In more news that doesn’t make sense the longer you think about it, Tyler Perry is planning to restart production on two of his BET series, Sistas and The Oval, in July, Deadline reports. This would mark the first production start date for a U.S. show filmed in North America since the coronavirus pandemic forced shutdowns across the entertainment industry. According to Deadline, Perry wants to start production on Sistas on July 8 and The Oval on July 28, both at his 330-acre Atlanta studio lot.
As for the logistics of reopening TV production in the midst of quarantine, Perry has outlined an elaborate plan. First, the cast will be flown in to Atlanta on Perry’s private plane after testing for the coronavirus pre-boarding. All crew will be local and based in Atlanta. Both cast and crew will quarantine for four hours upon arriving to Perry’s studios and test again for the coronavirus. Then, all cast and crew will live on Perry’s studio lot for the duration of production. Altogether, cast and crew will be tested for the coronavirus four times throughout production, which will run for two and a half weeks. The entire scheme is pending approval from the CDC, industry unions like SAG-AFTRA, and the mayor of Atlanta.