Even in the middle of a pandemic that's seen the bulk of the film and television industry hitting an extended pause button on traditional productions thanks to the current administration's failed response, Tyler Perry isn't fucking around.
Deadline's Nellie Andreeva broke down Perry's recent two-month shoot of four different series on Sunday, noting that one project—the BET+ comedy Bruh—got its 19-episode order in the bag in just four days. To accomplish his stacked summer of mid-pandemic shooting, which began July 9 at his studios in Atlanta, the prolific writer/director used a strictly maintained method of virus prevention that's been described as the "quarantine bubble model."
In short, this model is achieved through check-in testing for COVID-19 among cast and crew immediately upon arrival to the studio. From there, everyone is required to stay inside their respective rooms until the results are provided. And in Perry's case, per Deadline, the bubble most certainly worked.
There were zero positive cases once cast and crew members had gone through the check-in process and kicked off production. All told, there were four confirmed positive tests out of 360 total during the check-in part of the process for Perry's Sistas series, with all four occurring in crew members. Additionally, one cast member of Perry's Ruthless was positive for the virus during check-in.
Perry and his team bagged a total of 32 shoot days and 51 quarantine days for the four series, also including The Oval. Perry and the crew took seven-day breaks between all but Ruthless and Bruh, which were shot back to back.
No question about it: Perry pulled off something uniquely admirable in a creative industry that's currently struggling with how best to move forward in the COVID-19 era.
In related news, Tiffany Haddish joined the TMZ Live team on Monday, resulting in a conversation in which she revealed that she's been getting advice from Perry about also one day launching her own production studio.
