The various sectors linked to audiovisual production in the territory defined their security measures to begin filming content again in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico; within the framework of the “new normal”.
Same as in Europe and Asia, where filming of audiovisual projects has been gradually resumed, at this time in Latin American countries the various sectors linked to production are preparing their protocols in order to reactivate the sector in the “new normal”.
Thus, at the level of TV channels, production houses and audiovisual-related associations and unions -as well as at the level of government and health authorities- health security protocols are defined in the framework of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this sense, Uruguay was the first country in Latin America to present a protocol to restart filming at both advertising, film and TV levels.
In addition, in Chile protocols are being analyzed jointly between the private sectors, unions and the Government. In the case of companies, protocols such as Secuoya Chile have already been activated.
“We have managed to get certain areas that can work from home, such as video editors. The rest of the workers keep working at the facilities,” Marian Martín, director of Secuoya Chile, said to ttvnews.
“We had to put in place a rigorous protocol. We follow protocols that were already being implemented in Secuoya Spain, which made us anticipate some things and establish the models that had been recognized as very important in Spain,” the executive said.
In the case of Movistar, who plans to restart the filming for its original fiction in Chile, Joana Lombardi, director of Fiction for Latin America, told ttvnews: “We are putting together the protocols and budgeting. We are seeing all the changes that we are going to have to make in order to film. There are many steps to take. All producers are at it. We are already analyzing several that have appeared in the US and Spain to see what is the best way to adapt.”
Meanwhile in Argentina, both the Argentine Chamber of Independent Producers (Capit) and the Argentine Chamber of SME Producers (Capa) have already publicly presented their protocols.
“As soon as the pandemic happened and quarantine was declared in almost all the countries where we work, our attitude was very proactive. Immediately we began to develop our own work protocols and to propose them to the different unions and unions and government entities so that they approve us for eventually the day it is possible to return to work. Thus, we already have protocols in Argentina,” Gabriel Brandy, director of Nippur Media and president of La Capa, told ttvnews.
“Also in Mexico the chamber [of Independent Producers of Audiovisual Media, Pima] is in negotiations with the Ministry of Health. In short, they are all similar. To see what is the best way to get back to work. We did not wait. We start the protocols. Governments give you a general framework that must then be adapted to each of the places,” said Brandy.
In Mexico, Televisa Studios has developed a manual for this “new normal”, where strict security measures are established for fiction recordings that will have a “green light” shortly.
The so-called “Operational Manual and Prevention and Health Measures” aims to “generate efficient and responsible logistics, with strict safety and health protocols, in order to minimize risks of contagion in recordings and installations.”
In this sense, the manual includes guidelines «for all the phases and areas involved in a production», that is: «Preparation of Forums and Locations, Technical Area, Post Production, Direction, Talent, Props, Clothing, Makeup and Characterization, Extras , Catering, Transport, Security ».
Meanwhile, although as previously mentioned, TV channels in Latin American countries have had to implement security measures since the start of the pandemic, at the level of independent producers, protocols are being defined in countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil; where drafts are already circulating.
That is the case of FoxTelecolombia, for example, where, as ttvnews learned, there is already a security and hygiene protocol, but the approval of The Walt Disney Company Latin America still remains.
In Brazil, the sector’s entities are preparing to present a protocol for the next few days.
For Simoni de Mendonça, president of the Union of the Audiovisual Industry of the State of São Paulo (SIAESP), the return needs to be “safe, viable and responsible, and having as its focus, the protection of professionals”.
And in the US, the audiovisual production industry prepares its procedure manuals along with the competent authorities at the State level, as is the case of the Miami Association of Entertainment Producers.
“Little by little we have been returning. In Miami we have nine studios. We have an inspection protocol, we have masks, hygiene products, we take the temperature when we enter, we are maintaining a totally safe dynamic,” said to ttvnews Lliam Hernández, President and CEO of Universal Cinergia.
The dubbing and subtitling company also has studios in Brazil.
«In Brazil, most of them are working remotely because in the facilities we cannot have anyone. There is a Union there and we have to follow the laws,” added the executive.
Regarding the company’s operations in Mexico, Hernández confirms that they are working with strict security rules. “We started on Monday [June 1] to work in Cuernavaca and in Mexico City we are working with a maximum of 10 people within the facilities,” he concluded.
