WHAT’S NEXT?
DRAMA AND FILM STUDIOS/HIRE
Channel 4’s The
Big Narstie Show shot at T VC
one more camera but now there’s an additional pressure on them to really justify the number of people you put in the studio. There’s quite a lot of detail there so we’re working very closely with our production teams.”
Lost in space There’s also an acceptance among
studios that there’s a limit to how many shows can be fitted in safely. “We’re not trying to cram everything back in because you just can’t,” says BBC Studioworks’ Moultrie. “We’ve accepted that. We’re not going to look to recover our year number in the next nine months. It’s going to be impossible to do.” Because quite apart from the three
months already lost to production, shows will not be able to get in and out of the studio at the same pace they used to. “The terms of tenancy will be longer. It’ll take longer to get in, longer to shoot and it’ll take longer to get out,” says Moultrie. Studios’ ability to turnaround productions will be compromised too. Social distancing for staff, increased cleaning between productions and a whole host of other considerations means “You need to think about the realism of turning around stuff that quickly.”
All this could lead to capacity
issues at studios over the coming months “which shouldn’t really come as a surprise,” says dock10’s Waters. “Everyone’s looking to this autumn and it’s already looking pretty full.” The hope is that
bookings will spread out into what is traditionally the quieter times of the year, notably January. “I imagine it will smooth out into what is a normal pattern,” says Waters. Another thorny issue for
TV studios is audiences. During lockdown of course, audiences were impossible. “For a lot of shiny floor shows, the talent feeds off the audience. If the audience isn’t there, it’s very flat,” says Moultrie. Various solutions have been tried with production teams doubling up as audiences one attempt. Restrictions are now easing of course, but mass audiences are probably a long way away. “You’re probably going to see changes in editorial and changes in the way audiences are used in the interim,” says Moultrie. Many are mooting sparse ‘household bubbles’ of audience members spread throughout
a large space as a solution. But the industry is being careful on the issue. “Would it be possible for us to
Would it be possible for us to have an audience and apply social distancing? Absolutely
Andy Waters dock10
have an audience and apply social distancing? Absolutely. In HQ1, the studio is 12,500 square feet,” says Waters. “But broadcasters are being sensible here. They’re not looking to production companies to make shows with large audiences all crammed into a studio anymore.” The road ahead will
be complex for studio
productions. Everyone will need to adhere to the studio’s own protocols, the various
broadcaster stipulated protocols
and the production companies’ own protocols. All this means that a service industry like the studio sector will need to work much more as a partnership with its customers to ensure safety. “We’re having conversations with the clients to make sure all of our facilities stay operational,” says Moultrie. “We’re asking our people to speak up and productions to speak out as well If we’re feeling there’s any areas that have become hotspots. That’s going to really help maintain the frequency of production.”
Summer 2020
televisual.com 39
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