavirus, Variety informed. All Los Angeles employees were advised to leave and begin working from home. The building where the potential coronavirus patient worked is now undergoing a deep cleaning.
Meanwhile, BBC announced it could suspend some of its services in the face of coronavirus. Speaking to parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Tony Hall, General Director of the Company, said that though the broadcaster is “intent on keeping absolutely everything open,” some service could be ruled “out of action”. And he added: “We have to make sure our news services keep transmitting on television and on radio, and we are making sure we’ve got every eventuality covered".
So far, Covid-19 has generated more than 135,000 cases of contagion in more than a hundred countries around the world, the vast majority (about 81,000) in China, where the disease was originated and more than 3,170 people died from this cause. The total number of worldwide fatalities already exceeds 5,000.
Related News
