6/8/2020 by Etan Vlessing for The Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood cast and creative will still be required to quarantine for two weeks when crossing the border, slowing the return of the major studios and streamers for new or restarted production.
Film and television productions in British Columbia has a greenlight to restart a couple months after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered local shoots for Netflix, Warner Bros. and other Hollywood studios and streamers.
“Employers can now prepare to restart production activity,” the B.C. Provincial Film Commission at CreativeB.C. said in a statement on Friday. The go ahead follows WorkSafeBC, another government agency charged with reducing the risk of serious injuries on local movie sets, including by stunt performers, issuing Health & Safety Protocols to guide the industry’s reopening with minimum standards.
Film and TV producers will be expected to develop their own workplace safety plans and use the WorkSafeBC protocols as a possible template. CreativeB.C. added no government authorization was required for new or returning production by Canadian and foreign producers to take place.
“The motion picture industry in B.C. was never ordered to shut down, however, all employers carefully restarting activity must be in compliance with provincial health officer orders, notices an guidance, and must develop and implement their own COVID-19 safety plans,” the agency stated.
The B.C. production sector has long been dominated by Hollywood film and TV shoots. Local U.S. TV series shoots in and around Vancouver that were suspended in mid-March included the 15th season of Supernatural, the fifth season of Van Helsing, and the first seasons of Resident Aliens and The Astronauts.
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