With all of the social-distancing regulations that have been put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, new content in film has come to a screeching halt. TV shows have been suspended, including American Ninja Warrior, Grey’s Anatomy, Euphoria, Riverdale, The Amazing Race, and more. Production on movies such as Avatar 2, Mission Impossible 7, Fantastic Beasts 3, and more has also been halted. 

However, the virus hasn’t completely stopped all film production. Director Sam Levinson, responsible for HBO’s Euphoria, directed Malcolm & Marie, which stars Zendaya and John David Washington. A release date has yet to be announced, but the entire movie had been filmed as of July 2nd.

The whole movie was filmed on 33 acres of private property in Monterey County, California. The entirety of the cast were subject to strict rules to enforce social distancing on-set. They were assigned housing and given schedules that outlines when they were allowed to be in certain places. Food was prepared in a separate location, and then delivered to the cast and crew, no outside food was permitted. Temperatures were taken at the beginning and end of every day, and only 12 people were allowed on set at any time. 

These, along with an extensive and thorough list of protocol were followed throughout the entire filming process. For two weeks before and two weeks after filming, the cast and crew remained on the property to quarantine; nobody was allowed to leave.

Zendaya and Levinson financed the movie themselves, with the help of other executive producers, including Levinson’s wife, Ashley Levinson, and Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi.) The entire movie was shot between June 17th and July 2nd.

The cast and crew of this movie went to extremes to be creative during this frustrating time. Most every other production has been halted, resulting in a lull in new film. TV shows have been postponed and even cancelled. It’s impressive that Levinson, Zendaya, and Washington committed to working under new, and highly stressful conditions so that they could create this movie.  

We don’t yet know the plot of Malcolm & Marie, but the safety the cast and crew followed created an interesting set-up for a movie release during a pandemic. I’ll definitely be seeing it, if only to see how they managed to tell a story in such trying conditions. 

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