After the COVID-19 pandemic forced Hollywood and the rest of the world to a standstill in mid-March, the entertainment industry is still seeking its return to normalcy.
Although California restarted issuing shooting permits in mid-June, filmmakers first had to adjust to a new normal that includes considerable new safety protocols and workflows that allow for as much socially distant filming and remote work as possible.
Initially, the productions allowed to go on were either short shoots with minimal crew, classified as essential (as in the case of educational film shoots), or commercial shoots, which had been exempt from many of the safety protocols required of bigger productions. (They’ve adopted more rigorous testing as cases surge.)