Hollywood’s COVID-19 Safety Agreement Likely to Stay In Effect as Talks Continue Over New Agreement

Ivy Kagan Bierman, chair of Loeb & Loeb’s Entertainment Labor practice, is quoted in an article published by The Hollywood Reporter discussing how easing COVID-19 protocols at on-set productions may boost morale for entertainment employees and performers, which deteriorated during the pandemic “due to resistance against what some consider overly stringent requirements.”

“What I have seen in working with all kinds of productions during COVID is that there is not only an increased cost to all of these protocols, there’s also increased levels of anxiety and, in some cases, even disruptions as individuals [who oppose some of the protocols] are pushing back on productions, either for philosophical reasons or political reasons.” Ivy told the publication.

Although Hollywood’s two-year-old COVID-19 Safety Agreement set between the industry’s major guilds and studios is not foreseen to undergo any drastic changes, insiders familiar with negotiations expect testing requirements to become more lenient as a push for cheaper and faster antigen testing is made “across the board.”