The producers of various Sky Studios TV productions like “Britannia” and “A Discovery Of Witches” are adopting a strategy that we may see more of in years to come.
Speaking at a virtual Broadcasting Press Guild lunch on Wednesday, Sky Studios CEO Gary Davey says producers are putting in place contingency plans if shoots have to shut down again.
Both those aforementioned shows will be back in production by the end of September with the new plans in place – namely ‘exit routes’ are being written into scripts in case shows have to wrap early again. He says:
“In order to be cautious about whether or not there is a second wave of COVID, it’s been a really interesting exercise to rethink the editorial of a lot of the shows, especially the bigger shows.
So, for example, we have re-thought the number of episodes and had a good look at the editorial to figure out that, if there were a crisis, is there a way of rounding the story up early.
So if it’s a ten-episode production, is there a way of managing the script in such a way that – if you had to – could you get out after six [episodes].”
Sky has drawn up a 55-page ‘bible’ of safety protocols and is working on the assumption that shows will have to shoot through further coronavirus spikes. Principles of reduced sets, groupings, distancing, and testing will ell be employed.
Costs of production will increase due to more shoot days, but are somewhat offset by savings made from reducing crew numbers.
Source: Deadline
