COVID-19 PRODUCTION SAFETY GUIDELINES
**Please remember that each shoot is unique, and these are intended to be general guidelines for moving forward.**
EXPOSURE REDUCTION
MORRIS CREATIVE LLC and crew responsibilities:
- Incorporate pertinent COVID-19 considerations into daily safety meeting. Multiple meetings may be required if staggering start times.
- Monitor country, state and local ordinances for disease control and implement local and national regulations before and during production.
- Provide alcohol-based hand sanitizer with a minimum of 60% alcohol (self-dispensing when possible).
- Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all personnel that don’t provide their own.
- Encourage people to supply their own PPE, especially if they have specific preferences.
- Set up work stations and locations for proper distancing (i.e. implement 6 feet markings on floors where personnel need to line up, or proper seating to congregate for meals).
- Designate pathways as one-way when possible.
- Store and stock adequate supply of all required PPE.
- Consider shifting work day start and end times to avoid rush hour commutes, congestion in elevators, lobbies and studio common areas.
All Personnel responsibilities:
- All personnel should familiarize themselves with the current Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 information.
- Self-monitor for signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and report to your department head if you are sick or experiencing symptoms.
- Avoid touching your mouth, eyes, and nose.
- Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Utilize PPE, including but not limited to masks that cover the nose and mouth, face shields, goggles, gloves, finger cots, etc. as needed or required.
- Replace PPE as necessary.
- Dispose, clean, or store PPE properly.
- Limit physical presence to essential personnel.
- Maintain good ventilation. Keep windows and doors open when possible, but open at least periodically to cycle the air.
- Maintain social distance of a minimum of 6 feet whenever possible.
- Masks should be worn in the presence of others and absolutely required when 6 foot social distance is not possible.
- Maintain personal hygiene and follow CDC advice (e.g. sneeze or cough into elbow or tissue).
SURFACE TRANSMISSION MITIGATION
MORRIS CREATIVE LLC and crew responsibilities:
- Ensure that proper sanitary measures are being taken by the departments and corresponding equipment and space, with the assistance of the producer, department heads and managers.
- Designate individual(s) for overall housekeeping.
- Post signage to remind people to wash their hands.
- Designate area to receive deliveries outside vs. inside office / motorhome and publicly post sanitary policies clearly for messengers and deliveries.
- Provide appropriate disinfectant supplies to all personnel.
All Personnel responsibilities:
- Maintain regular housekeeping practices in your immediate area, including routine cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces, equipment, and other parts of the work environment.
- Use appropriate disinfectant to avoid damaging surfaces.
REDUCE COMMONPLACE TOUCHPOINTS
MORRIS CREATIVE LLC and crew responsibilities:
- Where possible, limit employees who can access different areas.
- Assign tasks to specific individuals when possible (e.g. one person turns studio lights on/off).
- Provide specific office supplies, such as pens (and have individuals label and keep them).
- Clean and sanitize all surfaces including high touch areas (fixtures, light switches, appliance handles, and buttons, etc.) on arrival and departure of staff and clients.
- Ensure adequate stock of paper and plastic products exists (toilet paper, paper towels, etc.).
- Eliminate self-serve areas in the kitchen (includes coffee).
- Do not provide snack bowls or unpackaged goods.
- Do not provide fruit that isn’t individually wrapped.
- Do not provide shared platters (charcuterie, cheese and crackers, etc).
- Stagger group meals to allow for social distancing guidelines.
- All Personnel responsibilities:
- Do not share cell phones, tablets, or computers.
- Park and move your own car.
- Use personal/reusable water bottles (clearly labeled with owner’s name), dishes, and flatware when sanitary conditions for use can be maintained. Otherwise, use ecologically friendly single use flatware, plates, and cups.
- Use contactless payment whenever possible.
ASSISTANTS, GRIPS, GAFFERS, PAs
- Wear appropriate PPE for the duration of person-to-person contact.
- Crews will be limited to the minimum number of personnel necessary.
- All equipment will be wiped down before and after set with with the disinfecting cleaning solution.
