US entertainment industry reels from industry-wide impact of COVID-19

Film and TV production

Hollywood studios, the behemoths of the industry, have shuttered nearly all film and television production across the board, including blockbusters like Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible 7," Vin Diesel's "Fast & Furious 9," and Scarlett Johansson's "Black Widow." Smaller productions are rapidly following suit, sending thousands of cast and crew home in droves to wait out the viral storm in the hopes that jobs will await them again before too long.

"We are facing a very turbulent time for everyone in the industry. These artisans who work in the entertainment industry are generally freelancers who go from gig to gig and depend on the next job to keep paying the rent, so this is a very difficult time for them," Hollywood producer, Jeff Most, told Xinhua.

Fortunately, just prior to the outbreak, Most had just wrapped the European and South African productions on his television series "Professionals," a Mission Impossible type action adventure set in the rarified world of the highly-trained private military contractors and executive security who protect the rich and famous. He'd planned on doing post-production in Ireland and automated dialogue replacement (ADR) in South Africa to meet his delivery deadlines, but the shutdowns closed facilities and drove him back to LA to supervise post on his home laptop.