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Major Hollywood studios and guilds have reached a short-term tentative deal on new COVID-19 protocols on set, finally including vaccines.
In a joint statement, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and top industry guilds – including SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, DGA and the Teamsters – say they have agreed to relax the current protocols for fully vaccinated actors. and crew.
In addition, producers will have the option to mandate vaccines for actors and crew in zone A. Under current safety protocols, sets are divided into different “zones” which correspond to the proximity of the actors and at the different levels of protection required. Zone A is usually the area on the set where the cast and crew have to work in close proximity, often without personal protective equipment.
“The changes focus on workplace practices for fully immunized cast and crew, including changes to outside masking requirements and updated meal protocols,” the joint statement said. “Producers will also have the opportunity to implement compulsory vaccination policies for actors and teams in zone A on a production by production basis. “
The new agreement also includes adjustments to the frequency of testing for parts of the United States and Canada, where, according to the statement, “the incidence of COVID-19 is and remains very low.” The updated agreement will remain in effect until September 30, 2021. Until then, studios and guilds will continue to closely monitor developments in COVID-19 and will consider further changes at that time.
All parties had been negotiating for months for an update to existing COVID-19 protocols, which were first presented last September of last year. That contract was due to expire on April 30 but was extended to give them more time to negotiate details and allow vaccines to roll out further.
Whether vaccines would become mandatory in Hollywood has been a question for some time. Netflix co-CEO told KCRW Deals podcast in March that he didn’t yet know how his company would approach the problem. “We are not going to take a position on whether or not we mandate,” he said. “I think people are pretty excited about going back to normal life, so we’re going to play it by ear and see how vaccine uptake goes.”
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