Covid-safe guidance for clients attending post houses

UK Screen Alliance has updated its guidance for Covid-safe working to enable clients to attend edit sessions.

The guidance collates together input from UK Screen Alliance members, DCMS, the British Film Commission, BFI, PACT and BECTU.

Previously the guidance discouraged client attendance at post and VFX houses, with working from home being preferred.

The guidance moves away from this a little by acknowledging that remote working may not offer the “necessary flexibility and speed required for complex multi-suite bookings, particularly when delivery is close to transmission.

“There are also circumstances where the controlled environment of an audio dubbing or colour grading suite is best provided inside a post-production facility.”

The guidance for clients to attend post-production houses lays out a carefully managed approach to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infection.

It calls for cooperation between post houses and clients in sharing the responsibility for Covid-safe working particularly in dry-hire scenarios.

It recommends teams of editors and edit producers should be a maximum of 6 people, and, if larger teams are required, they are split into separate teams, again with no more than 6. These groups should not meet each other face-to-face.

Rather than opting for 1m distance between creative operators and clients, the guidance says 2m separation is required in post suites. This is due to the long hours that can stretch on for days that are spent together within the close confines of these rooms.

Remote review and approval is still the preferred option except when sign-off requires access to high quality audio and video monitoring. This should be limited to relevant decision makers only and, where possible, using two suites to separate visitors from creatives.

On top of the guidance above, UK Screen Alliance’s guidance says edit teams should consider wearing face coverings, particularly in grading and dubbing suites, where creative operators may meet different clients each day.

Neil Hatton, chief executive, UK Screen Alliance, says: “This will be the beginning of a gradual transition to normal operations in post-production, as demand begins to increase and filming restarts. It will rely on all parties taking responsibility for social distancing in both their professional and personal lives to ensure that we maintain a Covid-safe environment everyone in the workplace.”

To view UK Screen Alliance’s updated guidance, head over to https://www.ukscreenalliance.co.uk/campaigns/guidance-for-safe-working-in-post-production-and-vfx-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/