Snitches get stitches. Or at least that’s how the saying goes. But apparently, Warner Bros. has decided to embrace the snitch, when it comes to COVID-19 production safety protocols.
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According to Deadline, Warner Bros. has instituted an “anonymous reporting mechanism” for people who witness COVID-19 safety violations while on set in Europe. Clearly, this is in an attempt to mitigate the risk factors with filming during the pandemic, when the studio is attempting to get films such as “The Batman” and the upcoming ‘Fantastic Beasts’ films up and running again. It’s unclear what the “mechanism” actually means—a phone tip line, an online form, or a highly covert note-passing system like in grade school—but it’s a sign that WB is taking safety pretty seriously on set.
Kevin Trehy, Warner Bros executive vice president of physical production, said that the studio has become “our own strictest police force” when it comes to reporting COVID-19 safety issues. We’ll have to wait and see if this actually works because the studio (and the film industry, in general) really can’t afford to have a COVID-19 outbreak on a film set, leading to another government-mandated production shutdown.
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And while we joke that this is just studio-sponsored snitching, there really aren’t very many ways to guarantee that the virus won’t infect someone working on a film set. As regions in the US have so clearly shown, if given the choice of following rules that would help slow the spread of a deadly illness or forgetting all those bummer rules and just partying like you will live forever, people will sometimes pick the latter, to the detriment of the rest of the population.
As mentioned, WB has some high-profile films that the studio is eager to begin work on again, and the rest of the Hollywood studios are in the same boat. So, everyone is just trying to figure out how to move forward with this new “normal” and make sure films are back on schedule so that 2021 isn’t as barren as 2020 in terms of new releases.
And hey, if it means we can see “The Batman” in October 2021, then snitch away!
