(https://www.mediapolisjournal.

com/)

A JOURNAL OF CITIES AND CULTURE

BY HELEN MORGAN PARMETT & IPEK A. ÇELIK RAPPAS

(HTTPS://WWW.MEDIAPOLISJOURNAL.COM/AUTHOR/HELENIPEK/) / OCTOBER 23, 2020

INSIDE OR OUT, HERE OR

ELSEWHERE? FILMING LOCATIONS
IN PANDEMIC TIMES

C
ovid-19 has made a fundamental impact on the way lm and television production happens. By
mid-March 2020, major studios closed down the production and delayed the release of
blockbusters such as Mulan, The Batman, and the new James Bond movie No Time to Die,
gearing their future plans to digital release(https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51763893). Despite Net ix’s
declaration that production shutdown would not impact its release schedule until later in 2020,
projects like Stranger Things 4 and The Witcher came to a
halt(https://www.indiewire.com/feature/coronavirus-cancellations-hollywood-entertainment-covid19-1202215596/).
Yet, as audience movements and entertainments outside of the house have been unprecedentedly
restricted worldwide—from which Net ix pro ted by adding 16 million new global
subscribers(https://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-and-chill-net ix-adds-a-cool-16m-subscribers-2020-4) in the
rst three months of 2020, doubling its predicted quarterly growth—the need for fresh screen
productions grows. Despite the will to be cautious and safe, lm and TV industry workers look for
opportunities to go back to work and leave behind a period that Variety names “Hollywood’s Great
Depression(https://variety.com/2020/biz/features/hollywood-coronavirus-entertainment-industry-unemployment-
jobs-1234592106/),” as large numbers of freelance entertainment personnel found themselves
unemployed during the pandemic.

Media workers’ job precarity has emerged not only from production
lockdowns but also from the shifting geography of production. The The pandemic has
pandemic has impacted what gets shot where and how. As Michael impacted what gets
Curtin explained in his groundbreaking 2003 essay, “global media shot where and how
capitals” such as Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, and London
served as “meeting places where local speci city arises out of migration, interaction, and exchange,”
creating transnational ows of media content, and complex production practices and cultures.1
(#footnote_plugin_reference_8069_1) But
lm and television production are no longer tethered to the global
media capitals Curtin studied. Rather, the media industries have become increasingly mobile, with
“producers continually tracking shifts in incentive structures and local infrastructure to determine the
most ef cient way to produce.”2(#footnote_plugin_reference_8069_2) However, with many international
borders closed and mobility severely restricted, even within individual countries, that freedom of
movement—which to be fair, has always been a privilege of more nancially resourced productions—is
now limited. The current safety risks involved in production have thrown up a new complex spatiality
and territorialization as it pertains to the locations of lm production.

What will this mean for an industry that depends on these transnational ows, for reasons both
nancial (in order to minimize production costs by taking advantage of tax breaks and lax labor laws)
and creative (in order to appropriately “place” content to drive storytelling and characterization)? It is
too early to answer this question in any conclusive way, particularly when it comes to long-term
effects. However, as we approach ten months since the start of the outbreak in Wuhan, China, the
short-term effects of the virus on the spatiality of lm and television industries and production are
starting to become clearer. Perhaps most evident is the major effect that Covid has had on-location
lming, especially when it comes to the mobility of productions.

