Hollywood is taking a hit this year as the COVID-19 pandemic presses on much longer than expected. Production, screenings, and showings have been impacted, and actors and crews have been left jobless, with no concrete signs of a much-needed rebound. Peter Decherney, director of Cinema & Media Studies and instructor of the Master of Liberal Arts summer proseminar COVID-19, Hollywood, and the Future of Media, has been tuned in to see what unfolds. “What is the creative response to the limitations we have now? I think that is yet to come,” he said.
During the proseminar course this summer, Peter invited directors, writers, and actors to speak to the class online about how the health crisis has been affecting their work. For some teams, moving to Zoom was an easy—and sustainable—switch, while others are still navigating through storylines, casting questions, and budgeting. Peter said, “This story has really unfolded as the class has gone on. So, the things we were hearing at the beginning of the class are very different from what we’re hearing now as the future keeps looking different.”
Learn more about the disarray COVID-19 is causing in the entertainment industry. Read “In TV and cinema, pandemic lays out a field of unknowns” at Penn Today >
