Contagion’s Steven Soderbergh heading DGA committee to reopen Hollywood

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Back in 2011, Steven Soderbergh directed the pandemic thriller CONTAGION and he probably had no idea that we'd basically be living that movie in 2020. As COVID-19 has shuttered Hollywood productions since March, the big question that has to be answered is when will it be ok for Hollywood to get back to work? It almost seems fitting, given his work on that film, that Soderberg will be in charge of addressing getting Hollywood up and running again amid the current pandemic.

Steven Soderberg, a former DGA national vice president, will head a Director's Guild committee that will focus on getting members and the town back to work on film and television productions. DGA president Thomas Schlamme and national executive director Russell Hollander told members on Thursday that the committee has been appointed "to do a thorough examination of the issues at hand and to make recommendations to the Board. The committee is consulting with top epidemiologists in the field, and we will collaborate with our sister guilds and unions and the employers as we put together a comprehensive guide to help us return safely to work."

The committee is aware that the major concern is when members will be returning to work and, also just as important, will it be safe to do so. Most of the time will be spent thinking about all the precautions because, as of now, no one really knows when productions will resume, but they want to make sure the environment is as safe as possible when they do so.

Another function of the committee is to preserve the communal experience of the theatrical experience. Theaters have been shuttered since March 16 and while some have tentative plans to reopen at the start of July, most U.S. theater owners are thinking a late July reopen is more feasible. There is a concern that moviegoers won't want to admittedly head to the movies once the coronavirus subsides but the committee is working closely with theater exhibitors to make sure that experience not only thrives but will be safe. It's important to the committee, which includes feature film directors, assistant directors, and unit production managers, that our feature films are seen on the big screen as intended with the crowds necessary to make sure that they are successful.

There is a lot of unknown in the industry right now but it's promising that a committee is being set up to get the industry to an endgame or a sense of normalcy. Things may never go back to the normal we're all used to but I do know I want to see people get back to work. When I state this, I'm not just talking about the actors who pull in millions of dollars per film. I'm speaking for the members of the crew, grips, costume designers, production assistants, make-up artists & other key positions that are all out of work right because Hollywood has gone dark. They don't have other endorsements or other deals in place to pull in profit during this downtime, they live project to project and I want to see those people working again so that we can get back to tell stories that help the industry thrive. Appropriate steps are being made and now it's all about the waiting game and hopefully that wait won't be much longer.

When do YOU think it will be ok for productions to resume work?