Los Angeles (AFP)

Artificial coma or death certificate? Many film professionals are wondering about the future of major productions after the coronavirus while Hollywood studios are looking for innovative solutions to revive filming, paralyzed by the pandemic for weeks.

In California, the cameras have been gathering dust since mid-March, the instructions for social distancing do not mix well with the overcrowded teams mobilized on film sets that are sometimes cramped.

And even if authorities begin to think of a gradual relaxation of containment, entertainment professionals point out that the film industry, characterized by very high production costs and insurance premiums, could be radically transformed by the pandemic.

"It's impossible to make a + Star Wars + or a Marvel film tomorrow morning," says Nicolas Chartier, Oscar-winning producer of the film "Minesweepers".

"It makes sense, there are too many legal risks and too many fears," says colleague Stephen Nemeth ("Las Vegas Parano").

"I don't imagine producing a film like + Dune + at the moment. I don't see how we could make an epic film like + Mad Max +. These films represent a team of 250 people and 250 others as extra. no way to control that, "he explains.

The risk is too great and insurance companies therefore refuse to cover interruptions to filming caused by cases of coronavirus. These delays can cost millions of dollars when it comes to big budget movies that Hollywood has the secret to.

Some in the studios have imagined having employees sign legal waivers to avoid lawsuits, but the idea seems difficult to implement, especially in the case of world famous stars.

Others are studying the possibility of replacing human extras with computer tricks in crowd scenes, but "it would cost a fortune", notes Nicolas Chartier.

"In my opinion, big productions as we know them will not be back until we have a vaccine. If they one day become what we have known," warns Stephen Nemeth.

- "Moral dilemma" -

In the short term, temperature or blood tests may become necessary to access the film sets.

In Sweden and Denmark, production resumed on sterilized trays where physical distancing is experienced.

In Hollywood, Steven Soderbergh, director of the visionary film "Contagion" in 2011, took the helm of a "task force" responsible for exploring similar options.

However, such solutions are ill-suited to the constraints of the cinema and risk leading to inequalities between trades, warn producers Jean de Meuron and Elena Bawiec.

"The most vulnerable are the technicians: the lighting technicians, the machinists, the electricians, etc.," said Mr. de Meuron. "We can't keep them two meters from each other ... The first assistant is right next to the cameraman, they're a few centimeters away," he explains.

Even if it has not been established that patients develop immunity to Covid-19, in the long term, employees of a film shoot could be asked to present a certificate proving that they have antibodies. "But will people deliberately get infected and then be immunized? It's a moral dilemma," says Elena Bawiec.

- "Peanuts" -

In the meantime, filmmakers must innovate and experiment with new techniques, often by dramatically lowering their ambitions. Stephen Nemeth is thus preparing to make his film in his house in Hollywood Hills, where he is able to accommodate a reduced team for a brief shoot.

"We could have hyper-regional, hyper-closed productions", like in Malibu or Hollywood Hills, he said.

"That's what I'm doing and I swear I'm not the only one."

Nicolas Chartier plans to make a film "for peanuts", via Zoom or Skype, in which four couples talk about a murder. "The actors would film themselves at home, with their own clothes and without makeup," he explains.

© 2020 AFP