Where to Produce during the Pandemic? Consequences on US Cities and States

At the beginning of the pandemic’s spread in US cities in March 2020, Hollywood was slow to react.
Most companies(https://www.indiewire.com/2020/03/coronavirus-hollywood- lm-tv-productions-continued-
1202217485/) were waiting for city of cials and lm of ces to put a halt to production. Production
centers like Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles continued to issue permits. Since the crews also did
not know when their next project and paycheck would come in this increasingly precarious
environment, they took the risk to continue. A New York City producer
stated(https://www.indiewire.com/2020/03/coronavirus-hollywood- lm-tv-productions-continued-1202217485/),
“Studios are waiting for the Mayor’s Of ce to shut us down. Our only hope is if they stop issuing
permits, or the mayor or governor taking far more radical steps to shut down the city.” A major reason
behind production companies’ anticipation of city permit retractions or shutdowns was to get the
opportunity to “invoke(https://www.indiewire.com/2020/03/coronavirus-hollywood- lm-tv-productions-continued-
1202217485/) the concept of force majeure with insurers” and claim coverage for their losses and extra
costs caused by delayed production.
 Covid-19 Compliance Of cers in Tyler Perry Studios, Atlanta. Variety, August 13, 2020.
https://variety.com/2020/tv/features/Covid-compliance-of cers-production-position-
pandemic-1234729303/

Though eventually productions ground to a halt in March, a number of blockbuster

lms(https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53090349) (Avatar 2, Jurassic World: Dominion, Mission
Impossible 7, The Little Mermaid, The Batman) and television
series(https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/08/what-shows-are-in-production-coronavirus) (S.W.A.T., The
Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless) resumed production over the summer. Perhaps the
hardest hit media capitals in the U.S. are Los Angeles and New York. Although New York had extremely
high Covid infection rates early on in the pandemic, their numbers have recently dropped off. While the
city declared in mid-July that 100 productions could resume in New
York(https://bedfordandbowery.com/2020/08/as- lming-resumes-in-nyc-its-lights-camera-action/), even in mid-
August companies and crews have been hesitant to start production. This was partly due to the extent
of action scenes that take place in the city and require large numbers of extras as well as the crews’
reluctance in this political moment to glorify NYPD(https://bedfordandbowery.com/2020/08/as- lming-
resumes-in-nyc-its-lights-camera-action/) in police shows such as Law & Order and Blue Bloods. Furthermore,
the devastating experience the city faced at the height of its pandemic spike has made residents
cautious. Los Angeles initially seemed to be weathering the pandemic well when New York was spiking,
but the summer months turned against California, which now, in addition to rising Covid numbers, is
suffering its worst forest res on record. Production in the city has since started and
stopped(https://www.marketplace.org/2020/09/10/tv- lm-production-ramping-up-covid-restrictions/) several times.
Especially for TV series with large crews, the fact that production resumes is never a guarantee that it
will continue without interruption. CBS’s soap The Bold and the Beautiful resumed production in
Television City Studios in LA in July, only to be shut down again(https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/the-bold-
and-the-beautiful-production-paused-coronavirus-tests-1234640886/) in a week due to a Covid case alert.

The effect of Covid on less central production centers, such as

Even worse than Boston(https://www.wbur.org/artery/2020/07/21/massachusetts- lm-
pre-Covid times, production-covid-19), Massachusetts or
states engulfed in Tampa(https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/entertainment/2020/09/18/the-
the pandemic are pandemic-hurt-the-local- lm-industry-can-horror-help/), Florida is even more
pitted against one brutal. Both cities had banner years for production in 2019, but are in
another in a dire straits this year, with no clear picture of when lming might ramp
competition for up again. Yet, some hope there is potential for more far- ung cities
fewer and fewer from the world’s production centers to become burgeoning
productions lmmaking places amidst the pandemic. Ravenna, Nebraska, for
example, is the site of a Covid-themed
lm(https://nebraska.tv/news/local/coronavirus-rom-com-set-in-la-is- lmed-in-nebraska) called “#MyCarona.”
Though the lm was originally set in Los Angeles, the lmmaker Kirk Zeller opted for the safety and
nancial bene ts of Ravenna, arguing “the New York’s and L.A.’s of the world are too expensive,” and
he’s since lobbied state leaders to “seize the moment and create rebates to draw lmmaking.” Even
worse than pre-Covid times, states engulfed in the pandemic are pitted against one another in a
competition for fewer and fewer productions. As production in the US is still relatively slim and has
only just started to gear up this fall, it is hard to tell which media cities will ultimately emerge
victorious.

