BTS : Shooting big productions safely
Inmarsat’s marketing agency approached me late last year to explore shooting a range of stills and video assets for a global campaign, to support their Enterprise division.
Having undertaken a similar campaign shoot for them in South Africa a few years ago it was obvious that we would again need a remote overseas location.
I have extensive knowledge of the UAE having lived and worked there at the beginning of my career. The varied remote landscapes and production support made this the obvious choice.
The world in 2020 was a very different place so the agency, client, producers and myself decided to approach the shoot with a robust set of about 15 “Proceed” / “Postpone” decision points. These strict thresholds applied to any changes in business travel advice and of course real world circumstances.
As it transpired by shooting in January we completed the project safely ahead of enhanced travel restrictions in February.
These were the measures applied to the team :
2 weeks crew isolation prior to travel
4 Covid PCR tests inbound and outbound and 1 Lateral flow test
12 days on location before returning
Crew “bubble”
Wilderness / Safety guide vaccinated
Production crew PCR tested
10 days quarantine upon return
Total project commitment = 36 days!