COVID-19: Our Safety Plan.

COVID-19 is a global emergency and we recognize that we cannot conduct business as usual. By following these procedures, we’re working to ensure that everyone is safe while also creating a great video for you.

General Information

Please note that we will be following all Provincial Health Orders and Province-Wide Restrictions related to COVID-19. A current list of all active restrictions and orders can be found here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support/restrictions

We are also following all relevant recommendations and requirements from Worksafe BC for working safely in our community. A list of current requirements and responsibilities can be found here: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/covid-19/health-and-safety

(First-level protection) Controlling Exposure and Physical Distancing

Controlling exposure is a first-level protection against COVID-19. As such, we will be taking all meetings, consultations, and other client calls and reviews online or over the phone wherever possible. This includes pre-interviews, pre-production for weddings, and other meetings.

To control exposure at a video shoot, we will:

Be maintaining a 6-foot radius from everyone wherever/whenever possible.
We’ll be using longer lenses and shooting at a distance in order to ensure that we’re maintaining a safe distance from you and all your guests.
Not be touching or handling anything that others have touched or handled.
In the past, if someone needs help loading something or if chairs need to be rearranged, we’re the first to help out. However, in current circumstances, we will not be handling items that others have touched. We’re sorry - we want to help, but we need to protect ourselves and others.
Be providing lavalier mics for audio but will be asking you to place the mic on yourself.
In the past we’ve put mics on speakers ourselves. Under current circumstances we’ll provide instructions and guidance, but we will not be putting the mic on you. Before and after use, the mic will be bagged and sanitized.
Will not be riding with you or others in the same vehicle.
Often we’ve shared transportation with a client or photographer to help reduce our carbon footprint. While this is still important to us, in current circumstances we’re prioritizing maintaining a 6-foot radius from others.
Ask you to limit the number of people present at a video shoot.
Even if a venue can hold ten people, for example, and provincial health orders allow ten people in that space, we’re asking you to limit the number of people at a video shoot to essential people only at this time.

(Third-level protection) Administrative Controls

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 at a video shoot, we will:

Be abiding by the administrative controls (such as occupancy limits) at venues and workplaces where we’re shooting
Be following our identified rules and guidelines for how we and our staff will conduct ourselves
We and any of our staff know that safety is our foremost priority. That means we’ll assess each shot specifically; if we cannot get a shot without putting ourselves or our clients at risk, we will not get that shot.

(Fourth-level protection) PPE

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 at a video shoot, we will:

Be wearing masks at all times inside, and outside when we're not able to keep 6-feet away
We recognize that the use of masks does not mean that other protections, such as limiting access to the workplace, maintaining physical distancing, and barriers, are no longer necessary, but that masks do help us to ensure that risk is reduced as we move around a dynamic and changing workplace
Be ensuring proper cleaning and hygiene practices for ourselves and our staff as identified below.

Cleaning and Hygiene Practices

To ensure the safety of ourselves and others, and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other germs, we will be:

Wiping all our gear with sanitizer before and after each shoot.
Taking hand-sanitation breaks to wash or sanitize our hands.
Minimizing shared contact points by keeping mics and other equipment in sanitized bags and ensuring that we and/or our staff wash or sanitize hands after handling shared materials

Other Policies

Health Checks: We will perform daily health checks and monitor for any symptoms. If symptoms are present, we’ll inform our clients right away.

Undue Hazards: We reserve the right to refuse or reschedule work if at any point we consider there to be an undue hazard to us, our clients, or our staff. An undue hazard is defined as “an “unwarranted, inappropriate, excessive, or disproportionate” hazard. For COVID-19, an “undue hazard” would be one where a worker’s job role places them at increased risk of exposure and adequate controls are not in place to protect them from that exposure.” Source: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/covid-19/industry-specific-information/small-business

Close Contact & Cohorts: For shoots involving models or other on-screen characters, whenever possible we’ll arrange to use individuals who live together for scenes including close contact. When that isn’t possible, we’ll arrange a cohort model to limit the number of people at a video shoot at one time.

What if?

There are a lot of “what ifs” right now, and we’re trying to keep this list as up-to-date as possible. Please appreciate that we will do everything we can to be at your event, wedding, or video shoot, but we need to make choices that protect not only ourselves, but also our other clients, vendors, family, friends, and community.

If government restrictions or recommendations change:

This is a fluid situation and restrictions and regulations are changing rapidly. We are committed to following all government recommendations and restrictions. This means that if the government recommends suspending all non-essential outings or implements a lockdown, we will obey these regulations or recommendations and will not attend your wedding or event, even if you are still going ahead with it.

If you or someone close to you develops symptoms:

We will work with you to postpone your event or wedding. We ask that you let us know immediately if you or a loved one has developed even mild symptoms of COVID-19. In this case, we will not attend your event or wedding, even if you are still going ahead with it.

If we deem the situation unsafe:

If we arrive at a wedding and deem the situation to be unsafe (for example, we are unable to maintain our 6-ft distance from you or your guests, or someone presents with symptoms), we reserve the right to leave the event. Please appreciate that we don’t know your family and friends, and we have to make this call based on the situation and our best judgment; “That’s just Uncle Bob and he coughs like that all the time” isn’t reassuring enough for us given the current COVID-19 pandemic. If we think we’re at risk, we’ll have to leave.

Resources we’re using to create our policies and make our decisions:

Community-based measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/public-health-measures-mitigate-covid-19.html
Risk-informed decision-making for mass gatherings during COVID-19: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/mass-gatherings-risk-assesment.html
BC Centre for Disease Control COVID-19 Information: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19
Worksafe Industry Specific Information for Small Businesses: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/covid-19/industry-specific-information/small-business
Worksafe Industry Specific Information for Film and Television: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/covid-19/industry-specific-information/motion-picture-television-production