Although the return on investment of attracting major Hollywood productions to peripheral or

regional production centers was already pretty poor, the pandemic makes those returns even murkier.3
(#footnote_plugin_reference_8069_3) On the one hand, production promises to bring some jobs, which in a
moment of almost unprecedented national unemployment is surely not to be overlooked. Those
potential jobs are not only limited to working on the production, but also the other jobs and industries
that supply(https://www.wbur.org/artery/2020/07/21/massachusetts- lm-production-covid-19) the production. On
the other hand, however, the harder to trace economic and immaterial gains that states claim from
their generous tax incentives, such as crew spending money and interacting with the community,4
(#footnote_plugin_reference_8069_4) are extraordinarily limited(https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/how-
supernatural- lmed-during-covid-19-1234772638/) under the restrictions on movement, gathering, and
interacting. Even beyond the restrictions that states and municipalities themselves impose, most
productions aim to create production “bubbles” and “pods” that severely limit the crew’s interactions
with the wider community, not to mention the concerns(https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-
arts/business/story/2020-07-17/hollywoods-revival-post-pandemic-hit-roadblocks) that have been raised by
residents over the presence of production in their neighborhoods. Ultimately, in light of the massive tax
incentives that states pay out to big productions in hopes of economic gains, it is hard not to argue the
states are better off using those funds to directly support their citizens, many of whom are seeing
record unemployment and dwindling federal unemployment relief, major gaps in educational funding
(particularly as schools require massive new spending to either reopen safely or support remote
learning), lack of access to affordable child care as parents are forced to return to work, and numerous
other gaps in the social welfare system.

The Move Towards International Locations

While both crew members and location residents are

wary(https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/covid-19-safety-production-restart- More and more US
1234773389/) of the forced choices between money and safety, productions have
producers have added navigating Covid-related health and nancial started looking
risks to their location decision calculus. This is especially the case internationally, and
when it comes to productions set to take place in the US, where productions that
access to testing is limited. Moreover, infection rates in the US are were set to film in
extremely high compared to most other countries in the world that the US have sought
can handle major productions. More and more US productions have international
started looking internationally, and productions that were set to lm locations instead
in the US have sought international
locations(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/business/media/coronavirus-jurassic-world-dominion.html?
referringSource=articleShare) instead. For example, Solstice
Studios(https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/22/coronavirus-ben-af eck- lm-moves-shooting-to-canada-as-hollywood-
abandons-us.html) was set to begin production in Los Angeles in April on a new lm starring Ben Af eck,
but as production started to gear up again, they decided it was neither safe nor possible to produce in
LA due to the rising numbers and lack of testing capability. After pursuing a possible shooting location
in Austin, Texas, which subsequently had similar problems to LA, the producers ultimately decided to
lm in Vancouver, Canada.

Things have not been all rosy when it comes to productions moving to international locations with
fewer cases and more access to testing, either. Canada, in particular, has been hesitant to green-light
productions with a primarily US-based crew. Although there have been noted concerns on the risk of
infection spread, Canada recently opened its borders to production, as lm has been deemed an
important nancial asset (particularly for major production hubs like
Vancouver(https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/how-supernatural- lmed-during-covid-19-1234772638/)). But the
sticking point with US-based production is the twice-per-week testing mandate set
forth(https://www.sagaftra.org/ les/sa_documents/ProductionSafetyGuidelines_June2020EditedP.pdf) by union and
guild backed productions. For Vancouver, which has a small infection rate, of cials believe the mandate
creates an unnecessary burden on the testing system. Debates over testing halted what Hollywood
hoped would be one of their earliest returns to production in Vancouver, when the production of the
TV series, The Good Doctor(https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/08/what-shows-are-in-production-
coronavirus), stalled over a failure to come to an agreement over these guidelines. Ultimately, Canadian
authorities settled with the studios, unions, and trades to work out production-by-production
guidelines and to allow the testing protocol to proceed(https://deadline.com/2020/08/vancouver-production-
to-restart-british-columbia-unions-reach-agreements-us-studios-sony-pictures-tv-disney-tv-studios-the-good-doctor-a-
million-little-things-mighty-ducks-1203014249/) with The Good Doctor after a spike in cases in British
Columbia. However, it is notable that while production in Canada is revving up, restrictions on
pandemic insurance favor existing productions(https://variety.com/2020/ lm/global/coronavirus-global- lm-tv-
production-restarting-complete-guide-part-1-1234757713/), rather than new ones.

