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The equipment that served to simulate the fight against a fictional catastrophe will be used to fight a real tragedy. The Spanish company that manufactured the costumes for 'Chernobyl' has donated the collection of masks and safety suits that were used in the award-winning HBO series.

Peris Costumes, belonging to the Peris Group, based in Spain and branches in a dozen other countries, produces gladiator breastplates and courtesan costumes. But also masks of 'liquidator' of radioactive waste as well as robes and overalls of scientific police: a treasure in the midst of the current pandemic. They were thought for the screen and now the group delivers it to hospitals and nursing homes.

The company has part of its stock available at its headquarters in Lisbon, Madrid, Mexico, Budapest and Vienna. Jumpsuits, protective jumpsuits, coat shoes and other garments from well-known productions such as 'James Bond' hang from the hangers. They work a lot in Russia and Ukraine and are now part of the contribution of Spanish cinema to this moment of emergency.

In addition, to mitigate the emergency situation generated by Covid-19, the company has turned its habitual activity around, converting its clothing production workshops to manufacture robes, ponchos, masks and all kinds of protective material.

The garments go to professionals who need them in nursing homes, hospitals, institutions dedicated to the care of people with disabilities and also to various foundations, according to the company: "We are not engaged in the manufacture of clinical material, but now we are trying collaborate in everything in our hands, "explains a source from the company. They disinfect the materials themselves.

Used garments - or that were manufactured to be used and were never used - in series now serve to protect those on the front line in this battle. But it is not the first time that fictional material is valuable against Covid-19. In the USA, the producer of the popular series 'Grey's Anatomy' has also decided to join the fight against the coronavirus. Actress Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith Gray, encourages every day from social networks the medical teams that inspire her series, who has sent them gowns and gloves. Also 'The good doctor' has donated protection material.

"THIS OVERCOMES FICTION"

" We are living a nightmare in which reality surpasses fiction," says Javier Toledo, CEO of the company. His company, given the circumstances of scarcity of protective clothing, has been declared "essential service" in the midst of the confinement that Spain is experiencing. "Since March, all the productions we work on have stopped and we are stopped, so we decided to start donating things and make masks," explains Toledo, excited after receiving the thanks of caregivers of nursing homes, police officers and nurses.

The team has 30 people in Portugal "sewing and making" and another 20 in Spain. Some sew at home and others go to work daily. " We focus mainly on residences , and they come with tears in their eyes to collect the material," explains one worker. "Although we are not Amancio Ortega, we contribute what we can", he adds.

The company has worked for productions like 'El embarcadero', making scientific police clothing that will now serve to protect professionals who care for the sick. Many creations are also theirs for the series 'La casa de papel' , from which they have taken advantage of some "full body jumpsuit". For a film that will be released soon (and which coincidentally also deals with a virus), whose name they cannot reveal, they designed a kind of cap with a built-in mask. He has also been sent to serve the cause.

The company undertook this year's Three Kings Parade in Madrid. These days they took advantage of leftover materials from that event to make masks and gowns.

"This is just a drop in the ocean," admits Toledo, "but it has already helped many people." The company made the clothes used in dozens of movies, such as 'Terminator: Dark Destiny' or 'The Infinite Trench'. Also from 'Broken Embraces' and 'Pain and Glory', by Pedro Almodóvar. Now chase a 'happy end' almost impossible .

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