Tyler Perry Says His Cast/Crew Will Stay On Set 3 Weeks At A Time, As He Details Plans To Re-Open Studio

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry Says His Cast/Crew Will Stay On Set 3 Weeks At A Time, As He Details Plans To Re-Open Studio

As previously reported, there was speculation that Tyler Perry was preparing to reopen his Atlanta production studio following Brian Kemp’s, the governor of Georgia, decision to reopen the state. According to reports, the 50-year-old media mogul was prepared to have his entire cast/crew tested for COVID-19 on the first day of reopening. In addition to that, his employees would live on set and stay there until their project was complete. 

In a recent interview, Tyler Perry confirmed his plans to reopen his Atlanta-based studio and explained what he’s doing to keep his staff safe during the reopening process, as well as once everyone is back at work.

“Last week, I took 100 of my essential employees — including security guards and gardeners at the studio — and we did a test with a private lab. Thank God, out of the 100 essential workers, all tested negative. My goal is to find a path forward to protect both the health and the livelihoods of my cast and crew.”

He continued:

“It takes me 2 1/2 weeks to shoot a season of 22 episodes, and all of my shows are shot on the lot — we never leave the lot for anything anyway. So everything is already there.” 

Even though Tyler Perry plans on having his cast/crew locked on set once production starts back up he has worked out a way so they’re not away from their families for too long:

“We will do three weeks at a time, then take a week off so the crew would go home to be with their families. Then they come back, and we start all over again. There is another testing process, everybody comes back, we lockdown for three weeks while we shoot the next season of the next show.”

Tyler Perry also detailed what would happen if an actor for one of his productions tested positive for the coronavirus:

“If a cast member tests positive, we would have to work around and shoot as much as we can around that person and not shoot any of that person’s scenes until they are cleared. That would push the production. We would do all that we can within the 2.5 weeks and come back and shoot the rest later on.”

As much as Tyler Perry may want to get his studio up and running again he expressed that his first concern is safety. 

“[If] any of this falls apart between now and the next couple of weeks…If one of the union reps says no, if one of the cast says no, I don’t feel comfortable with it. Or the insurance carrier says we won’t cover you, then none of this happens. I just thought that this was the best way to get us to work and get things moving. But all of these things have to line up. From the approval of the mayor, to the approval of the CDC, to the approval of Emory Health and Del Rio…all of these things have to line up for that to happen.”

How do you think Tyler Perry’s plans to reopen his studio will work out? Let us know in the comments. [Deadline]