- Crew will observe a predetermined plan for who will handle which pieces of equipment.
HANDLING OF EQUIPMENT
- Assign work tools to individuals or have them use their own tools whenever possible.
- Require individuals to sanitize their own equipment, and the equipment they’re responsible for handling.
- Limit the number of people who handle certain materials and/or equipment.
- Check gear in a separate space to avoid cross contamination, when possible.
- Avoid direct handoffs (one person puts an item down, another person picks it up without proper sanitization).
- Do not allow for shared walkie talkies.
- Sanitize replacement batteries in between uses. No one should carry replacement batteries for others on their belt.
CASTING
- Consider remote casting sessions and callbacks.
- Schedule in-person auditions and callbacks further apart to accommodate social distance.
- Require that talent honor their specified appointment time.
- Distribute scripts digitally.
- Check in talent from outside the casting office.
- Sign talent in and out digitally if possible, otherwise assign one individual to do so.
- Minimize the number of personnel working with talent.
- Simulate props by utilizing a talent’s personal items (phone, etc).
- Include wardrobe specs in the breakdown to increase the likelihood of being able to use the talent’s personal wardrobe.
- Consider backups for each role when making final cast selections.
CATERING/CRAFT SERVICES
- Wear PPE at all times when preparing or handling food.
- Stagger meals times when possible.
- Serve food from individual boxes.
- Provide plenty of tables and seating (outdoors when possible) to allow for social distance.
- Provide only single-serve packaged condiments.
- Provide individual, prepackaged portioned snacks and other food items.
- Refill reusable water bottles without person-to-person contact, and without contact between bottle and dispenser.
- Wash hands before entering the catering or craft service area.
- Craft service may not cook or prepare food.
- Assign one person to distribute drinks.
HAIR & MAKEUP STYLISTS
- Wear appropriate PPE for the duration of person-to-person contact.
- Provide space between make-up stations or provide a partition in between.
- Use single-use brushes and applicators if proper disinfectant cannot be guaranteed.
- Disinfect equipment in between uses.
- Mix foundation, powders, lipstick, etc. on a separate clean palette for each individual.
- Clean hairbrushes and combs with appropriate disinfecting solution.
- Have talent wear a mask when possible (e.g. while having their eyes or hair done).
- Only remove the actor’s PPE when essential.
- Once made up, actors may consider a face shield (as opposed to a mask) to not disturb completed make-up.
- Make-up Artist or Hairstylist may handle the placing / removing of face shields on the actor (if the actor prefers).
- Consider having the actor show up having done their own hair or make-up (but not without conferring with Hair or Make-Up Artist first).
WARDROBE STYLISTS
- Wear appropriate PPE for the duration of person-to-person contact.
- Wear PPE when preparing the wardrobe.
- Plan wardrobe ahead of shopping / pulling from rental houses.
- Use PPE when looking through garments in rental houses and retail stores.
- Anticipate delays at rental houses and retail stores.
- Review current retail return and exchange policies.
- Get talent sizes as early as possible.
- Encourage remote alternatives to stages for selecting wardrobe.
- Stagger talent appointments for fittings.
- Sanitize jewelry and glasses with appropriate, non-damaging cleaning solutions.
- Consider having talent arrive in their own wardrobe, as much as possible.
- Assign one person to take fitting photos.
- Costumes and outfits should be bagged up individually, by performer.
- Seek permission from Clients to allow actors to keep purchased wardrobe.
SOUND DEPARTMENT
- PPE must be worn for the duration of person-to-person contact.
- Disinfect Lav mics and transmitters before and after each use.
- Replace Lav mounting components that can not be thoroughly cleaned.
- Consider utilizing boom-only audio (as opposed to rigging Lav mics).
CLIENT MONITORING
- Encourage the use of a remote video village whenever possible.
- Locate the physical video village in a designated area that is only accessed by the client / agency team.
- Provide for audio feedback between video village and set.
- Set up chairs 6 feet apart (when a physical video village is required).
- Consider plastic chairs and other easily cleaned furnishings.