budget Covid budgets

[JMee1000]

Hi,
Has anyone out there adjusted any of your project budgets yet to be inclusive of the guilds new Covid guidelines? Advice? Outcome?

https://www.producersguild.org/blogpost/923036/354785/PGA-S-COVID-SAFETY-PROTOCOLS-AUG-31

 

[JMee1000]

No one? I’m hearing Producers are not happy and are rebelling against these guidelines - asking the Guild to revise them. Anyone know anything about that?

 

[sfoster]

I looked at the rules and decided not to hire sag actors for my next film, it was too much expense.
ultra low budget does not exist under those guidelines.

 

[directorik]

Hi,
Has anyone out there adjusted any of your project budgets yet to be inclusive of the guilds new Covid guidelines? Advice? Outcome?

We have decided to wait. The guidelines are important but adds too
much to a low budget show.

 

[JMee1000]

FYI I am not that level up to decide on my projects

but I’m being asked by 1 filmmaker to disregard guilds Covid since we aren’t guild - Ok that’s easy and then to go get XYZ A-listed SAG members who feel masks and rules is crap ... umm ... okay, but umm...

 

[mlesemann]

go get XYZ A-listed SAG members who feel masks and rules is crap ... umm .

It's extremely unlikely that SAG members will do a non-SAG movie, leaving aside COVID - and certainly no A list actor will.

And certainly the health and safety of both your cast and crew need to take priority - that's always true.

 

[directorik]

I’m being asked by 1 filmmaker to disregard guilds Covid since we aren’t guild - Ok that’s easy and then to go get XYZ A-listed SAG members who feel masks and rules is crap ... umm ... okay, but umm...

Sounds like that 1 filmmaker is a fool.

Do you know how well he's doing getting a cast and crew?

 

[JMee1000]

i do know and you might be surprised to see how much decent crew but the crew is going to step one, it’s the Alist SAG and lack of escrows funded to secure attached Alist that concerns me the most

any idea what I can do to mitigate naive expectations vs real world?


**i don’t think any producer’s package like I described above is even likely to attach a coproduction company

 

[mlesemann]

Are you directly involved with this project?

 

[JMee1000]

Oh yeah, I am BIG time involved and I’ve not really pushed my opinions hard because the filmmaker is a very smart person who I respect very much but I’m the numbers expert and all of my efforts to adjust the budget for Covid are - what’s a good word, highjacked? When I tried to explain the pre Covid budget would: 1) either need to be increased to $XYZ in order to fund meeting the new guidelines, or 2) leaving the budget it where it was would mean major adjustments/concessions in the directors current vision - I was basically told to go add the Covid measures money to the budget but that we are looking at Alist talent who (according to press or other sources seen by filmmaker) also isn’t down with the masks etc and that the increased money will go towards efforts to attach them because we will have a small number of cast in production at a time and the cast we will get won’t care about these guidelines either

 

[mlesemann]

So let me see if I understand this.

The filmmaker is looking to hire anti-mask A-list actors who ARE in SAG-AFTRA, then ignore the union's COVID protocols?

And it's anticipated that ALL of the cast will be anti-mask as well as being in the union?

Does (s)he realize that the union will send representatives to set to be sure that the guidelines are being followed?

And does (s)he truly expect to only hire anti-mask crew members? Is the crew union or non-union? There's no way I can imagine IATSE letting this go either.

 

[directorik]

Oh yeah, I am BIG time involved and I’ve not really pushed my opinions hard because the filmmaker is a very smart person who I respect very much but I’m the numbers expert and all of my efforts to adjust the budget for Covid are - what’s a good word, highjacked? When I tried to explain the pre Covid budget would: 1) either need to be increased to $XYZ in order to fund meeting the new guidelines, or 2) leaving the budget it where it was would mean major adjustments/concessions in the directors current vision - I was basically told to go add the Covid measures money to the budget but that we are looking at Alist talent who (according to press or other sources seen by filmmaker) also isn’t down with the masks etc and that the increased money will go towards efforts to attach them because we will have a small number of cast in production at a time and the cast we will get won’t care about these guidelines either

That's going to be quite a challenge.

As mlesemann said, SAG/AFTRA will send reps to the set to ensure all protocols are
being followed. Even if you find an A-lister who isn't down with the masks, etc. I suspect
the Guild will step in.

Sometimes a very smart person can be foolish. You have your work cut out for you.

 

[solofilms]

The new administration has put OSHA in charge of also checking compliance so even if SAG was to busy to check, the OSHA fine is bigger and can shut you down. It also applies UNION or NON-UNION

 

[JMee1000]

I luckily was replaced by someone else to do the budget but my concerns over the project at large not following the guidelines remain unchanged. I guess now though, I’ll just have to wait and see if the whole budget omits them or not.