Producer Jon Landau’s Instagram post from Avatar 2’s set in Wellington, New Zealand.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy8BIZJqzx/

In addition to Canada, other international sites(https://variety.com/2020/ lm/asia/thailand-unveils- lm-tv-

production-protocols-coronavirus-1234774628/) starting up production again include Thailand, Iceland,
China, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. But, like Canada, each of these countries also has its
own unique impact from Covid, with countries like New Zealand, for example, having little effect at all,
in part due to its strong border restrictions. And those strong restrictions have had an effect on the
industry, limiting border exemptions(https://variety.com/2020/ lm/asia/thailand-unveils- lm-tv-production-
protocols-coronavirus-1234774628/) only “to those involved with large-scale productions injecting
signi cant money and jobs into the country.” China, on the other hand, is engaged in little to no co-
production, focusing instead on national production, in part due to the contemporary political climate
and its own national interests. The UK, on the other hand, was
criticized(https://www.theguardian.com/ lm/2020/jun/01/new- lm-production-covid-uk-industry) for favoring the
rebooting of US lm and high-end TV productions over its domestic industry by creating a
“Coronovirus support loophole(https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/02/coronavirus-support-loophole-
uk- lm-tv-staff-without-pay-mps)” when their guidelines for production did not underwrite the insurance
risk of Covid. This issue has been addressed by the French
government(https://www.screendaily.com/news/french-government-announces-fund-for-delayed-
shoots/5149634.article), which promised to compensate pandemic-related delays in national productions
as early as May and was nally resolved in the UK with new guidelines prepared mid-
September(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ lm-tv-production-restart-scheme/ lm-tv-production-restart-
scheme-draft-rules).

Navigating through the Covid Production Guidelines

Either in international locations or in US cities, producers now have to

Either in work through a complex patchwork of national, state, city, lm
international institution and/or union safety guidelines, leading to a complicated
locations or in US system to navigate to resume production. In the US, the unions and
cities, producers guilds that make up the bulk of Hollywood-based production,
now have to work including the Directors Guild, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and the
through a complex International Brotherhood of Teamsters, released “The Safe Way
patchwork of
national, state, city,
film institution
and/or union safety
guidelines, leading
to a complicated
system to navigate
to resume
production
Forward(https://www.sagaftra.org/ les/sa_documents/ProductionSafetyGuidelines_June2020EditedP.pdf)” in mid-
June. These safety guidelines for productions include mandatory testing of people involved in
production at least twice weekly, PPE, and department-speci c procedures. On top of these guidelines,
productions must navigate each state and city’s Covid mandates. Those mandates often come with
state-speci c guidelines(https://www.wrapbook.com/covid-19- lm-production-guidelines-by-state/) for
production as well, although, like those in Georgia(https://www.georgia.org/covid19 lmguide) and New York,
the guidelines are often “recommended” rather than required.

The “non-binding” nature of some of these guidelines speaks to the careful line states are walking to
mitigate risk and promote safety while maximizing economic potential. Of course, this is evident in all
industries, but because a number of US states (as well as international sites) have long been working to
lure Hollywood productions, they have a direct stake in restarting production, lest productions decide
to pick up and go elsewhere with the promise of fewer cases and fewer guidelines. This is a kind of
Catch-22 for the states, who must demonstrate to producers that there are few enough cases to make
shooting safe and that they have enough testing capacity, while also not imposing too many restrictions
on top of what “Safe Way Forward” already mandates.

