We have established a cross-practice task force of entertainment transactional lawyers and litigators, labor and employment lawyers, and healthcare attorneys to provide clients with risk-reduction solutions when restarting production.
Like all industries, content creators and distributors are faced with an unprecedented situation. But the importance of relaying information and telling stories remains as vital as ever. Although it remains to be seen when and how production will resume, it is certain that digital, television, and motion picture production will come back.
When production does return, production companies, studios, and platforms will faced a variety of novel issues caused by COVID-19, including keeping crew and talent safe during travel and production, respecting medical privacy, and grappling with the overlay of competing and possibly conflicting federal, state, and local rules and guidance.
Our group includes attorneys specializing in content-related litigation, entertainment transactions, guild issues, employment and health care. Whether you are working on a scripted, documentary, interview, variety or animated production, we can help develop specific plans for reopening, or review and comment on plans you've created already.
Issues we can help with include:
- Creating and reviewing safety guidelines and protocols;
- Navigating state, county, and/or city department of public health orders during reopening.
- Managing health screenings and addressing medical privacy concerns for cast and crew.
- Managing risk for production-related travel;
- Strategies for safer location or soundstage production;
- Approaches to lawfully address situations such as requests for "hazard pay," safety concerns, and other potentially concerted activity, and employees who refuse to return to work;
- Sick leave;
- Workers' compensation;
- Safer craft services and catering;
- Guild issues;
- Developing appropriate riders to address risk of illness;
- OSHA and Cal/OSHA issues;
- Insurance (claims and litigation); and
- Force Majeure.
Contact us at ReopeningHollywood@dwt.com or connect with any of your DWT contacts for assistance with restarting production.
Further, we can help you develop frameworks to comply with laws regarding COVID-19 safety and guidance that are:
- Hyper-localized (state, county, and/or city public health departments issue shutdown orders and workplace guidance);
- Heavily-regulated (every agency has something);
- Frequently-updated (guidance changes daily/weekly); and
- Industry-specific to content creation, production and distribution.
We will continue to provide up-to-date insights and virtual events regarding COVID-19 concerns. Our most recent insights, as well as information about recorded and upcoming virtual events, are available at www.dwt.com/COVID-19.