Basic safety rules for restarting film production

Leading representatives of the Slovak film industry have agreed upon and adopted a set of self-regulatory measures for risk protection against SARS-CoV-2 contagion (document in pdf).

Current epidemiologic COVID-19 measures do not allow for restart of audiovisual production. Therefore, the industry decided to make the first step in adopting a set of rules to be followed during the production and officially addressed the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic requesting assistance in obtaining an exemption from the Public Health Authority from wearing face masks for performing artists.

The presented guidelines prove that Slovak film professionals are fully aware of the risks and ready to restart their work with utmost care and responsibility and keep necessary hygienic measures.

Restarting the audiovisual production is one of the means to lessen the economic impact on the industry, which currently calculates losses of approx. 58 mil € for 2020. Halted productions and fallout of income since March 10, 2020 have had fatal effects on the individual film professionals across the industry professions, many of whom are small entrepreneurs or self-emloyed artists (See: Slovakia_AV industry_measure impact estimate).

The self-regulatory guidelines are based on the measures suggested by the European Institute for Health and Safety in Film Industry in the Czech Republic, adopted by the Czech Audiovisual Producers´ Association and supported by the European Film Commissions Network. The guidelines will be further specified and amended based on the latest developments in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Slovak version of the guidelines was presented and adopted by the following professional organizations:
Association of Independent Producers
Association of Slovak Television Broadcasters
Association of Slovak Cinematographers
Radio and Television Slovakia
Slovak Film Commission
Slovak Film and Television Academy
Commercials and Advertising production companies