COVID-19 Production Guidelines
OTV PRODUCTION SET BEST PRACTICES
Welcome to our production guidelines for shooting in the COVID-19 pandemic. These guidelines have been specially designed for indie filmmakers to ensure maximum safety for all involved.
Safety should be a top priority for all indie productions. Safety is defined not just for everyone in the cast and crew, but everyone in our communities who interact with cast and crew. Viruses do not acknowledge borders. One person’s safety is critical to all of our safety. Since many indie productions do not have the resources to provide benefits and workers’ compensation -- though we recommend fundraising for these costs if possible -- it is incredibly important that all possible precautions be made to ensure safety. Creators and production companies could be held liable for any infections and health costs associated with their productions.
OTV’s official policy is to discourage production under city, state or federal shelter-in-place orders and wait until Illinois has reached Phase 4 of its reopening plan. However, Phase 3 allows for gatherings of up to 10 people and we imagine many creators will be able to and want to shoot during this phase. During Phases 2 and 3 we recommend consulting our remote shooting guidelines for ideas about shooting while at home.
For more on Illinois’ phased reopening see: Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4. For an interactive graph, see WBEZ.