LOS ANGELES — Michelle L. LeBlanc, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), has released an open letter to the adult industry regarding the "benchmarks for lifting the production hold."
The text of her letter follows:
Dear Community,
Protecting the adult industry is the mission of FSC and right now the most important aspect of that is our health and safety. We understand the extreme financial hardship that this global pandemic has brought to many of you. Our primary goal is to get everyone back to work as safely as possible, as soon as possible.
When FSC called for a production hold in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was aligned with orders from public health agencies calling for the closure of all non-essential businesses. Across North America, most of those orders remain in effect, with various regions planning for a phased approach to easing restrictions. Non-essential businesses like entertainment are not likely to be in the first phases of most plans.
Last week, FSC convened a COVID-19 Task Force with FSC staff and FSC board members who are producers, performers, agents and lawyers. The first order of business was to discuss the benchmarks for lifting the production hold and the guidance we need to provide to safely resume production under a continued threat of contagion.
Testing for COVID-19 will be an important part of the safety measures for returning to work. How that should be incorporated is part of a long list of questions that we are working to answer. The task force will seek input and involvement from the adult entertainment community throughout this process.
Some of the topics the task force are discussing include: testing protocols, cleaning protocols, personal protective equipment, high-risk and immunocompromised workers, liability issues and potential mitigation of those, and other risk reduction strategies like physical distancing, limiting the number of people on sets, and restrictions on travel.
We want you to get back to work as much as you want to get back to it, but we do not want to sacrifice your health and safety in the name of expediency.
Be safe,
Michelle L. LeBlanc
Executive Director
In related news, the FSC has issued another update regarding its Emergency Fund disbursements. Through today, $144,000 has been raised. Of that amount, $90,000 is being distributed to the first 300 people on a list of 489 applicants.
