Pandemic Preferential Treatment for Hollywood – Culture and the Arts

In a sunny Los Angeles parking lot, the camera moves between two white canopy tents, both filled with numerous tables. Soon a tent will be filled with cast and crews taking a break from work on an NBCUniversal production. The other, an outdoor dining area for Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill, will remain empty due to state restrictions on coronaviruses. In a social media video that went viral, the owner of the saloon, Angela Marsden, lamented the unfairness of the situation, which illustrates why many other Californians are also upset.

On December 3, as the number of COVID-19 cases increased in the state, Governor Gavin Newsom announced home orders for any region that had less than 15 percent of its intensive care beds open. Orders closed not only bars and restaurants, but also playgrounds and barber shops in 11 areas of California labeled purple, including Los Angeles.

The rules limit gatherings of unrelated households and deem restaurants and bars non-essential, so restaurateurs such as Marsden can’t even offer a socially distant patio service. But the state sees the entertainment industry as essential, according to regulations Newsom published in the spring.

Tell me it’s dangerous Marsden said, gesturing to his tent and crying. But right next to me, like a slap, sure? Everything I own has been taken away from me and they’ve set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio. Marsden said she spent $ 80,000 to set up the alfresco dining room and adjust to COVID-19 restrictions, but couldn’t afford to offer only take-out food.

In November, Newsom granted the entertainment industry another special exemption from the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for purple-level counties. Public frustration increased when a coronavirus test site in the Los Angeles Union Station building closed and 500 appointments had to be rescheduled due to the Miramax movie being filmed there. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti stepped in to reopen the test site and filming continued. FilmLA spokesperson Philip Sokoloski called the Union Station debacle simply a communication glitch.

Momita Sengupta, a Netflix executive, said The Hollywood Reporter that film sets follow strict safety protocols: we are not a bar where everyone sits without masks.

Netflix and other entertainment companies also have much larger budgets for lobbying and campaign donations than smaller companies like Pineapple Hill. Six major production studios (Comcast-NBCUniversal, Walt Disney Co., Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures) and their employees donated around $ 800,000 to California elected officials and their campaigns, The Intercept reported.

The studios have also sent lobbyists to California politicians to defend the industry during the pandemic. The disclosures show Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, and the Motion Picture Association have spent tens of thousands of dollars lobbying state officials for favorable essential labor rules. Paramount Pictures alone spent at least $ 85,000.

California churches recently found favor in court by making a similar argument over unequal treatment. After the Supreme Court said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had unconstitutionally treated places of worship harsher than businesses, a California superior court followed suit and blocked the application of similar restrictions against congregations.

Some restaurants flout Newsoms rules. In Corona del Mar, a town in Purple Orange County, Rosa Rodriquez, manager of Mexican restaurant El Ranchito, told me her business has fallen 60% since last year. The restaurant allows customers to eat take out on the patio. The nearby Five Crowns restaurant has set up a giant tent in its parking lot for outside guests.

Rodriguez said every restaurant she’s seen in Orange County allows alfresco dining, and she’s happy. It sounds like a double standard that people in the cinema continue to uphold, but restaurants are closing and workers are losing their jobs and their insurance, she said. I want everyone to stay safe, but it’s not right.

Marsdens’ online complaints have garnered support from the community. A GoFundMe campaign to support his business raised more than $ 208,000 on Tuesday morning. On Twitter, she encouraged its followers to share the love and support other local businesses and restaurateurs, too.