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ABC7 spends day with Bay Area film crew as production resumes amid COVID-19 pandemic

ByKris Reyes KGO logo

Thursday, October 8, 2020

ABC7 spends day with film crew as shooting resumes amid pandemic

Tens of thousands of layoffs, cancelled projects, productions put on hold -- that's the painful reality of the film industry hit hard by the pandemic.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. (KGO) -- Inside a loft in Emeryville, a barebones crew is shooting the film Adam and Eve, directed by Brian Hooks, set for release next year.

If you just look through the camera, it almost feels like a time before COVID-19. Three people are sitting around a table, playing UNO, no social distancing, no masks. That's because the premise isn't pandemic related, the movie is a romantic drama set in San Francisco about an ex-marine who meets the woman of his dreams.

But make no mistake the making of the movie has COVID-19 written all over it.

"Everything needs to be sprayed and everything needs to be wiped down," said Hooks, who also plays the lead role Adam, pointing to all the gear that now needs sanitation.

Add to all the sanitizing -- complicated permits for each location shoot, the crew gets tested, masks for everyone and max 12 people on set.

"We have scaled it down and stretched out the schedule to allow us to move cautiously and safely," said Hooks.

Fair to say, the crew speaks for an industry battered by COVID-19, they'll take the hassle if it means they can get back to work. Tens of thousands of layoffs, cancelled projects, productions put on hold -- that's the painful reality of the film industry hit hard by the pandemic.

"As soon as we got the call, I was ready to go, I felt like at that point I could sing my script," said actor Cherish Holland, who plays the lead role, Eve.

"I own all my cameras, all my lenses, all my lights and everyday that gear isn't working, it's just collecting dust," said cinematographer Isiah Flores, the movie's Director of Photography.

For Hooks, an even more meaningful reason to get back to work. He runs the production company Left of Bang Entertainment, that gives at risk youth an opportunity to work in the film industry.

"I'm just thinking about these kids and suicide rates going up and I said I've got to figure out a way to push forward because they don't really have the liberty to wait until 2021," he said.

The Adam and Eve production has already been delayed at least six months, shooting was supposed to start in March. One thing that COVID-19 hasn't affected in the film industry, is creativity.

"On the plus side people are using the pandemic as a creative outlet and people are doing it and they're making some amazing content," said Flores.

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