Los Angeles, USA(CWBN)_ CBS Studios has moved back-to-production schedules for five series coming off the ongoing holiday hiatus, including “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Seal Team,” “Why Women Kill” and “Diary of a Future President”. The reports come after the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health asked the film and Television sectors to consider suspending production for several weeks amid the continuing increase in pandemic cases across the county. The shows, as mentioned earlier, are now set to resume on Jan. 11.
To date, CBS Studios seems to be the only major studio centre to suspend or postpone production in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has only intensified in California in recent months. Last Monday the Los Angeles County, reported 13,661 new cases and 73 deaths while 66,811 cases were reported that day in California.
Other media networks are deciding whether to keep productions active in the new year. Netflix, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Television Group are currently discussing and evaluating their choices internally, though no decisions have been made as of Tuesday.
CBS Studios’ decision comes as the county has, as per FilmLA, notified industry representatives recommending a delay in production considering the “catastrophic surge” in pandemic cases and advising artists that production travel is “currently not advised.”
Although T.V. studios further introduced improved protection measures, such as compulsory masks on set and separating cast and crews into ‘regions’ to control interaction, various productions had reported clusters of positive COVID-19 cases in the county through November and December. Several ‘Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet’ crew returned positive for COVID-19 and were upset by the producers’ initial claim that there was no proof of transmission at work. Almost 20 positive cases were reported in Lionsgate T.V. production.
