Carolyn Hunt | Source | Entertainment M&A Attorney at Barnes & Thornburg

“Amazon has a lot of its own money, Apple has a lot of its own money,” said Hunt. “And so they’re able to more or less act like a studio and sort of self-finance these. The typical financing model has really changed a lot. So my practice has changed in that I actually represent a lot of producers now, because there’s just less third-party financing needed on a lot of these types of streaming deals.”

“Temperatures are going to be taken on arrival at studios and sets throughout the day,” Hunt added. “Testing will be required for any productions for all cast and crew, and many productions are going to require two-week quarantines upon arrival at a location.”

Will productions will ramp up anytime soon? Hunt assured HuffPost that some sets are already opening up overseas and that Film Florida and the Georgia Film Office have circulated guidelines for a safe return to work.

“It is unlikely that sets will ever return ‘to normal,’ though,” Hunt said. “Even if COVID-19 gets under control, no one will soon forget the overwhelming effects that a strong virus can have on business, so concerns about contagion will likely result in many new practices becoming permanent.”

While productions that were already filming may be able to resume operations under their old insurance policies, new filming projects could have a hard time finding insurance that will cover production interruptions due to Covid-19. Many productions already had policies in place and they are rushing to get going. Some only have a one-year term.