Yvonne Boudreaux, production designer and art director
Credits include: American Crime, The Lying Game, Machete, Paranorman, Revolution, The Son
Yvonne Boudreaux was supposed to spend the spring on set in Montana, filming season 3 of the Paramount Network’s Yellowstone. Instead, she’s been quarantined at home with her husband and daughter.
Boudreaux is not unemployed. She has a job – but it’s on total pause. She’s not even working from home. “There’s articles about the film industry potentially being one of the last industries to start up again,” Boudreaux said. “I have the most amazing team that’s ready to go at any moment’s notice, but I just don’t see that in sight.”
At first, quarantine was a relief for Boudreaux, because it came at a time when she needed a rest after working for a month solid with no days off. “My mind, body, and soul was there for a break,” Boudreaux said. “I’m relaxing without guilt, and not missing out on anything, not having to say no to something for your mental health or your family life.”
Apart from the full-time duties of being a stay-at-home mom, she’s stayed in touch with her co-workers and producers via email and occasional Zoom calls. “In the beginning, everyone was like, ‘Do you think we’re going to have a job after this?'” Boudreaux said. “I was like, ‘Yes.’ If anything, yes, because everybody’s going to run out of stuff to watch.”
Conversations are inevitably dominated by discussions of when productions will resume, and Boudreaux has heard industry chatter about early fall. When she first heard those dates, she was shocked. “I was like, that’s insane! That is so long from now. Now I would be so grateful if that would actually happen.”
When production starts is one big question. Equally important is how, and the industry is still formulating a response. “The plan is to get a plan,” Boudreaux said. “There’s just been a lot of discussion and ideas and brainstorming about how this all works together so that we can do the jobs that we do and be safe.” There’ve been debates about whether to still allow cast and crew to carpool or use buses, the future of shared production offices, and an increase in closed sets, where nonessential staff leave during filming. “I wonder, is that what our future of shooting is going to look like when we go and look at locations?”
Right now, like everyone else, Boudreaux is relying on video calls and remote work. “That skill is really going to come to play right now. These next months, you have to be able to work on your own, but for the team,” Boudreaux said. That’s why she’s working so hard on staying in contact and keeping people’s spirits up. “We’ll get through this together.”
“The Plan Is to Get a Plan”
A version of this article appeared in print on Jul 3, 2020 with the headline: “The Plan Is to Get a Plan”
This article appears in July 3 • 2020.