While the state of California is looking at possible measures for its coronavirus exit strategy and relief packages for businesses, it looks like any sort of return to a routine for Hollywood is a long way off – and that's the feeling for many of the Israelis in the industry, including Noa Tishby, Alon Abutbul, Guy Nattiv, and Alona Tal.
"My business partner says that he doesn't think that they'll start filming again before February," says actress and producer Noa Tishby, one of the more veteran Israelis in Los Angeles.
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"So yes, writers are still working and meet over Zoom, but Hollywood isn't acting like something is about to happen. We keep asking ourselves – how do we go back to filming? Okay, fine, so you'll carry out medical checkups every morning, but then one of the crew goes off on a break and comes back to the set with the virus. How do you even try and control this thing? And that's before you even start talking about intimate scenes, or crowd scenes."
Tishby believes that even the reopening of cinemas is still a long way off. "The experts believe that cultural centers will be the last things to start operating again – if they ever do," she says. "Who's going to want to come into a cinema and sit in a seat that was occupied an hour earlier by a complete stranger?"
Q: How has life changed since the start of coronavirus?
"Back in January, I realized that something big was about to happen. We had plane tickets to come to Israel for Passover, and of course, that didn't happen. My son is actually quite pleased with the self-isolation. He has an hour and a half activity on Zoom in the mornings with his preschool friends, listens to music and plays games. Later I open up 'Mommy kindergarten,' I teach him, we have a schedule with art, reading, and writing.
"I speak to him only in Hebrew, and he watches all his favorite shows from Israel. Of course, his screen time is longer than usual – but what can you do? We have to let go a little bit too. We've managed to maintain a daily routine for him, and he's really happy that he's with mommy and daddy all day long."
Alon Aboutboul, who has lived in Los Angeles for the last few years, was actually in Israel when COVID-19 struck filming What Happened in Oslo, directed by Uri Barbash for the HOT cable network.
He was also meant to take part in filming for Dover Kosashvili's new movie and for the fourth season of the US drama series Snowfall, where he plays Israeli drug dealer Avi Drexler.
"I was in Israel when the madness began, and the moment I landed in Los Angeles, I've been following the Israeli rules. I came to America with insider knowledge," he says with a smile. "I made peace with the fact that it might be better that I get corona. Because what is it? Flu, so fine. If I'm going to get it, it's better now because in the end, everyone will get it. And then my wife Shir got sick – headaches, a bit of coughing, and a fever that went up and down. We thought she got corona and so we're also caught up in it all – and so we went into quarantine so as not to infect anyone else."
Q: What does your daily routine look like?
"I wake up in the morning, and then Shir and I do a Facebook livestream, we speak to people and show them that I'm still alive. I'm in the studio, creating my art – it's a new space. Instead of a stage, you have a webcam and it's an interesting experience.
"Corona has peeled off many layers of embarrassment. People who have never applied for unemployment benefits are suddenly applying. My heart goes out to these people. Personally, I feel like I've been preparing my whole life for this moment. I'm scared the isolation will end."
A brave new Zoom world
Director Guy Nattiv, who won an Oscar for his short movie Skin, is also enjoying the self-isolation and is making the most of it to spend quality family time with his two daughters, Alma (18 months) and Mila (6 months). He moved his office into his home where he's working on projects with his wife, actress and producer Jaime Ray Newman.
"It was a packed year," says Nattiv. "We traveled to festivals for the screening of the full-length version of Skin, and when the lockdown started, we were just about to start pre-production on the next movie, Harmony. But my wife and I haven't stopped creating from home. The process of pitching ideas to networks like HBO and Netflix has moved onto Zoom.
"There's a whole hidden world that no one knows about on Zoom; people are constantly talking and planning projects. This is the time of the studios and the TV networks because everyone is streaming and need to think about additional content. I'm happy to see that writers are continuing to write, preparing the next thing. The moment everything opens up – there will be a wonderful outpouring of creativity."
Q: On the other hand, the lockdown could create barriers to creativity and a type of degeneration.
"That's why Jamie and I quickly bought a treadmill and exercise bike. When the girls are having their afternoon nap, I write. When they go to sleep, we begin our 90-minute active sports session. I'm enjoying discovering my girls. It's a luxury that I'm embracing because it won't happen so much in the years to come. You're in a rush, working, you come home and straight away go to sleep. This is a wonderful time to build a close family bond.
"The first thing I dream about doing when everything opens up is to get on the first flight to Israel so that the girls can see their grandparents. I need my oxygen from Israel, to hug the people I love, to spend quality time with them, and to recharge my batteries before I come back here."
Alona Tal has been living in Los Angeles for some 15 years. She is married to the actor Marcos Ferraez, and they have a daughter, Charlie. Tal recently appeared in the Gideon Raff-directed mini-series The Spy, and in Little Fires Everywhere with Reese Witherspoon, and has a recurring role on the show SEAL Team.
"The lockdown came just as I was in the final stages of getting the leading role in the pilot of a new series," says Tal. "I'm also meant to return for the fourth seasons of SEAL Team, which hasn't officially been renewed, and I'm really counting on it – financially too. I have two auditions for projects that are meant to shoot in the summer, and I have no idea how it's actually going to happen. On the other hand, you can't stop everything. No one knows what's going to happen."
Q: What does life in isolation look like?
"Really boring," she says laughing. "For example, I took some chopsticks and I made a marionette for my girl. I've turned into a puppeteer – maybe that's an idea for a new career. It doesn't look like this coronavirus is going anywhere in the coming years like we're on a detour on the way to understanding what it is we're dealing with."
