The UK film and TV industry can resume shooting as early as July, which is great news for completing “The Batman,” thanks to the release of new safety guidelines covering production, post-production, and visual effects during the pandemic.
“Working Safely During COVID-19 in Film and High-End TV Drama Production,” developed by the British Film Commission (BFC), will pave the way to for a return to shooting in the UK’s studios and locations. This has been endorsed by the government, in consultation with the British Film Institute and various health and safety organizations, but it will still be up to productions to decide when safety measures are properly in place to resume production.
Meanwhile, the UK Screen Alliance released “Guidance for safe working in post-production and visual effects during the COVID-19 pandemic.” This includes rules for trace testing (and the development of a smartphone app for tracing contact with possible COVID-19 exposure); continued stay-at-home measures, along with remote/distributed tech usage; social-distancing practices for those that need to work at studios or offices; and limited on-set interaction. Virtually all post-production and VFX companies are equipped to provide remote review and approval facilities together with offline editing, color grading, online finishing, audio recording/sound editing/mixing, and voiceover.