Hollywood workers and crew prepare for Fallout – Variety

Hollywood is grappling with a new reality.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, film and television production has stopped, cinemas and cinemas have closed, and premieres and red carpet concerts have been canceled or postponed indefinitely. These sudden movements have resulted in layoffs and many workers are looking to an uncertain future, in which they will not have a regular pay check.

"Everyone is in shock," said Lia Towers, a key location assistant manager who worked on a TV show in Atlanta who chose to end his season early. "We don't know when things will start again."

The entertainment industry conjures up an image in popular imagination as a playground for the wealthy and the beautiful. The reality is that some people who run the business, assistants who answer calls in agencies with handles hanging on a sound stage, live paycheck in paycheck. Many of these workers are not in paid employment. They are part of a gig economy, forcing them to jump from a TV or feature film to production as they strive to stay ahead of them invoices. This made them particularly vulnerable to the near-complete halt in the construction industry.

"I'm not going to have an income," said Matthew Walsh, who worked as an assistant to a television director before production stopped. "I'm going to have to apply for unemployment. It might be enough to pay my rent and buy food, but utilities and all those other things will have to come out of my savings. "

It is a crisis that extends from batches of studios to multiplexes, leaving almost all sections of the business affected. Some employees could barely make ends meet before the coronavirus caused the global economy to plummet. Emma Clinch is a New York-based actress. To pay the bills, she works as a bailiff for "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" at the Lyric Theater on Broadway. Initially Clinch and colleagues weren't too concerned about the spread of the virus. They were convinced that the theater could somehow support the headlines of the pandemic and that if they just ensured that stricter cleaning protocols were applied, the marquee lights would stay on throughout the crisis. . That changed last week when the news announced that the usher of the Booth and the Brooks Atkinson Theater was positive for the virus.

"From that moment on, it seemed like COVID-19 had become very real for New York City," said Clinch. "My colleagues shared my anxiety, but we all knew that it was not a fear of getting coronavirus, it was financial. "How am I going to make the rent this month?" Has become as common as "hello" in 24 hours. Either way, we all knew it was our last show in a while. "

Broadway went dark on Thursday. If the virus disappears, performances will start the week of April 13, 2020. But that leaves Clinch and his fellow bailiffs unsure of how they will pay their bills. In the past, she worked as a barista or dog walker, but she thinks these jobs will be scarce as New York struggles to wait for the pandemic.

"The theater community is really resilient and really smart because money is difficult even on a good day," said Clinch. "But it's something different. This is something where New York State or the federal government needs to step in and help. "

People who sell tickets and popcorn at movie theaters across the country face similar challenges. An hour before the start of his shift at Yonkers Alamo Drafthouse, Joel Valentin received the message that the theaters were closed due to a coronavirus. Valentin was informed that he had been put on leave and that he could claim unemployment benefits.

"I haven't saved much," said Valentin. “I speak with my landlord to see what type of solution is possible. I canceled all of my subscriptions – my gym, Spotify, Netflix. "

The shutdown also created headaches for the independent film world. Festivals such as SXSW and Tribeca have been canceled, screenings for potential film buyers have been cut, and the cameras have stopped rolling. While the industry remains in limbo, some producers are turning to the scripts they can format and the productions they can prepare for when life returns to normal.

"It hits everyone hard, but I'm trying to be optimistic," said Eric B. Fleischman, producer of "Sleight" and CEO of Defiant Studios. "I hope that once things pick up, there will be a lot of pent-up demand and business will pick up."

Other companies are trying to find new sources of income. David Garcia, a director and producer who runs an independent production company called Between Pictures LLC, hopes to get back to work by making web content or working for local news shows.

"I'm trying to pivot," said Garcia. "We have no choice. We have to hide and try to make things happen."

Towers says she is one of the luckiest. She made a lot of money and put it aside. But she worries about other team members, like production assistants, who have no financial cushion. Towers hopes unions and guilds can find a way to extend financial assistance.

"The sad part is that it will be the people in this industry who do the least who will be hit the hardest," she said. "That's why I worry."