SAG-AFTRA and the advertising industry’s health and safety protocols for production during COVID-19 are coming to an end.
The artists’ union and the Joint Policy Committee, which negotiates on behalf of advertisers and advertising agencies, have agreed to end their COVID-19 safety and testing agreement on May 11. announced Thursday. That’s the same day the US government will end the COVID-19 public health emergency and a day before Hollywood’s film and television pandemic safety deal expires.
Still, commercial productions that started before the May 11 due date that require vaccines in “Zone A” (a group of employees including on-camera performers and the crew members most closely working with them) of their shoots can continue to enforce that mandate. until the end of their projects.
Performers who are scheduled to perform in intimate scenes or who require “extreme exertion” such as dancing, running, or other athletic feats in a confined space can still request antigen COVID testing for themselves and peers with whom they are in close contact stated in the agreement. “The identity of the artist or background actor making the request is not shared with the other artists,” said SAG-AFTRA and the JPC.
The agreement also takes into account producers who wish to maintain previous COVID-19 safety protocols for productions after May 11. Manufacturers wishing to do so must “seek (a) separate agreement with SAG-AFTRA and notify the JPC prior to implementation.”
The advertising industry has been operating under COVID protocols since the end of 2020 and came to a specific agreement with SAG-AFTRA in April 2021which has since been updated several times. Both parties allow vaccine mandates in “Zone A” of sets from September 2021.
Hollywood’s studios and streamers and top unions, including SAG-AFTRA, reached a deal in March to end COVID protocols for film and television projects.
