COVID-19 Protocols
Safety Training
- All crew must attend COVID safety training workshops and crew drills during pre-production. It is incumbent on all crew members to thoroughly study and practice these safety protocols in advance of production.
Casting & Rehearsals
- In-person auditions and callbacks are discouraged. If an in-person audition should take place, doing the audition outdoors is recommended, and face-covering and physical distancing rules must be observed.
- Casting local actors is encouraged, to reduce the risks and complications of bringing in people from outside of town.
- For rehearsals, face-covering and physical distancing rules must be observed for all involved. Actors are not to be closer than six-feet without a face covering during rehearsals.
- Students are encouraged to have more rehearsal time with actors, to minimize the amount of rehearsing during the production day.
Location Scouting
- Favor virtual scouting to minimize in-person scouting.
- Select known, controllable locations wherever possible.
- Report all in-person location scouts to the Head of Production in advance, including the address and the names of attendees.
- Treat locations as if they are infected and use PPE accordingly. Do not touch items native to the location while scouting.
- Have as much conversation outdoors as possible.
- Give special consideration to size and space when assessing a location. Assume that you’ll need twice the amount of space than normal to accommodate the additional safety protocols.
- Give special consideration to the ability to create a secure perimeter, so that there can be a controlled work area for the production.
- Assess: Is the location inhabited? Are any residents in a vulnerable category? Are any residents currently quarantined due to COVID exposure, posing a potential risk to cast and crew?
- Use digital copies of paperwork to acquire signatures.
Tech Scouting
- Report all tech scouts to the Head of Production in advance, including the address and the names of attendees.
- Treat locations as if they are infected and use PPE accordingly. Do not touch items native to the location while scouting unless absolutely necessary.
- Have as much conversation outdoors as possible.
- Try to maximize space and air flow when selecting spaces.
- Create a plan for maintaining a secure perimeter at the location for a controlled, closed work area, free from outsiders to the production.
- Create a sanitization plan for the location:
- What surfaces need disinfecting?
- Who will be responsible for doing this?
- When and how frequently will it occur?
- Map out spaces for:
- Parking – assuming more vehicles than usual;
- Outdoor reception checkpoint – for clock-in and deliveries;
- Base camp – which should not be moved during the day;
- Green room for first team – as close to set as possible;
- Set(s) – where scenes will be shot;
- Team spaces – for each department to work and stage gear;
- Outdoor mask-free zone – with room for physical distancing;
- Lunch – with room for physical distancing.
- Assess and determine:
- If any spaces will make physical distancing difficult for the necessary cast/crew;
- Access to bathrooms and hand-washing/sanitizing stations;
- Signage needs – e.g., directions to the reception checkpoint; directions to hand-washing stations; safety guidelines.
- Whether any special considerations need to be made regarding air flow and/or HVAC, especially in Zone A areas.
- How COVID might impact the emergency plan — e.g., the ability for people to evacuate or congregate.
Director’s Prep
- All casting and locations must be locked prior to Director’s Prep.
- Producer must present a robust safety plan for each location, using the COVID Addendum to the Location Hazard Assessment form.
- Producer must present a robust safety plan for the execution of each individual set-up.
- Prep faculty signs an authorization form if the show demonstrates a robust plan. May require follow-up action items to be addressed before green light.
Green Light Meeting
- Producer presents relevant planning documents and authorization forms to the Head of Production in order to secure a green light.
- Producer provides a list of cast, crew, and volunteers. Nobody else will be authorized to be in Zone B.
Production Meeting
- Be sure to address COVID protocols in the meeting.
- Holding the production meeting virtually or outdoors is recommended, especially on productions with larger crew sizes.