The Move Towards Studios and Digitization

An additional challenge for media cities is the existence or lack of infrastructure—that is, large,  modern
studios that allow distancing, air ventilation, and minimal interaction with the public. When it comes to
the question of locations, Covid safety guidelines favor studio-based rather than on-location
production. Primarily, this is because studios are controlled environments. As “Safe Way Forward” and
other guidelines mandate minimal interaction with the public, outdoor on-location shoots that put the
crew in contact with passers-by represent a greater risk. Indoor on-location shoots also pose the risk of
being uncontrolled environments, where productions will struggle to meet air-ventilation
requirements(https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/coronavirus-will-change-how- lm-sets-operate-four-experts-
explain.html), as well as stringent cleaning requirements since those spaces will be harder to limit access
to. As a result, cities with relatively well-built production infrastructure seem to be ahead, with
numerous studios in Atlanta, including Tyler Perry
Studios(https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/08/what-shows-are-in-production-coronavirus) and Trilith
Studios(https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/coronavirus-will-change-how- lm-sets-operate-four-experts-explain.html)
(formerly Pinewood Atlanta), restarting production.
Guidelines also underline that when the shooting needs to be done
on-location, producers should make sure there is enough space for Guidelines also
physical distancing, prioritize locations that can be locked off from underline that when
public access, clean high-touch areas, and minimize crowd and street the shooting needs
scenes. Location shooting will also suffer because of the to be done on-
recommendations that most location scouting take place virtually. location, producers
The guidelines suggest location scouts use digital scouting or should make sure
photographs rather than knocking on doors. Although most there is enough
guidelines do not mandate this—since it is space for physical
distancing, prioritize
locations that can be
locked off from
public access, clean
high-touch areas,
and minimize crowd
and street scenes
acknowledged( le:///Users/hxmorgan/Desktop/research%20and%20writing%20projects%20in%20progress/covid%20mediapolis/-
-SIGNIFICANCE%20OF%20IN%20PERSON%20%20https:/www.opportunitylouisiana.com/docs/default-source/default-
document-library/louisiana-entertainment- lm-covid19-guidelines-july2020.pdf) location scouting is a tactile job
that requires the scout to get a sense of “being in the space” to determine shooting capability—Safe
Way Forward and state and municipal guidelines strongly
recommend(https://variety.com/2020/biz/news/new-york-state-media-production-guidelines-1234648622/)
minimizing(https://www.sagaftra.org/ les/sa_documents/ProductionSafetyGuidelines_June2020EditedP.pdf) on-site
scouting as much as possible. This will likely mean productions will prioritize lming in places they have
already scouted, or shooting in studios rather than on-location. Location managers
report(https://www.indiewire.com/2020/03/coronavirus-hollywood- lm-tv-productions-continued-1202217485/) they
have trouble nding shooting locations, as people are either afraid of accommodating large crews or
simply do not have the personnel for the upkeep of their facilities. As showrunner Michelle King
notes(https://variety.com/2020/ lm/news/coronavirus-spike-hollywood-back-to-work-plans-1234695168/), “Nobody
wants us on the street…We’re having to write toward lming on our sets, but then every health
provider can agree on only a few things, and that’s that you don’t want to be indoors with a lot of
people for long periods of time — which is lming on a stage. It really is a conundrum.” Moreover,
recommendations(https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/coronavirus-will-change-how- lm-sets-operate-four-experts-
explain.html) also call for limiting locations altogether, as well as limiting characters (even calling for using
characters who are already related to each other and/or in a “pod”) to minimize the potential for
contamination and spread.

