New Zealand is handling covid-19 better than most, with ongoing cases in the country down to a handful. That makes it a promising place to resume production on all those TV shows and movies we love, and the country has recently authorised a handful of productions to resume or begin inside the country’s borders.
As reported by film.
All told, 206 cast and crew members, accompanied by 35 family members, will be given freedom to enter the country over the course of the next six months, Variety reported.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/05/of-course-john-cho-gets-to-be-super-fucking-cool-in-cowboy-bebop/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/29/cowboy-bebop-spike-300×169.jpg” title=”Of Course John Cho Gets to Be “˜Super Fucking Cool’ in Cowboy Bebop” excerpt=”Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop adaptation has seen its share of delays, and not just because of the novel coronavirus. Last October, star John Cho suffered a knee injury that set the production back at least seven months. But according to the adaptation’s co-writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, replacing Cho was absolutely out of…”]
“Our success at managing COVID-19 gives our country an opportunity to become one of the few countries still able to safely produce screen content,” New Zealand’s Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford said in a statement obtained by Stuff, a New Zealand media outlet, and reprinted by Variety. “The inquiries and interest we are getting from international production houses tells me that the international film community sees New Zealand as something of a global safe haven. This is an opportunity friends [sic] that we must grab. Despite the turmoil that the world is facing, this is an exciting time for New Zealand’s screen sector.”
It’s nice to know that, even in these tumultuous times, some amount of normalcy will return somewhere. Even if it’s just so we can watch Cowboy Bebop here in America, where lockdown (or conditions that make it advisable) will probably last for a while yet.