TV General : "Bridgerton" and Game of Thrones prequel temporarily shut down filming

"Bridgerton" and Game of Thrones prequel temporarily shut down filming

“Freedom Day has turned into closure day.”

So lamented Andrew Lloyd Webber as he revealed on Monday — the very day that all remaining lockdown restrictions were lifted across England — that he was shuttering his West End musical Cinderella after a castmember tested positive for COVID-19. The theater impresario pulled no punches in laying the blame squarely at the feet of the British government, which he said created the “impossible conditions” that forced him to indefinitely close the show on the eve of its official opening.

With infection rates soaring across the country due to the highly contagious delta variant of the virus, the decision to remove the final set of lockdown restrictions, mostly affecting social gatherings, while also making mask-wearing voluntary, has been a deeply contentious one — praised by elements of the conservative media (which followed the government’s line in dubbing it “Freedom Day”), but heavily criticized by the scientific community in the U.K. and around the globe.
As it happens, the U.K. becoming one of the world’s leading hotspots for the most virulent strain of COVID-19 has coincided with it also becoming one of the world’s leading film and TV hotspots. After already enjoying a pre-pandemic boom thanks to a healthy tax credits system, major investments from studios and streamers, and a strong dollar against the pound, the added bottleneck that arose due to the lockdown in 2020 and subsequent rising demand for content has seen production levels skyrocket. “I haven’t seen it this busy in my entire career,” one film producer tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Shooting on the second season of Netflix’ hit period drama Bridgerton halted for a second time recently following a positive COVID-19 test and has reportedly paused indefinitely while the streamer and producer, Shondaland, create a timetable for return. Netflix’s feature-length musical adaptation of Matilda with Working Title was also disrupted following a coronavirus outbreak, with the first filming unit forced to stop work and isolate. And then there’s HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, shooting across several stages at Warner Bros. Leavesdon, which shut down for two days on Monday after a production member tested positive.

But these are merely the shoots known about. According to another filmmaker, for every production that creates a headline, “there are another two or three that shut down and don’t become news.”

While Netflix is known to have strict COVID-19 procedures in place and carries out proactive testing on its series — which is why it has already identified cases and acted accordingly — others are less vigilant. THR has heard reports of one British feature film where the DoP and camera crew became infected after refusing to wear masks on set.

“On too many productions, COVID supervisors are not listened to and their advice is ignored,” says veteran Brit producer Jonathan Weissler of Balagan Production. “Quite often these supervisors are relatively junior production people who now have this job title but no actual authority. When a director or DoP refuses to wear masks, what message does that pass on to the rest of the crew?”

Weissler also suggests that many productions “cover up” their COVID problems, simply plugging gaps with crew, only for more people to become infected the next day.

But with COVID delays now written into insurance policies, such corner cutting could affect any compensation that might be due when a production is hit.

“If they don’t stick to [the guidelines], they might lose the compensation they get when production is delayed, and they are sort of incentivized to stick to those,” says Enders Analysis COO and director of TV Gill Hind. “If you are not actually sticking to the guidelines, you probably lose that compensation.”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/covid-uk-production-film-tv-bridgeton-house-of-dragon-1234985081/

Re: "Bridgerton" and Game of Thrones prequel temporarily shut down filming

Bridgerton was such a trashy soap opera outfitted in lush costuming and sets. It's basically a bodice-ripper in film format. I'm not heartbroken. Although fun to watch in a "don't really care what happens" fashion, I'm not particularly anxious for Season 2.

Re: "Bridgerton" and Game of Thrones prequel temporarily shut down filming

Freedom Day is the biggest mistake Boris has ever made. Nah. He's made a lot.
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