Tyler Perry films 19 episodes of ‘Bruh’ in four days
Tyler Perry enlists the talents of actors and crew to create 19 episodes of 'Bruh' in four days while quarantined at his Atlanta-based studios.
Tyler Perry wrapped up filming for multiple shows during quarantined production at his Atlanta studio.
Read More: Tyler Perry officially becomes a billionaire, Forbes announces
According to Deadline, the billionaire creator developed a COVID-19 bubble model to film four shows with hundreds of people on hand. The BET+ series Ruthless and Bruh, as well as the BET shows Sistas and The Oval all filmed 82 episodes in total over more than 60 days.
The entertainment news platform reports cast and crew members experienced 32 shoot days and 51 quarantine days. Upon arriving at the studio, they were subjected to check-in testing and mandated to stay in their rooms until results returned.
Of 360 people, one from Ruthless tested positive for coronavirus and four did during the Sistas check-in. Deadline reports that no outbreaks occurred during production.
Read More: Tyler Perry to receive Governors Award at 2020 Emmys
Once production began on each show, the talent and executives got to work. Bruh became the final series shot, beginning on Sept. 3 and ending Sept. 6. The comedy was the shortest order and the shortest shoot, according to Deadline, with only 19 episodes.
Deadline reports there were week-long breaks between shooting Sistas and The Oval, and The Oval and Ruthless, however no time off was taken between Ruthless and Bruh.
During an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Consitution, the media mogul described the amount of work and the cost of ensuring a COVID-19 safe environment. They report that Perry added an additional $4.5M to each show’s budget per season.
“It’s $18M extra over four shows to keep everyone safe and fed,” Perry shares. “That’s 100% more than normal. We wouldn’t spend any of that if there wasn’t COVID.”
Things such as crew members and the number of extras on set were also downscaled due to a new normal for many television studio sets.
“We lost 80 to 100 crew members because we didn’t have the housing for it. What takes longer is moving from location to location. Something that had taken 15 minutes is now taking 45,” he shares, adding that only 10 background actors were on set.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
