A successful film producer fears that arts venues and film, theatre and music companies will struggle to survive life after lockdown.
Chris Young, who relocated from London to Skye after making it in the entertainment business, has become a passionate champion of Gaelic culture and working off the grid since his move.
The creator of Young Films, who was instrumental in the success of The Inbetweeners TV series and ensuing feature films, yesterday spoke of his concerns for the industry he loves.
Mr Young said: “The arts will have to change after lockdown. The most obvious forms that need to adapt are those that rely on significant audience numbers.
“Until there is a vaccine, it’s not clear how any venues for more than 50 people will be able to operate.
“Already, in countries like Germany, concert and theatre institutions are removing large numbers of seating to allow for social distancing, but this seems to be a temporary measure to allow swift re-opening while the risk of a spike in virus infections remains.
“In my area – cinema and TV – there is now a huge shift to launching films online and film festivals are adapting in the short term to online programming.
“But the expectation is that there will be a return to theatrical presentation of films both commercially and at festivals.
“I anticipate that a greater premium will be placed on any theatrical presentation, and that streaming will increasingly become the norm.
“Inevitably, this will mean that smaller venues will struggle to compete – perhaps they will operate more as satellite platforms for the bigger venues that can survive.”
Mr Young has recently launched a new Gaelic drama called Bannan.
But, for the foreseeable future, his cameras and cue cards will be out of commission with most activities on hiatus and no prospect of a return until 2021.
He added: “Right now, our biggest challenge is how to return to production.
“We have to respect the social distancing rules in the workplace and on set, so unless we are making comedy or drama that is specifically set within the context of the current Covid-19 crisis, actors will not be able to perform other stories.
“Rules have been created to allow for production to re-start but they necessarily force actors to keep a distance, and also add the financial burden of an extra layer of Covid health and safety supervisors, as well as significant cleaning and protective clothing protocols for all departments.
“In our case, we do not envisage going into production this year, so it is a major setback.
“We rely on making work in order to survive, so apart form making animation, which we are exploring, we are only able to develop scripts and prepare for the future.”
Despite these problems, Mr Young insisted that youngsters with an interest in the arts should continue to develop new ways of creating, producing and composing.
He said: “My advice to young people is not to be put off by the current situation.
“There is always a way of being creative, even with constraints, and we have seen a blossoming of activity from creative makers working at home and sharing it online.”