LED stage production technology created by

Industrial Light and Magic’s Stagecraft for
Star Wars: The Mandalorian. CNBC,
September 3, 2020.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/03/coronavirus-
mandalorian-tech-key-to-jump-start- lm-
production.html

Another area of consideration is the use of technology and digitalization. A director of

commercials(https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53435415) based in London explains how he directs an
advertisement lmed in South Korea while he is in Ukraine and his clients watch the work from the US.
Undoubtedly, technology will play a major role in Covid media productions, as guidelines encourage
crews to turn to digital technology whenever possible to minimize contact. This contact also means
contact with the city itself, and productions are already turning to technology as a way to simulate
cities they are not lming in. Although the practice of substituting one city for another is common in
lm and TV production—Vancouver being a prime example 5(#footnote_plugin_reference_8069_5) of a city
that frequently stands in for every place and no place—sophisticated LED Screen
technology(https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/03/coronavirus-mandalorian-tech-key-to-jump-start- lm-production.html)
increasingly makes it possible for productions to create realistic and compelling city images. Before
Covid, Solstice Studios CEO Mark Gill suggests these technologies were used largely to simulate
“locations that you can’t travel to without a rocket ship,” but, with Covid, they are likely to be “used a lot
more for locations that you could travel to…you might be on a sound stage in Vancouver and recreate
central London.” Although these technologies are expensive, the drive to restart production may make
studios think they are increasingly worthwhile, particularly as they trade off with travel expenses in the
long run.

What Gets Produced during the Pandemic

The costs of Covid safety measures make it extraordinarily dif cult for all but big budget productions
to resume production. This has meant that the crews that have restarted work tend not to be local to
the place in which they are lming, but rather Hollywood transplants who take up residence during the
shoot. The kind of productions rst getting the go-
ahead(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/business/media/coronavirus-jurassic-world-dominion.html?
referringSource=articleShare) to restart are the least risky blockbusters—especially those with a dedicated
fanbase. Franchise lms like Jurassic World: Dominion, lming in London, and Avatar 2, in New
Zealand, were some of the rst to restart production. In terms of narrative, these lms construct a kind
of “other-worldliness,” bringing comfort in their familiarity, but also a distraction from our own
pandemic reality, as they gesture toward outer space or a place in which dinosaurs roam. Speaking to
our desire for an escape to locations untouched by the pandemic—undestroyed pre-historic or
futuristic natures away from public spaces and crowded cities—Avatar’s producers themselves escape
to the safety of New Zealand’s landscape while Jurassic World is created in the controlled environment
of Pinewood Studios.

Beyond these “safe” blockbusters, limits on the number of crew and extras as well as travel restrictions
may have the effect of reigniting local independent lm production. Dan
Mintz(https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/coronavirus-will-change-how- lm-sets-operate-four-experts-explain.html),
CEO of DMG Entertainment, “foresees independent lm blossoming during this time. Smaller crews,
intimate stories and a ‘scrappiness’ that isn’t often seen from the bigger players in the industry could
lead to an in ux in new voices in the lm industry.” Participants in the Women in Film & Video New
England’s(https://www.wbur.org/artery/2020/07/21/massachusetts- lm-production-covid-19) June webinar spoke
of similar hopes for how the pandemic might create a cultural shift in the industry with regards to race
and gender, as one participant claimed the “unparalleled uni cation around safety” made the industry
“ripe for a ‘revolution of culture change’ within lm,” although the participants were also wary the
revolutionary change could just as well go in the opposite direction of racial and gender justice. While
there is some hope Covid will foster the kinds of local, independent productions that foreground voices
long excluded by Hollywood, other independent producers are warier. Santa Fe-based independent
producers Carolyn and Steve Graham, for example, suggest(https://www.lcsun-
news.com/story/news/2020/09/07/new-mexico-covid- lm-the-penny-stop-production-pandemic/5736099002/) the
stringent Covid guidelines have made it too expensive to produce their independent lm The Penny,
arguing the safety measures alone would constitute 10% of their budget. 

