What Is The Future Of Entertainment Post Covid-19 ?

As I walked down Times Square, across one of the many usually-bustling crosswalks, on my way to receive an antibody test, it struck me just how much the world had changed. With ease, I made my way across the road on which I’d usually have to barter with oncoming cars and a sea of other people, though today — and for the last month or two — it has been eerily still.

Regardless, Time Square’s trademark billboards and screens remained brightly flushed with advertisements, though there was a definite lack of entertainment being advertised, which made me start to think about the future of all things entertainment — and what these industries might look like post-COVID.

While we know the disastrous effects that the coronavirus is having on the vast majority of industries — not just in entertainment — and that it will improve once COVID-19 is no longer the immense threat that it is currently, it would be naïve to think that things will ever return to normal.

These are just a few of the things we might expect to happen to entertainment and leisure post-COVID:

Broadway and theatre.

While large scale productions from Broadway and the West End are continuing to stream live performances on sites such as YouTube, the smaller, off-Broadway shows lie dormant in the pandemic wake. With most of the cast sat at home during lockdown, you can expect that the smaller theatre productions will take longer to repair themselves, and put on shows, than the bigger theatre companies.

Sadly, it’s also likely that many smaller theatre companies will shut altogether, as the restricted funding available to struggling institutions is enough to ‘financially cripple’ these companies, according to he Atlantic, and may prevent them from opening in the future.

Another challenge that all theatres will have to face financially is that, even when the restrictions are lifted, many will still be reluctant to sit in a confined space with masses of people — especially people in the high-risk category for COVID-19.

In New York, you can pretty much guarantee that Broadway will make a full — and dazzling — return, though it’ll be quite some time before the theatres are allowed to operate at full capacity. At first, when things start to reopen, they’ll likely be among the last to follow suit, and when they do, people will be set apart at least 1.5-metres — this could, unfortunately, raise ticket prices.

Restaurants and food.

One of the most devastating effects of COVID-19 has been to small businesses, who haven’t had a well of cash to supply the months of rent they are still expected to pay, despite having fewer — or no — paying customers. So, the first thing you might notice when restaurants are allowed to re-open, is that some of your favourite independent eateries are shut — and maybe for good. In fact, in the US it’s estimated that 75% of independent restaurants that have had to close due to the coronavirus, won’t open again.

However, to try and stay afloat during the pandemic period, many non-takeout restaurants have adapted to the situation by delivering takeaway — since every cloud does have a silver lining, you can hope that your favourite place to eat out, might become your new favourite cuisine to order in.

It’s also likely that, when restaurants do re-open, cleanliness will be taken uber-seriously, with chefs and staff wearing face masks and maintaining their distance from customers, while hand sanitizing amenities will become a staple of every eatery.

Concerts and the music industry.

Concerts may be hit the hardest — and longest — by the virus, out of everything listed here, and the live music industry is estimated to have sustained the most damage during the pandemic period. What’s worse: social distancing will still have to be in place even when live shows are allowed to continue, and a distance of up to 2-metres will have to be maintained between attendees in the venue. So, venues are going to have to be half empty in order to host performances. For large bands, and even orchestras, the cost to put on the production (and pay the various musicians involved) may not be covered by the scarce number of people who are allowed to attend and watch. On the other end of the spectrum, smaller bands who don’t charge so much per ticket will also seriously struggle to earn a living post-COVID as long as the social distancing rules are still in place, so some bands might go under.

One solution that has been suggested to this problem, is to create drive-in orchestra recitals, live shows and concerts, to ensure that social distancing can be maintained, while still garnering enough sales from tickets.

On the plus side, the revenue from recorded music (from streams, downloads and physical sales etc.) has been soaring, thanks to listeners having more time to spend listening to their favourite artists, and artists having more time to dedicate to their music — in fact, the industry is close to being as successful as it was in the golden age before piracy.

Celebrity culture.

Public health isn’t the only thing that’s been damaged by COVID-19, as the mystique surrounding celebrities has, arguably, been irreversibly damaged by the aftermath of the virus.

Many celebrities have recently proven how very far from ‘down to earth’ they truly are, as they post videos in their mansions, chanting, “stay home” and “we’re all in this together” as they sip cocktails by their private pools, and talk about the woes of lockdown. Worse than this, even, Vanessa Hudgens was slammed for complaining about lockdown on Instagram Live, and saying that people dying from the virus was ‘inevitable’, as she chuckled and added, ‘maybe I shouldn’t be doing this right now’.

For many everyday people, this has shattered their rose-tinted perspective of the uber-rich in the public eye, which may well lead to a decrease in demand for shows such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians, or buying products that these celebrities endorse and promote. If this does happen in the post-COVID world, however, it’s unlikely to last for long — as the pandemic period passes, and eventually fades in the public consciousness, we will probably forget the faux pas these household names made during this time and go back to our old, fickle ways.

On the bright side, celebs such as New Yorker Kerry Washington have managed to improve their image in the public eye — for example, Kerry offers free meditation classes via her Instagram Live, as she tries to help people stay calm, and combat anxiousness, during lockdown.

This experience may show us what kind of celebs we should be supporting and endorsing in the future, as some try to help the public in a practical way, while others get their partner to film them clapping for the NHS (looking at you, Priyanka).

Movies and cinema.

One of the most recent changes to the film and cinema industry during this time, has been the transition from showing new film releases in the cinema, to releasing them online on the same date as the cinema release — this stops film studios having to delay the release of films in places where the cinemas are shut — as was the case with the movie ‘Trolls World Tour’.

While this method of releasing new movies is unlikely to completely replace cinema, if it experiences success during this forced trial period, smaller productions may continue to be released this way. Or, there may be simultaneously releases, to accommodate those who might not be able to leave the house — for example, those in the high-risk category (if the coronavirus continues to persist).

When it comes to cinema, things will — eventually — go back to normal, but along the same lines as theatre and concerts, while the coronavirus remains a threat, cinemas won’t be able to show screenings at full capacity, and many cinemas are already changing their seating areas to accommodate social distancing so that everyone can be two-metres apart. As such, it’s likely that they will show more screenings over a longer period, to ensure they rack up the revenue from ticket sales — as I said before, every cloud has a silver lining.

All we can do in these unprecedented times is hypothesize. At this moment in time, no one really knows where the world is going, or where the virus is taking us. One thing for certain, though, is that the entertainment industry will bounce back, and it will come back better than ever — even if it takes a while — as we re-establish our new normal.