Passionate kisses, a crowd, a fight ... The directors will still have to wait before immortalizing this kind of scene. Fiction filming that has been stopped since mid-March will be among the last to restart. Not for several weeks. To relaunch these barnums piloted by a hundred people and stopped dead by the Covid-19, the producers are tearing their hair out. And are waiting to know if they will be covered by insurance as part of a support fund. The CCHSCT (central health, safety and working conditions committees for film production) for audiovisual production and cinema are refining a charter to define the sanitary conditions essential for recovery. This document is expected to be adopted this week.
"Insurance must insure the Covid risk, insists producer Thomas Anargyros, head of the USPA (Union of Audiovisual Production). The President of the Republic supports our desire to create a specific guarantee fund. Insurers must participate. "We are ready to assume an increase in risk premiums, as long as we can turn," insists, like others, Aline Besson, producer of "Je promises", the adaptation of "This Is Us" for TF1 which it hopes to continue in June.
Beyond that, getting back on the set is a puzzle. "We must apply the regulations and protect our teams while respecting the artistic essence of our films," underlines producer Delphine Wautier, who was to shoot two episodes of "Alex Hugo" (France 2) this summer.
Smaller and fortnightly teams
Social distancing? "If we tell the actors to stay 1.50 m apart, it breaks all spontaneity," says François de Brugada, boss of the group Banijay France. Either we test everyone, or we organize a fortnight for technicians and actors before shooting. An option also considered by Pascal Breton, CEO of the Federation Entertainement group ("the Legends Office"), whose 8 projects are on hold, notably the series on "The Gregory Affair" for TF1. "Before the shooting, we will confine people in the same hotel after having given them a test," he optimizes.
The same goes for the daily soap operas filmed in the south of France. "This would make it possible to live together while avoiding importing the virus," defends Toma de Matteis, producer of "Un si grand soleil", on France 2, which would not reactivate the studios before the end of May. It can only be temporary. "
Another imperative: reduce the workforce to less than 50 people and considerably limit the number of extras, even if it means "then duplicating via computer graphics" some people imagine.
Larger decors
No filming either without a medical referent in situ. Everywhere, wearing masks or even visors, gloves will become legion, not to mention the regular cleaning of places, cameras, microphones. "The questions are endless on the technical aspects," says Sophie Gigon, head of late-night fiction at France Télévisions. How for example to make up, to style the actors? Tutorials can be sent to them so that they can apply make-up on their own, the installation of Plexiglas is studied in boxes and cars. "
There is no longer any question of investing in confined spaces. "We were filming in small houses but we will have to find larger ones to respect distances", notes the producer of "Grégory Affair". "And even if we have established links in Briançon, we do not know how we will be welcomed when we want to rent sets or find accommodation," wonders Delphine Wautier for "Alex Hugo".
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Another concern: shooting on a beach, a school or a public place. “Everything will be more complicated. We can film a few sequences on a green background and then insert the decor, for example a station hall, in special effects ”, imagines Pascal Breton.
Rewritten scenarios
Already, scenarios are being rewritten to adapt to the instructions. "For season 3 of the Purple Rivers (France 2) , we must review a scene planned in the middle of the festival and others more intimate, slides Sabine Barthélémy, producer of the next 8 parts of the thriller of France 2. For season 2 of Unfaithful (TF1) , we had one day of shooting with a sequence in a nightclub. We will find another solution. "
But difficult to rewrite everything when half of a series is already in the box, like "I promise you" or when it will be a question of "sticking to the reality of France after" for the unreleased of "Plus belle" la vie ”broadcast this fall on France 3.
And what about filming abroad? At Fédération Entertainment, in international co-production of the series "Around the world in 80 days" for France Televisions, the case is folded: "We had achieved a third in South Africa and the rest was to be in Africa and Romania . We push back a year. "
Finally, redoing the preparatory work, applying the sanitary rules which will lengthen the shooting time could generate “10% to 15% more budget”, according to Thomas Anargyros. "We calculate the additional cost of safety instructions from 150,000 to 200,000 euros on a series," said Pascal Breton. The note will be salty.
"The Mysteries of Love" resume Wednesday
It is not the Covid-19 that will stop Hélène Rollès and her friends. Twenty-eight years after the launch of "Hélène et les Garçons", the band of actors will resume filming this Wednesday, May 13. An exception. The 25 people of the technical team will be masked, as the actors between the catches and a doctor will check compliance with health standards. "It was important that there was no break in the broadcast, that the stories continued," says producer Jean-Luc Azoulay (JLA Group), whose unpublished footage before the confinement ends on May 31.
The episode captured on Wednesday will be broadcast on TMC in early June. A possible return because the team of "Mysteries of love" is light and the soap, filmed all year, has a permanent filming authorization. "We will find the heroes at the end of the epidemic with references to confinement," assures Jean-Luc Azoulay. The characters will no longer kiss but will look each other in the eyes. Thanks to the angle of the shots, two people separated at 1.50 m can appear glued! "