Another practice that Covid lming guidelines portend is a potentially

Another practice more intimate genre of storytelling, in which stories are enclosed and
that Covid filming contained within a small number of particular spaces populated by
guidelines portend fewer and familiar crew members (couples or longtime
is a potentially more collaborators(https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53435415)), much like
intimate genre of our own, non- ctional Covid worlds. As sets are more likely to be
storytelling, in which “closed,” using the type of small crews that are often used when
stories are enclosed lming intimate scenes, and as guidelines encourage crews to divide
and contained within time on set into distinct working “pods,” performance and production
a small number of respond to these cultural shifts on set through embodying more
particular spaces intimacy. Such “intimate” narratives are often about the experience of
populated by fewer living through pandemic times, re ecting the con ict between being
and familiar crew “inside” and the desire for the “outwards.” For instance, Net ix
members (couples initiated a collection of short
or longtime lms(https://variety.com/2020/ lm/global/kristen-stewart-pablo-larrain-maggie-
collaborators), much gyllenhaal-paolo-sorrentino-net ix-homemade-1234646217/) titled
like our own, non- Homemade, featuring works that capture “the shared experience of
fictional Covid quarantine” by 17 lmmakers from around the world—including Pablo
worlds Larraín, Paolo Sorrentino, Nadine Labaki and Ana Lily Amirpour. The
directors were instructed to focus on their personal lives and
experiences and only use equipment found at their homes. Ezra Hurwitz’s short lm on the personal
experiences of the pandemic, Inside & Outwards(https://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/a33657381/ezra-
hurwitz-short- lm-pandemic/), was shot on a New York City apartment rooftop where home decor that
represents the quarantine experience of each actor were constructed on a movable and open structure
visible from multiple points of view. This location and decor represent our (and the crew members’)
con icting experience of being locked down and the desire to be outside, the need to be in a controlled
studio environment and a well-ventilated outdoor space, and being in the safety of “inside” while
experiencing the alienation of being “out of the loop” and unemployed.

Still from Ezra Hurwitz’s short lm Inside& Outwards. Elle Decor, September 10, 2020.
https://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/a33657381/ezra-hurwitz-short- lm-pandemic/

In the future, will productions keep escaping to open outdoor spaces in the search for less
contaminated locations, or will they be contained in studios? What will each of these alternatives mean
for the wider social and cultural geography of lm and television production and for screen narrative?
Will Covid-19 ultimately make production less mobile, and increasingly tied back to big studios? Will
Hollywood rise again as the production center it once was? These are questions for which, of course,
de nite answers are still too early to tell. What is clear, however, is that Covid-19, at least in the short
term, is reshaping and shifting the social and cultural geography of lm and television production, the
stories that are being told and the decision calculus by which producers, creators, and studios
determine what gets made, where, and how.  
Notes
1.(#footnote_plugin_tooCurtin, Michael. “Media Capital: Towards the Study of Spatial Flows.” International Journal of
Cultural Studies 6, no. 2 (2003): 205. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779030062004.
(https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779030062004.))
2.(#footnote_plugin_tooMcNutt, Myles. “Mobile Production: Spatialized Labor, Location Professionals, and the Expandi
Geography of Television Production.” Media Industries 2, no. 1 (2015): 65.
3.(#footnote_plugin_tooOn economic impacts of lm tax credits, see, for example, Button, Patrick. “Do Tax Incentives
Affect Business Location and Economic Development? Evidence from State Film Incentives.”
Regional Science and Urban Economics 77 (July 2019): 315–39.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2019.06.002(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2019.06.00
Thom, Michael. “Lights, Camera, but No Action? Tax and Economic Development Lessons From
State Motion Picture Incentive Programs.” The American Review of Public Administration 48, n
1 (January 2018): 33–51.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074016651958(https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074016651958).
4.(#footnote_plugin_tooMorgan Parmett, Helen. “Media as a Spatial Practice: Treme and the Production of the Media
Neighbourhood.” Continuum 28, no. 3 (May 4, 2014): 286–99.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2014.900878(https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2014.900878).
5.(#footnote_plugin_tooCoe, Neil M. “On Location: American Capital and the Local Labour Market in the Vancouver Film
Industry.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 24, no. 1 (March 2000): 79–94
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.00236(https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.00236).