Back on Set: Being Safe and Akamai

Local members have been fortunate to be back to work for a few months now on the set of the CBS production Magnum P.I. and several other productions on all islands. While actors
find that it is significantly different filming during this time, our union has helped to set up the safest protocols of any workplace in the nation. Thanks to our local executive director, Mericia Palma Elmore, for her clear email communication with members who get booked for principal and background work. Hawaii Local Board member Leanne Natsuyo Teves said, “I was really thrilled to see and receive the booking email giving members the direct sources to access information: Our ED Mericia and the SAG-AFTRA website. This is great!” 

Members of our union are able to work while many other industries are not, due to extensive planning and guidelines created months ago by SAG-AFTRA to ensure set safety.

In the past, communication on bookings arrived mostly from your agent and/or the show casting department. Now, you will receive information from casting that you have been booked for filming, and then you are emailed instructions from the production’s COVID team on testing. The COVID team schedules and gives you times available for your test before your scheduled day on set.

Depending on how many days you film, you may have more than one test. In the case of Magnum P.I., you will also complete a health questionnaire and be issued a QR code to be
scanned and your temperature tested when you arrive to set. 

Leanne Natsuyo Teves had this to say about being back to work, “Apprehension with being back on set dissolved quickly, ultimately disappearing altogether with the guidance of the crew, as they carefully followed the COVID safety guidelines and protocols. On set, they were easily identified with 'COVID Team' labeled on their face masks, and they answered questions throughout the day. Upon arrival as a background actor, it was very clear that our safety and well-being was a priority. This atmosphere allowed me to focus more on what I needed to do for my job as an actor. Working the day before Thanksgiving on an episode of Magnum P.I. was that much more rewarding.”

If you have any questions about protocols, set safety or procedures, information is available on our national website. If you are concerned and have an immediate need for safety when you are on set, look at the back of your membership card to find the 24-hour phone line 844-SAFER SET / (844) 723-3773.

This item originally appeared in the Hawaii Local Newsletter