West Side production studio Cinespace has issued a statement after a California-based female producer on the FOX TV series neXt, which has production offices on the lot, tested positive for COVID-19.
“We at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios received a call last night, March 9, 2020, from FOX, a Cinespace tenant. They informed us that one of their crew members on neXt has tested positive for COVID-19. FOX and the other tenants at our facility have confirmed that they took immediate action and began disinfecting their production offices and stages.
In addition to our tenant’s efforts, last night, we brought in added cleaning crews to deep clean all common areas. We are committed to implementing any and all mitigation measures deemed necessary going forward. The health and safety of our staff and tenants are paramount to us. Cinespace remains open and operational.
We are in full compliance with the City of Chicago health directives issued last week. We distributed those directives to all film/television production tenants and all of our employees.
We have sent an inquiry to representatives from FOX asking for a contact name to whom to direct further questions regarding this matter. We remain at the service of our tenants and the City.”
ALSO READ: Will COVID-19 slow down commercial productions?
neXt is a science fiction drama starring John Slattery (Mad Men) that focuses on Silicon Valley pioneer Paul LeBlanc discovers that one of his own creations — a powerful A.I. called neXt — might spell doom for humankind, so he tries to shutter the project, only to be kicked out of the company by his own brother, leaving him with nothing but mounting dread about the fate of the world.
According to sources, the unnamed producer had recently flown in from California. She is the fourth case in Chicago to test positive for COVID-19. She was treated and remains in self-quarantine. In addition, she has released a list of everyone she was in close contact with while on set. The show has already wrapped production.
In a statement from Disney Television Studios, “We have been notified by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) that a crew member on ‘NeXt,’ which concluded production in Chicago last week, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is receiving treatment. We are working closely with the CDPH to identify and contact all individuals who came in direct contact with the crew member, and are taking precautions to protect all who work on our productions.”
Other shows currently in production at Cinespace were not affected and remain in production.
SOURCE: Cinespace
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1
