Global production support – your say

[Murray AshtonParticipant]

We would like to hear from you about how you are managing in these difficult times and your thoughts about the current situation. When and how do you see the production industry gearing up again and what is your government doing to help support Film & TV production businesses and your freelancer community?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Murray

Murray Ashton
Founder

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[Avinash ShankarParticipant]

Hi Murray,
All film production has been suspended across India from March 18 and the entire country is currently under a total lockdown until April 14. Only essential services are permitted to operate during this period.
While there is no specific assistance being provided to the film and television industry or freelancers, the government has permitted banks to offer a 3 month moratorium on loans and also taken measures to infuse liquidity into the system to facilitate credit to businesses. The central bank has reduced the repo rate by 75 basis point which should bring down interest rates.
It’s anybody’s guess exactly when production will resume in India, but the forced breaks offers a good opportunity for all production companies to analyse their operations and business models and prepare for the changed economic environment of the next 12-18 months.
Clients are already reviewing their marketing plans and while quite a few will postpone or cut their advertising spends, some others will increase their spends. For e.g. e-learning platforms have already increased their advertising during this lockdown.
Once the lockdown is lifted, there will be an initial surge in filming as everyone whose shoots were suspended or postponed will try to make up for out time.
The real test will be in the months that follow.
Best regards,
Avinash
http://www.stratumfilms.com

[Ivy ManoharaParticipant]

Very well articulated by Avinash about our status in India due to the Covid-19 crisis.
I would like to add that this is an opportune time for filmmaker clients to do some bit of their pre-production planning wrt Locations by way of online discussions, exchange of pictures, videos and relevant information for their future projects. We are always willing to service online requests now. Infact it would give a fair amount of preparedness once the lockdown lifts.

However, the filmmakers are strangely quiet. Hope that changes soon
Regards,
Ivy Manohara
India
http://www.filmapia.com/

[Guilad KahnParticipant]

Hi Murray,
The situation of our industry in Singapore is pretty bad. Everything has stopped and with the way the business is built (90% of local productions orders by and handled by a single government owned company), assistance is pretty non existent.
They released 2 stimulus packages for our industry, both a joke that doesn’t affect us at all.

The first was a training package where you would get paid $7.50 SGD (later raised to $10 SGD) an hour if you choose to do some government courses. Yes these sums are in Singapore dollars, and no I didn’t miss a 0…
The second was a bit more promising with $1,000 a month for 9 month, but once the T&C came out, we all realised that almost nobody qualifies for it as you need to be of extremely poor means and income prior to the Covid19 outbreak.
No stimulus for SME’s or %95 working freelancers.

I’m not sure what will be left of our industry when this is all over, but I’m sure it’ll look very different, and not in a good way.

Luckily a lot of my business is based on foreign productions, and these will come back at some point, but nobody knows when, how and with what budgets…

Good luck everyone!

[Murray AshtonParticipant]

We would also like to know if any production / production service and support businesses or individual production folk are volunteering their help at this time.

In the UK, film industry support companies SPOTTLESS 20 and AUTOTRAK have both offered their drivers to get food to people in quarantine in London and Oxfordshire. PEASNELL POWER are putting their trucks to work and helping people self isolating with the following announcement:

Evening all We have had a lot of work pushed back so with our free time we would like to offer anyone who is vulnerable that needs food to contact us. We have refrigerated vehicles that can help deliver food to you. We can also deliver either kerosene or red diesel to fill your tanks to heat anyone’s house who is in need.

Keep up the great work guys!

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Daniele Antonini.

[Bruno CanaleParticipant]

Hello Murray

PERU

Here in Peru we have been in lockdown since the 16th of March. Tentative end date is April 13th. The lockdown is police/military control of the streets. Everybody has to stay at home except one person per family who can go grocery shopping/banking.

Al industries are on halt except food, banking, insurance, and other basic services. There are no flights or inter-state traveling.

For the production industry it is very tough times as most crew lives project to project. Government actions do not really apply as they’re based on payroll systems and low income support. There are no actions for the film/commercial industry, so we have to see how all the different vendors come out of this!

