Written by Shona Smith on Jul 8, 2020. Posted in General Interest

Travel corridors and quarantine exemptions to help restart international filming

International production hubs are included on the list of quarantine exempt countries. From July 10, visitors and UK residents arriving in England from these countries will not have to self-isolate. Although the US is not included on the list, essential cast and crew have been exempted from quarantine in order to allow incoming productions based in the UK to get cameras rolling again.

Air bridges between England and low risk countries where coronavirus is under control and the full list currently covers seventy-six countries. Visitors, or UK citizens arriving in England from quarantine exempt countries will not have to self-isolate for fourteen days from July 10. The current list covers many international production hotspots. European hubs Hungary, the Czech Republic, France, Spain and Italy are on the list. Globally travellers arriving from Vietnam, South Korea, Australia and Japan. The air bridge system allows greater flexibility for international production for incoming productions and overseas on location shoots. However, not all countries have implemented reciprocal exemptions so quarantine or testing may be necessary in some destinations and research must be done for leaving the UK.

Crucially, the US is not on the list. However, special exemptions will be made for cast and crew coming to work on film and high-end television productions and studio/production executives overseeing operations. Exempted production members will be able to work immediately whilst isolating in a production ‘bubble’ for fourteen days. The bubble will include only their place of accommodation and production location and only applies to filming in England.

Mission Impossible - Fallout

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said “We want the industry to bounce back and exempting small numbers of essential cast and crew from quarantine is part of our continued commitment to getting cameras rolling safely again”. The Batman, Fantastic Beasts 3, Jurassic World: Dominion and Mission Impossible 7 have been granted exemptions.

British Film Commission chief executive Adrian Wootton says that “the immensely welcome news is a clear recognition of the importance of film and high-end TV inward investment sector to the UK’s economy.

In 2019, international investment in film and high-end television reached 1.3 billion, the highest number since records began. Incoming productions supported by the tax relief system are met with world-class skills, talent, technical expertise and studio space.

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