Los Angeles (AFP)

The American actor Gregg Daniel almost, at the height of the pandemic, did not show up for a hearing in Los Angeles, where film shoots resume in slow motion between union demands and insurance problems.

"I am African American, I am over 50 and black people would die disproportionately from Covid-19," he said to justify his "hesitations".

But "the script was so good" and his passion for the craft so fiery that Reverend Daniels of the "True Blood" series finally decided, despite the risks, to pass the casting, at a time when "no one was filming".

A few months have passed since, the health situation has temporarily improved and the filming of "7th & Union", a boxing drama film, has been completed in the strangely empty streets of the American capital of the United States. cinema.

"Everything went well", assures the executive producer Jolene Rodriguez, thanks to some adjustments: regular screening tests, disinfection stations, compulsory physical distancing between the outlets and staff specially responsible for enforcing barrier gestures on the trays.

However, only a handful of filming has resumed in Hollywood since California Governor Gavin Newsom gave the green light in June.

With 600,000 cases identified and more than 10,000 dead alone, the most populous state of the country is also the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, whose resurgence at the beginning of the summer on the Pacific coast pushed some producers to turn to other, safer regions.

Jolene Rodriguez admits that the question arose for the film "7th & Union": "We wondered at one point if it was better not to stop for the good of all. But we finally managed to see it through. ".

- Sex scenes and fights -

Filming permission requests are currently leveling off at a third of their usual level, according to nonprofit FilmLA, and the vast majority of these are for advertising and reality shows.

The resumption of film shoots comes up against discussions between studios and unions on new safety standards to be adopted in the film industry.

"We have been working on this for many weeks, there are a lot of complex issues," said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, leader of a large union defending actors.

Among its demands are in particular daily screening tests for actors most exposed to potential contamination, during sex scenes or fights for example.

An agreement is expected next month between the various parties, but the thorny issue of insurance remains to be resolved.

Suspending the production of a film can be so costly that insurance companies rule out the risks associated with Covid-19 in their new contracts.

"According to what is said, the authorities will have to intervene" in order to settle this dispute, notes trade unionist Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

For the time being, the few shoots that resume in Hollywood are the subject of negotiations on a case-by-case basis with the unions.

And producers are learning to be creative for filming locations, as busy public places are automatically excluded.

"The writers are very astute. Some write scenes set in more isolated places, such as industrial sites," FilmLA president Paul Audley told AFP.

Other productions choose another route, more direct but riskier, by shooting without authorization. But residents, he notes, do not hesitate to denounce the wild shootings to his organization.

Despite the growing attractiveness of new sites such as Georgia, in the south-east of the country, Los Angeles remains one step ahead in terms of services and comfort, assure Californian professionals.

Actors "prefer to work close to home," notes Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. "Especially in such uncertain times".

© 2020 AFP