Film and TV briefing: Friday 5 June 2020

Welcome to this week’s round-up of news, commentary and industry announcements that you may have missed from the past week.

If you are looking for advice in relation to any of the issues mentioned, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

In the news

A look at the issues arising from the British Film Commission’s newly published production guidance (Screen Daily).

US studios and unions have published guidance for resuming production in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic (Variety).

The line-up is announced for the cancelled Cannes Film Festival (Financial Times).

New research predicts that box office figures will fall by half in 2020 (Variety).

UK filming on Hollywood productions including “The Batman” given green light to resume (The Guardian).

“Mission: Impossible 7” plans to recommence filming in September (Deadline).

Italian Film festivals plan to go ahead this summer as restrictions are lifted (Variety).

A round-up of planned cinema reopening dates by territory (Screen Daily).

How Hollywood has responded to the killing of George Floyd (Screen Daily).

“Blackout Tuesday” criticised for obscuring information relating to the Black Lives Matter movement (Variety).

Features and commentary

Producer Andrew Eaton examines the need for production insurance to be addressed to enable UK production to get back on track (The Guardian).

A look at the challenges of financing indie films without Covid-19 insurance (Forbes).

Industry announcements

The British Film Commission’s guidelines for working safely during Covid-19 in film and high-end TV drama production (BFC).

Bectu suggests that changes to the government’s income support scheme don’t deliver for freelancers (Bectu).

Skills fund to provide teaching on safe working practices during Covid-19 (ScreenSkills).

Legal Updates

Significant changes announced to the coronavirus job retention scheme (Simkins LLP).

Resources

ScreenSkills to host a series of online masterclasses 1-7 June (ScreenSkills).