All our team is on home office right now, indefinitely.

The quarantine actions are very tough so we hope that helps on the long run. We’re still below 1000 covid-19 cases.

Good luck to all and be safe!

Bruno Canale
APU Productions
http://www.filmingperu.com

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Bruno Canale.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Bruno Canale.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Bruno Canale.

[Maria Teresa GaviriaParticipant]

Colombia began national quarantine last tuesday, and Cartagena, where our main office is located, began friday before that. All projects were suspended indefinitely since it all started.

The industry is still waiting for the government to provide specific support. As of now general supports have been given to freelancers through a tax rebate system. For companies, the government has banned massive lay offs, and has offered to open payroll loans, with a % of the loan covered by the government.

Our company specifically immediately focused on lowering monthly expenses (suspending several services), and requested a discount on office space, which was approved for 50%. Since we are all on the same boat, everyone in the chain has been willing to make adjustments.

I suspect (and hope) that when we overcome this, there will be no ¨same normal¨. I believe services will re activate, and will depend more on foreign crews and their production scopes, much less traveling.

[Sara RossiParticipant]

Hola! In Costa Rica we are on lock down since March 16th. The Government requests not to travel unless it is strictly necessary. From March 18th to April 12th, there will be border restrictions by sea, air and land, allowing only the entry of Costa Ricans and residents. It is important to take into consideration that Costa Ricans or residents who enter Costa Rica during the mentioned period, must be quarantined.
The Treasury Department, foreseeing the negative impact on the economy and commerce of this situation, has committed to enforce a deferral on the payment of taxes, specifically on Income Tax, Value Added Tax and customs duties, at least for a period of three months, period which may be extended. This deferral implies that tax returns must be filed ordinarily, but may be paid by taxpayers until December 31st, 2020 without surcharges or fines. The President will request that the social security contributions be made proportional to the time actually worked and also consider the deferred payment of social security contributions. The aforementioned will protect the employment of those companies that maintain their payroll.
Other actions that the Executive Power has proposed as a priority, is the instruction to the commercial banks of the State to readjust the loans of debtors of the most affected sectors, including a possible deferral on the payment of the principal and/or the interest for three extendable months.
For freelancers there is no assistance in place so far, so all our local crews and their families are in distress. The jobs we were pre producing at the beginning of March have been placed on hold.
The clear urgency of this moment is omnipresent, while our beautiful nature is thriving, unphased by our issues.

[Luis LagoParticipant]

In Cuba we have confirmed 167 cases of people infected with the Corona Virus.
The government has taken measures to prevent the spread of the disease, such as closing airports, closing schools, although quarantine is not a complete closure.
We can make filming with a crew of maximum 50 people and taking all national measures such as mask and antibacterial gel for all who participate.
Since this pandemic began, two projects have been canceled and one has been postponed indefinitely.
We are very excited about a possible project that will be filmed remotely (still to be confirmed).

[Justin BirdParticipant]

We recently sent out the below email for Brazil. The situation changes constantly. Right now the country is in general lockdown, but we are bidding jobs for mid to end of April, which is when we anticipate to see a reduction in the current lockdown. This can obviously change and we will update as we progress.
————————————————————
While there are restrictions in place, our teams are following Brazilian government guidance for safe working conditions, and we are providing research, budgeting, location/talent samples as normal.

▪ Private locations and studios – there are no government imposed restrictions
▪ Permitting for public locations in large cities – these are currently restricted
▪ Crew and equipment – available *
▪ Talent/casting – available *
▪ Remote Production – experienced local crews available. Previous remote productions include Anglo American, Avon, Disney, Economist, Garnier, HSBC, IBM, NEC, Unilever.

* The safety and well being of crew and talent is a priority. The Brazilian government and local union have provided strict guidelines for health and safety which we follow. Crew/talent availability could obviously be affected due to the virus.

Despite the challenges and global effects of Covid-19 we want you to know that we are working and available should you require local support in Brazil.

Wishing everyone good health and a safe return to work soon.

