Productions Affected By COVID-19

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought the whole world to a standstill and one of the industries greatly affected in Australia is the arts, with the production of television programs and feature films halted indefinitely.

Some of the popular television programs affected include Neighbours, Home And Away, Wentworth, The Voice Australia, The Block and The Bachelor Australia. The production of many big-budget Hollywood films including Marvel Studio’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings and Baz Luhrmann’s Untitled Elvis Presley Project have also been put on hold.

The Federal Government recently announced a temporary suspension of local sub-quotas. “While we welcome the many initiatives that various Governments have announced to provide targeted assistance to businesses, there is an immediate crisis unfolding in the production sector and the temporary suspension of content quotas has the very real potential of crippling an industry already on its knees,” explained Screen Producers Australia (SPA) CEO Matthew Deaner.

The total number of productions affected has reached 119 with vital news broadcasts and current affairs programs still in production presumably operating on skeleton-staffs.

The damage to the sector is affecting a workforce of 30,000, with a reportedly financial loss of over $2 billion. (MMo)