Joanna Lombardi, director of Fiction for Latin America at Telefónica Media Networks, said that in her case, they were lucky because the series that they were about to start was still in pre-production when the moment came to go on quarantine. “When you have to stop shooting and you are in the middle, it’s a mess, you could even make the series go broke,” she mentioned after commenting that the hardest part is the uncertainty.
“That is why you have to take one day at a time. Every day we analyze what month we are going to be able to start and if we continue the same or even worse. We are working on a very big production. Obviously, the budget has increased between 20 and 30% with the protocols and we must be careful with all the details”.
He explained that they are working hard on the developments, correct scripts, and start new developments. “But the truth is that the sector is suffering a lot,” he said. He mentioned that, along with the protocols and waiting for the authorization to produce, there is the issue of having to stop production if a case of COVID appears. “It is an impossible cost to assume, while no insurance company offers policies for COVID to productions. Our hands are a bit tied, because starting is assuming a huge risk”.
She pointed out that he continues to trust in being able to start in November, but is clear that the starting date will most likely be in the first quarter of 2021.
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