Justin Bird
jbird@utopiafilms.com
http://www.utopiafilms.com

[Paola ToapantaParticipant]

The situation in Ecuador started to change production wise by the middle of march, all the productions shot down in entertainment and advertising. Sadly we don’t have any government support as industry in these times. As is around the world film crews are freelancers and from one day to the other got jobless but there are no grants specially designed for our industry. What the government did for the whole population was to freeze or refinance the bank loans and ask the banks to do the same with credit card debts. Business owners are looking in a way of paying half salaries during the lockdown that it seems is going to be extended to april 15th, when the first resolution was until april 5th.

Production companies are working from home, mostly in advertising and daily shows. The use of stock footage has increase a lot and there are no film sets running. For the future I see a abrupt comeback rather than a slow coming back, this because everyone is desperate to make projects an be able to have a paycheck.
We’re looking forward to work with our clients again soon.

Regards,
Paola Toapanta
URBANO FILMS
ECUADOR
http://www.urbanofilms.com

[Mariano CukarParticipant]

Hi, in Argentina we have a similar situation than almost all Latin American countries. We have been in lockdown since march 19th and so far it will last until april 13th.
All productions have been stopped. Only people working at essential areas (health, police, food, press) are allowed to be on the streets, and you need to get an online authorization for that. For all the rest, we can go to supermarkets or shops near your house (only food shops, veterinaries and hardware stores are open and only one person from each family is allowed)
There are no flights or inter-state traveling.
There is no specific assistance being provided to the film and television industry or freelancers so far but the goverment is giving a small salary to those on the lower scale of incomings.
Today, march 31st, we have 960 declared cases and 25 death people.

[Jose Ignacio ParisParticipant]

Hello form LCA Productions Costa Rica
Yellow Alert -Coronavirus, from March 17 to April 4th
Flights:
Only Costa Ricans and residents may enter the country. It applies for sea, air and Land.
Only commerce and supplies crews are exempt.
Isolation for 14 day mandatory Costa Ricans and residents entering the country.
-Public places that require permits form the Ministry of Health:
-Restriction to operate at 50%: Theater, cinemas, restaurants, food courts, cafeterias, public service offices with customers.
-Closure of :
-Gymnasiums and swimming pools close.
-Closure to the public of all the beaches in the country.
-Closure of all religious temples and cults.
-Private vehicles will be fined for driving from 10pm to 5am.
-However there are still many mobile food services for the public, restaurants, short stay accommodation, markets, shopping centers and private family events in multipurpose rooms or events rooms.
Will keep you up to date in the next days, keep safe and healthy. Stay home and enjoy time with you love ones.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Jose Ignacio Paris.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Daniele Antonini.

[Michael MoffettParticipant]

We’re keeping up with the evolving demands of producers here at PSN. They’re anxious to know where cameras are rolling now and where else live action filming will recover the soonest. So we published a page with that up-to-date info here:

Pandemic Production Status

The same page features a number of industry media articles and a PSN blog shining a spotlight on remote film production.

Inevitably, the cameras will be rolling before travel restrictions are lifted. Our Partners from Thailand to the UK, Spain to Mexico have all executed productions where clients, and even directors, have only been on set virtually.

We’re all keeping safe and gearing up for a post-pandemic world where travel restrictions can reduce our carbon footprint without reducing all the benefits of shooting abroad.

Stay healthy, be healthy and work together folks!

[B boforParticipant]

Hello Murray ,
Thanks for asking , I am doing great thanks God . Wish you the same and you are safe during this difficult time .
Regarding your question here in Morocco the entire film production been suspended across the country from the beginning of Marsh and everything is postponed thru August at least… if not next year (we don’t know )
The lockdown reign over Morocco and only some potential services are permitted to operate during this period.
While there is no specific assistance being provided to film production companies .
Only the government offered a 3 months paid salary to the employee in tourism , F&B .. Etc
We never expected this kind of thing to be happening so now it’s time to reconsider the way we work and to be able to analyse our operations and business models and prepare for the changed economic environment of the next coming year
Well that’s more or less the situation in Morocco

[Author]

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