We’re living in a weird time where rules, guidelines and suggestions are changing on the regular. Amidst this, show and movie productions are trying to figure out how to safely get back to work which means sometimes a whole binder worth of changes. Now, The Witcher showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich has highlighted some of the safety precautions on set as the Netflix show works its way back into production for Season 2.
The Witcher was one of the first shows to shutdown back in March as Covid-19 first reared its ugly head. Then, in June, a return date in August was announced, with filming set to commence on August 17. While that filming date hasn’t come up yet at the time of this writing, Lauren S. Hissrich and some of the crew already back to work, but with some major precautions such as PPE’s as she shared on Twitter.
Lauren S. Hissrich shared how she took a phone call from her kid from the set of The Witcher Season 2. You can see production gearing up in the background. There are masks, there are shields, and there are people generally spaced apart. This wasn’t the only behind-the-scenes look the showrunner shared either.
On the first day back to work, she also commented on The Witcher director Stephen D. Surjik's post about how social distancing is working on the Season 2 set following the mid-filming shutdown.
So, clearly the crew are already back to work and it’s likely we’ll be seeing and hearing more from the cast soon. Meanwhile, it’s interesting to see how some of the precautions that have been talked about are working in practice and I’m sure that’s something that will become more and more apparent as others shows get back to work as well. Given some shows are doing what would formerly have seemed like wild things like using blow-up dolls for sex scenes, I’m really interested in hearing more and more about how filming is working in practicality.
The Witcher, in particular, was touched more closely by the coronavirus earlier this year than most TV sets. That’s because Game of Thrones and The Witcher newcomer Kristofer Hivju actually tested postive for Covid-19 shortly after the series had already opted to shut down. Eventually, a deep cleaning was conducted at Arborfield Studios where the show shoots to make sure no one else there came into contact with the virus.
The show and parent company Netflix look as if they have been taking this whole thing seriously and hopefully that will mean things are ready and rearing to go as work resumes in its full capacity. The Witcher Season 2 is one of the most hotly anticipated projects for the subscription streaming right now and people have been champing at the bit for new episodes.
The Witcher already wasn’t expected to come back until 2021 and it’s really hard to know how much the delay will affect the show’s final premiere date, but Henry Cavill will have another project coming to Netflix in between seasons. So there’s that at least.
