A Few Thoughts on the Entertainment Industry and the Pandemic

I’ve talked some about the world’s present situation on this blog – News Satire Roundup, #IStayHomeFor statements, reviews of things that were produced and/or made available to the public for free during this time, etc. – but I haven’t talked too directly about many of my thoughts related to COVID-19, social distancing, and the crisis itself. Personally, I’m in a very fortunate position, because I live in a state that’s still seeing comparatively low numbers of confirmed cases (although we’ve seen a rise in recent weeks,) and I’m lucky to have a job that allows me to work from home. I know that many are dealing with far worse than I am in a variety of things, but I’m still having a hard time. I’m moderately germophobic, and I use zero hyperbole when I say that we’re now living in my worst nightmare. Right now, I’m just trying to stay grateful for my privilege and continute to hold it together.

But now that we’ve all been dealing with this for some time (my state’s stay-at-home order has been in place for over a month,) I’m feeling like talking about it more, at least in the context of pop culture/stories, which is the focus of this blog. Obviously, TV shows and movies halting production, plays getting canceled, etc., are far from the top of the list of things to worry about at the moment. I know, and I spend plenty of time these days thinking about the many chilling/devastating aspects of the pandemic. But I love stories in all types of media, and this is something I’m thinking about too. Today, I want to look at more of the practical nuts and bolts of the matter.

The first effects I saw of COVID-19 on the entertainment industry were news stories of TV shows halting production – first here and there, temporarily because someone on set was exposed, then more and more putting things on hold until further notice. The same began happening with movies, and then all of Broadway shut down. That shook me. Even though I don’t live in New York, I love New York and Broadway, and I felt for all those shows that were going dark even as I applauded them to taking a responsible step to keep their companies and audiences safe. Next came interruptions to movie openings, with many blockbusters postponing their releases and select titles going straight to VOD; in particular, the MCU’s interconnectedness meant pushing Marvel’s entire slate back when Black Widow got postponed. And now, those halted TV productions have been catching up with us more, as shows have gone on hiatus to give teams more time to edit from home and some season endings are left dangling.

Before long, there won’t be much filmed before the pandemic that we haven’t seen. The smart money says we’re in for a long road ahead, with multiple rounds of heavier social distancing between periods of lighter restrictions. I have my doubts that the entertainment industry will be sitting out that whole time – plenty of people there will want to get back to work too, and I’m sure producers are hoping to have something to sell to make up for some of their losses from earlier in the year. I think TV will be especially anxious to get back to it, since TV is a lot of what’s keeping people going right now. If we figure we’re going to be homebound again in a matter of months, I imagine networks would like to have something to offer that captive audience.

But how? As states reach phase 1/2/whatever of gradual reopening plans, what does film, TV, and theatre work look like in a society that’s only partially open? I imagine there are certain safeguards that can be put in place to maintain more distance behind the camera/stage, although it will take ingenuity, extra time, and a lot of dedication and hard work on everyone’s part to keep everyone relatively safe. Writers’ rooms might remain vitual for a while, to reduce the number of people congregating.

The bigger question, though, is what it’s going to look like on camera or onstage. Honestly, I don’t even know about theatre. Unless companies change their blocking for an entire show, how can there be any distance between the performers? How do you maintain safety in that type of setting? It’s more possible with movies and TV, since they’d be dealing with material that hasn’t already been “frozen,” but it’ll be interesting to see how much social distancing makes it onscreen. Will directors place actors further apart, using camera work to imply proximity rather than create it? Will writers minimize kissing scenes, up-close-and-personal fight scenes, crowd scenes? Will anyone shoot on location, or will they stay on a studio set where it’s more contained? When productions are up and running again, what will they look like?

When it comes to outside circumstances shaping the writing, I also wonder about TV show arcs. Shows may be back shooting for a couple months and then shut down again, the cycle repeating until the crisis can finally be put to bed. Will that create a tendency toward a more episodic narrative? If you shut down in the middle of an important arc, viewers are left hanging for who knows how long, but if you shut down in the middle of a self-contained episode, you have less hinging on what comes next.

Finally, I wonder about my place in all this as an audience member, thinking about cinemas and live theatre. I lost the chance to see some of the new releases I’d wanted to watch in theaters for March, and I’d had tickets for three different live shows this spring that have gotten canceled, although two are hoping to reschedule the performances for a later date. But there’s the rub – when will that later date be, and will I be ready to set foot inside a theatre again? I could see theatres wanting to get rolling again as soon as they get the green light (again, wanting to mitigate some of their earlier losses,) but I can’t see myself sauntering into a crowded theatre for quite some time yet. Same with movie theaters. When the next big movie is able to come out, would I go see it? I don’t think I could handle an open night, even at “half capacity” or whatever. I might manage some weekday-morning showings on days when I’m not working, anything to minimize the number of people around me, but I doubt I could brave concessions, and it’s iffy on whether I’d even work up the nerve to touch the buttons to recline my seat.

A lot of unanswered questions ahead. I know that the entertainment industry is home to a lot of people and resourceful people, so I can imagine they’ll rise to the occasion and meet the challenge head on, provided they’re given the space and resources to do so. I wish them well, but I want them to know, as much as I’ll be missing new movies/episodes/live shows in the days ahead, I don’t want them more than I want the people making them to be safe.